Synth cabling

gstoelen

New member
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to producing music (electronic genres mainly), and so far I've been using an iMac with a Focusrite Clarett 2Pre interface, and a bunch of VST's.
Now I'm looking forward to adding a few hardware synths to the setup, and I was thinking about a Virus Ti, and possibly a Roland JP8000.
What equipment would be recommended to hook it all up? And how would it have to be cabled then? :cool:

Thanks for any feedback!
 
You have two ways of working generally with external synths. You could add a patchy, somewhere convenient and wire your synths and your two channels to the interface to it, and then plug in each synth as you need it, and once you've got the sounds right, record it in and then move onto the next one and so on - or you could connect them all to a simple mixer, and feed that to the interface - so you can control them via MIDI, and then blend them properly and once the mix is done - you then record the mixed stereo synth product to a stereo track.

The alternative is an interface with multiple ins, so they can all be recorded separately.

I now find that it's only occasionally I pull out an old project and need to use the sounds from my real synths, and I usually just record their output into a stereo track and then unplug them again. Most of my synths have identical or very close VSTi sounds available, so from choice, I use these. However - my Korg Triton and the old Roland 1080 still have a few unique sounds in them.
 
Great, thanks for the reply.
Perhaps the easiest/most convenient option is adding a small mixer to the setup (especially because I already have that Clarett and it's doing a great job so far).
I don't think there's a virtual substitute for the Virus Ti (correct me if I'm wrong), and the JP8000 is a great trance machine but I agree, it could perhaps be replaced or matched by a Sylenth or Massive :)
 
A mixer is a good solution and the latest generation have 24 bit USB converters. If you were Window'ed no adavantage but I understand macs can run multiple USB sound devices.

There is however perhaps an even more elegant solution? The Claret has an ADAT input port and so you could get a Behringer ADA8200 and get 8 more mic/line inputs all through the one device.

A mixer however does give you the option of zero latency sound and sans computer.

Dave.
 
I have a Clarett 8PreX, I used to use two Behringer ADA8200s, but it would click and pop occasionally, which I believe is a synchronisation issue. I replaced them with a pair of Focusrite OctoPre's, using the same cables, and I am now free of those pops and clicks.
 
Cannot a quote function? So, zzzms, Both the Behringer and the Claret have BNC word clock, did you try syncing them that way? (the Behrry would be the master)

Dave.
 
I'd absolutely grab a mixer. There are tons of great deals on the second hand market when it comes to mixers these days, so you can get something reasonably good without it having to cost a ton. A mixer gives you more options, and if it sounds good it also adds something to the sound that I personally miss when it's not there. The added depth and dimension, separation and hint of "interestingness" (in my book, at least) that even my relatively low cost Midas Venice mixer gives me is something I really can't be without. It's rare that I don't run things through mixers even when I don't have to, including sending tracks out of the computer and back in again (something I pretty much ALWAYS do if it's a softsynth).

I've tried going the "tons of inputs and no mixer" route a few times and I kinda hated it. And while there are some good mixer emulations out there, none of them go all the way there as far as I'm concerned (and I own a bunch of them). I use them on every project, but that doesn't meant they fully replace what a mixer does for me sonically.

Your mileage may very well vary, though. And there are some truly garbage sounding mixers out there too, so...
 
Back
Top