Mixer for Alesis HD24 Recorder...

  • Thread starter Thread starter jrennard
  • Start date Start date
J

jrennard

New member
Hello!

If we wanted to setup our HD24 on it's own mixer...what would you recommend? At this time, we only need the mixer to set gain and levels going to the hard disk. After that, we'll dump all the data to a computer.

My problem, is I don't understand the ins/outs on the HD24. There are 24 ins and 24 outs, I would imagine that the outs from the HD24 are only if you want to send individual channels to the board so they can be played. But if I'm mixing in a PC environment, I shouldn't need to send anything out from the HD24 right?

So, if I have a 24 channel analog board, I should be able to take all 24 outs from the INSERTS into the ins on the HD24?

I'm a little over my head at this point. Our current board is a Yamaha 01v which has the nice 6 optical ins/outs. However, those are taken by our pre-amps. =0 So, we are looking for a cheap alternative to get all our tracks recorded.

I appreciate your help and would be interested to hear how you have your Alesis HD24 setup for all 24 tracks recording.
 
So you have an o1v and an hd24...

And I suppose you want to use the o1v as a dedicated DAW controller???

So that poses the question of what mixer to use???

Your pre's are lightpiped to the o1v????

Why not lighpipe them directly to the hd24 then send the adat outs to the o1v adat ins then send the o1v adat outs to the adat ins of your PC interface. Unless you use the fireport or ethernet, then you should be able to keep the o1v hooked up as your DAW controller.

Tell us what your actual signal chain is as far as what gear you're using and how you monitor.

Thanks.
 
How are you planning on doing overdubs and such if you don't monitor the 24 outs from the HD?
 
jrennard said:
Hello!

If we wanted to setup our HD24 on it's own mixer...what would you recommend? At this time, we only need the mixer to set gain and levels going to the hard disk. After that, we'll dump all the data to a computer.
Click to expand...
If that's your only need, then you don't need a mixer, you only need mic pres. But I suspect that I'm not truly understanding your application.

I've used my 01V with my HD24, but it only lets me go direct with 8 channels, so it's not a great match. I've also used my Spirit328 with the HD24, which is a much better match, but it's still limited to 16 channels. And nowadays I'm using three Studio Project SP828s to feed my HD24, which gives me 24 channels of input along with a rudimentary mixer for those 24 channels.

BTW, as I've suggested to all HD24 owners, you really need to join the Yahoo HD24 group. We're up to more than 1200 HD24 owner/members now, so it's a very good way to reach others with this recorder.
 
Ok, will someone please explain this situation to me as I have the HD24 too. How can you not have at least a 24 channel mixer if you intend on doing anything more than a live recording?

Lets say I have 8 outboard preamps. Sure, I can record 8 tracks, but without a mixer how do you go further and record a 9th track without being able to hear the first 8? Hmmmmm, maybe I'm an idiot but I don't get it. You NEED something to monitor the first 8 outputs, NO? So, you need a 24 channel mixer to be able to use all 24 tracks.
 
HangDawg said:
Ok, will someone please explain this situation to me as I have the HD24 too. How can you not have at least a 24 channel mixer if you intend on doing anything more than a live recording?
Click to expand...
Many mixers are set up with some number of "input" channels (with mic pres), and additional channels to support the "tape returns" coming back from a recorder. My Spirit328, for example, has 16 channels of mic pres, but can support a total of 32 channels to the mix bus. (Actually it has about ten more analog inputs that can be used as well, plus its internal effects loops.)
 
I don't think HangDawg was asking "how does it work?" as much as he was asking "why even bother?" with the HD24 if you don't have a board that supports 24 channels. If you don't have a mixer for monitoring purposes, you can't go back and overdub at all because you won't be able to hear any playback. This would render the HD24 useless for anything more than recording a performance completely live all at once.
 
Adam P said:
This would render the HD24 useless for anything more than recording a performance completely live all at once.
Click to expand...
Actually, that's the only thing I use my HD24 for. I could use it for other things, but that's the bulk of my work. Nonetheless, as I described above, I did eventually move up to a full 24 channel capability. Even before that I had 24 channel capability in a pinch by using both digital mixers concurrently. But my current setup is a better match for my needs.
 
If you just want something to monitor the outs of the HD24 while tracking, a speck x.sum would fit the bill. It's pricey, but may meet your needs.

Also, I want to clarify to the original poster that there are actually 24 "pairs of outs" on the HD24. 1 digital and 1 analog for every track. The 24 Digital outs can be used simultaneously with the 24 analog ones. I don't know how that will help you but I thought I should mention it.

I'm still confused by this:

"I'm a little over my head at this point. Our current board is a Yamaha 01v which has the nice 6 optical ins/outs. However, those are taken by our pre-amps. =0 So, we are looking for a cheap alternative to get all our tracks recorded."

Why do you have pres going into the o1v and not just directly to the HD24??? Sounds like your signal path could use some revision. Care to explain?
 
If he's gonna dump it all to computer anyway why even bother with the HD24?
 
Adam P said:
I don't think HangDawg was asking "how does it work?" as much as he was asking "why even bother?" with the HD24 if you don't have a board that supports 24 channels. If you don't have a mixer for monitoring purposes, you can't go back and overdub at all because you won't be able to hear any playback. This would render the HD24 useless for anything more than recording a performance completely live all at once.
Click to expand...


That is exactly my point. Should have made it clearer I suppose. I just happen to have a 32 channel Soundtracs console for sale on Ebay that works very well with the HD24. Maybe this dude is interested.
 
