frederic
New member
lost studios said:
Essentially, the left most mixer would be "1", and the right most mixer would be "12". S/pdif out of 1 goes to s/pdif in on 2, and this continues through all the mixers. I have s/pdif out on each mixer configured as buss L/R, and s/pdif on each mixer configured as "Aux Return" since I don't need pan or EQ on this particular input as the mixer prior does all this for the signals it actually mixes, and passes through this aux.
the TMD1000's have eight analog ins, which connect to my rack-mount midi synth farm, and the TDIF connections connect to Motu 2408's which I use as "stupid" format converters, giving me lightpipe on the other side for the Akai DR16 recorders. The reason for this weird conversion is due to the Akai recorders having a 16-ch lightpipe card available, but only a 8-ch TDIF card available. 16-ch recorders need 16-ch interfaces, period or eight tracks can't be utilized.
The TMD1000's have a full midi implementation, so my cakewalk flips them from "record mode" to "mix mode" on the fly, and all of the mixers flip together. What I do is set up all the basics in the two configurations, mix and record mode, then dump it into cakewalk as sysex - then feed that to all the other mixers.
Once this is done, I can use the TMD1000 closest to my sitting position as a mixer, but also as a controller, since the TMD-1000's transmit vol and pan information "live" as well. So I don't have to get up, move out of my mixing position, to adjust the settings of a mixer "way over there" on the table, I simply have to flip a little midi routing software that came with my Emagic Unitor interfaces and temporarily route the close mixer's midi out to the far mixer's midi in. If I like the settings, I tell Cakewalk to save it as part of the midi mix
Each mixer utilizes channels 1-16 on a midi port, so I lose 12 midi ports off my emagic interfaces, which have 7 ports per unit on the back, and 1 port on the front (port being two jacks, in and out), and I have four Unitors and four AMT8's. The AMT8's are the same thing, minus the smtpe syncing capability. Since the first four Unitors have this, all the midi interfaces sync together with everything else. Works well actually.
Since I record everything dry, generally, in "record mode" busses 1-4 on the TMD1000's is routed through TDIF to the recorders on buss 1-8. To fill up all 16 tracks, I'd have to do four passes. Sometimes this is necessary, sometimes not, depending what particular synths, drum machines, high hats etc need to be isolated for specific, later processing. I tend to treat snares, kick, and high hats uniquely for a specific sound, and the rest of the kit(s) merge together in stereo.
In mix mode, buss 1-4 is sent instead to TDIF, to the analog out jacks on the top of the mixers, which in turn will pass through patch bays to my 22U stack of analog outboard. While the TMD1000's have internal effects I'll be darned if I can get them all to work the way I want. Some work fine, some don't, so I use outboards to pick up the slack. I have several outboard gear I like, keep, and nearly have a fetish for.
the TMD-4000 is a little different, since its a true 32x8 console. It has out of the box eight analog ins, and I installed another analog card giving me analog 9-16, as well as two lightpipe cards giving me 16ch of lightpipe. The vocal booth, most commonly used midi modules, etc will be attached to this mixer as will my "master" DR16, so if I don't need to use a huge plethora of midi gear, the primary stuff will all connect to the TMD4000. This gives me the most flexibility as well as keeps me sitting in the center of the console table in the optimum listening position. It also supports 5.1 surround, so if I decide to get back into that arena, I can use this mixer as well. The TMD4000 also offers a lot more flexibility in monitoring mixes with clever uses of the busses, something the TMD1000's clearly lack.
The first TMD-1000 also has a digital I/O card giving me an additional TDIF connection as well as a second s/pdif in. The TDIF is converted from lightpipe, which six channels of lightpipe are used to connect in a Korg Triton Rack. The S/Pdif connection "in" connects to my fender cybertwin digital "I can be anything" guitar amp. This makes for a cleaner connection on the amp, and the Triton lightpipe allows me to split up different, simultaniously played patchs for more flexibility. This digital i/o card essentially disables the analog 1-8 on that mixer, but its easily flipped back via settings for other gear if for "some reason" I don't have enough inputs
Since i'm primarily mixing midi equipment, I don't really need 8 busses for every recording. When I do, I use the TMD4000, but most of the time the TMD1000's work just dandy. My specific need is many, many inputs, which this cheap kludge of gear gives me.
For vocals, acoustical guitar, fugal horns and the like, I use an AKG or Marshall mike depending on my mood, through a homemade 3-12AX7 preamp that in turn connects to the TMD4000, which is my master mixer I guess. Even though I really like my preamp, its not rackmountable and essentially is a plywood box with three tubes sticking out. I either need to replace it with something else (Joe Meek?) or repackage it into a rackmount configuration so it doesn't get kicked around and messed up.
I found early on that varying volume and pan through midi, on the gear itself, significantly lowers my headroom and increases "grunge", whereas setting them for 95% volume and center, and using the mixers to control vol/pan results in a much cleaner sound, especially on older modules that have only 64 steps in their volume control rather than 128, like the mixers and newer gear.
Wordclock was complex, I wasted a lot of time trying to pass wordclock in and out across the plethora of digital gear, and it just wasn't cooperating, so I shelled out for an Aardsync (should have gotten the Lucid, oh well), and that connects to a 16-ch active NTSC/audio splitter that kindly passes the wordclock to any and all devices. This way, everything sees the same wordclock signal at the same time. Solved a lot of drifting problems.
There is a "huge" delay between what goes in mixer 1 and what comes out of mixer 12, as each mixer adds a little processing time. The way around this on mix is to systematically nudge tracks based on simple math. (64-track#)*nudge amount.
Works fine
Nudging is annoying, but less annoying than not having enough faders and pans. Just my preference. Nudging is easy based on the Akai remote I "finally" acquired.The next thing I need to acquire is an Akai RC15 remote, which gives me the tape transport controls on a 30' cord, which plugs into the Akai DL1500 "big" remote for the Akai recorder farm. The Dl1500 is a lot like an Alesis BRC and the RC15 is a lot like the Alesis "LRC" if you are verse in adat-speak.
The last little tidbit that might be important is the final stereo mix goes back into the PC, via s/pdif through a soundblaster live card, with digital I/O. There is a quirk of this card where it will automatically do a frequency conversion to 48K if your digital gear is configured for 44.1K or less, and to be honest this automatic format conversion is terrible - you can actually hear it with ordinary headphones. So, my wordclock provides 48K through and through, so there is no conversion in hardware. I had tried a behringer format converter which my local music store was blowing out for a mere $29, and that was just as bad, so I do everything at 48K, then when ready to burn a CD, I use software to convert things and I've been happier with the results. Free things like Audacity, CDex, etc. This too works pretty good. Also recording at 48K allows my fostex DAT to be the master stereo recorder if i want, though I don't do that very often, usually digital stereo to the PC.
How's that for a convoluted mess?
Heres a couple of .gifs to show ya. But it tells me some things. Especially the doors and seals. Learning alot about that lately. Seals around doors are the MAIN leaks for soundproofing. They can totally negate your STC rating in walls. Anyway, enough of my bla. Time to get busy, so hang in there, the pics are coming today.!! 