Alesis HD24XR... now what

[johnnya.s.]

Ok, so I came across one of these units and bought it since i was already in the market for the hd24. Of course I am brand new to engineering, but I have produced local sessions and am getting more and more familiar with the engineering aspect through text books and various forums.

The one thing I am having trouble with is the set up of what I would like to do.

Initially, just for tracking I would like to pick up the new zed mixer from a&h or even the soundcraft ghost 24 channel. Im going to be spending about ten thousand on mic's and anything it takes on the proper outboard gear, to make this an attractive studio for local bands. As far as tracking goes I DO NOT want to use a computer, Mastering them would be a different story but I really need help with one issue at a time.

So after all of that my question boils down to this:

Can anyone help me figure out a setup without using a computer?
I am more than willing to go into full detail what it is I am looking for.

One more thing, I have just leased a 1600 ft warehouse space where I am starting control, tracking, and iso room construction. Ill be posting pic's week by week to show the progress. Thanks for the help and sorry about the novel of noobism.

 

[stevieb]

I'm a bit perplexed by your post. You do know you can just go from analog to analog connections, from either of those mixers to the HD24, right? A mixer and the HD24 is all you need to track/record up to 24 different inputs. Then, you could use the same board to mix in whatever effects you wanted, from outboard gear, and track down to 2 stereo tracks, which you could record to two of the HD24's tracks, onto a second HD if you'd used all 24 tracks on the original HD in the HD24. From a quick look at the A&H board, it's USB, so you could play those two tracks thru the board and then to a computer OR USB CD recorder, to burn a CD, and you are done.

But you already know that, right? Right?? If you do, I assume your question STARTS there. If you don't, well, there you go.

 

[johnnya.s.]

haha i think i knew that but was just looking for re-assurance. At any rate I am just a musician who has recorded a few demos and played producer, but i didnt actually tweak anything. I came upon an inheritance and now i want to achieve a goal ive always had and own a studio. you did clear it up brilliantly for me though and very kindly too. is there a different hd recorder under 10,000 that would produce better sounding audio? ive heard people talk about the radar but have no idea what it is.

im very new and naive when it comes to this obviously so before I go buy anything else im just trying to understand everything I will need.

Basically mics>cables>mixer>recorder for recording right?

so how about the mix down? stereo mix> processors> hd recorder? (assuming there are two tracks left)

I dont know why im having such a hard time grasping this concept

but thank you so much for your help

 

[johnnya.s.]

i just re read your post stevieb and you explained it thoroughly so please ignore my last post sorry and thank you

 

[Armistice]

I came upon an inheritance

Everyone here hates you...

...kidding... good luck with it all, look forward to seeing the thing take shape, so do post some pics...

Hmmm.... now, do I have any rich uncles that I need to work on... ??

 

[stevieb]

No worries, glad to help, and doing so got me thinking of that exact signal path that we will be using when my son and I record the bands formed at three rock n' roll summer camp sessions in July.

With a budge of $10,000 (for the recording device only?? Yeah, I, too, am jelous...), you can certainly find something that will turn in better quality than the HD24XR- maybe not substantially better sound quality, but he HD24's are nearing the end of their capacities, and the ADA drives they use are now obsolete, and getting hard to find, new. There is a cradle being made that converts SATA drives for use in the HD24- email me and I will send you the link- steveboudreaux@yahoo.com.

If you feel the need to return the favor, and decide to get something other than the HD24, giving me first shot/very nice price would be appreciated (seriously- we would like to have a second HD24 on-hand.)