Actually, I think the HD24 has pretty decent converters. The cost of an HD24 and an RME HDSP 9652 is just over $2000. That is a pretty decent converter/interface setup. I don't think you can get a better sounding setup for 24 channels in that price range. With the HD24 you also get portability with being able to easily do live recordings and not having to haul your computer with you. If you do have a console, it is nice being able to send the analog outs back to your console for monitoring (latency free) and the digital outs to the RME for recording in your DAW app. I use a MAckie recorder for just that. When I am in the studio I use it purely for converters/splitter. I never even hit record. I like the Mackie specifically because I can take it out and record a live show, and when I get back to the studio I can just slide the hard drive out of the external caddy slot in the Mackie and right into a matching one I have installed in my tower. Then I can just drag and drop the files I want.
 
Hello,

Sorry for the late reply.

The man reason we were going to purchase a seperate board for the HD24 was because we truly need all 24 channels and in our current environment, Yamaha 01V96, we are only capable of 16 optical outs. The third optical out is taken by our personalized monitor system.

So, we were going to run dual snakes, one to the live board and one to the recording board. Take either line outs of the recording board to the recorder, that way with on-board pre's we could control gain and that sort of thing.

Then, take the data to the PC and mix/master.

The reason we are using an HD24 instead of a DAW interface is just because we don't want to have to have a computer around in order to record. Plus the cost of most decent interfaces w/ 24 channels rival or exceed that of the HD24. So, in our case we'll just pop out the drive caddy, pop it into a Fireport and dump the data to a laptop. Easy editing.

Um...No need to monitor the live recording at this point, once we determine we are getting decent signals and enough level, we won't really care what it sounds like, since we'll do all post production.

Anyways...Since I can do 16 channels of optical without another board, that is our current route. I'm trying to get the HD24 to allow me to do the 16 optical and 8 analog from our pre's. But haven't had a lot of luck. I'm not sure if the HD24 will allow dual-sources or not...I'll post a question about it on here as well. Thanks again!
 
OK, I've been using the HD24 for a while now so I'll try and help... I'll answer your individual questions first...

jrennard said:
My problem, is I don't understand the ins/outs on the HD24. There are 24 ins and 24 outs, I would imagine that the outs from the HD24 are only if you want to send individual channels to the board so they can be played. But if I'm mixing in a PC environment, I shouldn't need to send anything out from the HD24 right?
Click to expand...

Correct, the HD24 shows you all the input levels from all the signals coming in, so once you're happy you're getting a strong enough signal you don't actually have to listen to it.

jrennard said:
So, if I have a 24 channel analog board, I should be able to take all 24 outs from the INSERTS into the ins on the HD24?
Click to expand...

Yep, the Inserts on most mixers are post-gain and pre-fader... meaning you just have to adjust the gain knob for each channel so that the input levels on the HD24 are dancing happily (Although obviously you're not using the mixer as a mixer here! just using its pre-amps... so maybe you could avoid having a mixer altogether and just use a strip of pre-amps where required, and where not required go direct into the HD24)

If you do use a mixer and the insert points, then instead of having a mono phone jack plugged "half-in" (as the manual states) I suggest you use a standard insert ('Y') cable securely plugged in all the way and connect up the other two ends to the In and Out of the HD24 for that channel. This routes the signal from the sound source, into the mixer's pre-amp, into the HD24 for recording, out of the HD24 and back into the mixer. This enables simple monitoring of the channel from the mixer. (I would do it this way even if I wasn't monitoring because at least then the cable is plugged securely into the mixer!)

jrennard said:
I'm trying to get the HD24 to allow me to do the 16 optical and 8 analog from our pre's. But haven't had a lot of luck. I'm not sure if the HD24 will allow dual-sources or not
Click to expand...

Yep, you can record from a mix of analogue and digital sources. The feature is an upgrade so you have to use the menu system to specify the Input Select (Analogue or Digital) individually for each pair of channels (at least I think it's done in pairs, I haven't got the machine in front of me)


OK, it looks like you're saying your Yamaha mixer/outboard mic-pres/monitoring system is full to bursting on controlling the live show... so you want to completely split all your sound sources and have one snake off to your live system and the other to your recording system.

I would say that's the "safest" way to organise things, because if anything went wrong with the recording system then your live show is completely independent and would carry on regardless.

So for this approach you could just use a 24 channel mixer using the inserts (or a combo of pre-amps and going direct as I mentioned before), although you won't be recording from your outboard mic-pres you've mentioned, is that a problem?

Although instead of having 2 separate snakes and a 2nd mixer, I would investigate chaining up the Yamaha and the HD24.. it appears you have 24 outs on the Yamaha (16 digital and 8 analogue?) if you route those signals into the HD24 for recording you can pass them straight out again onto wherever they were going originally. My main concern with that method is that for a live show, you have to ensure the HD24 is in "pass through" mode, otherwise you will have a completely silent show! It's only a case of pressing the right buttons, but someone in charge of the mix on the night might not have a clue how the recorder works!
 
Last edited:
jrennard said:
Um...No need to monitor the live recording at this point, once we determine we are getting decent signals and enough level, we won't really care what it sounds like, since we'll do all post production.
Click to expand...
Famous last words! :rolleyes:

jrennard said:
Anyways...Since I can do 16 channels of optical without another board, that is our current route. I'm trying to get the HD24 to allow me to do the 16 optical and 8 analog from our pre's. But haven't had a lot of luck. I'm not sure if the HD24 will allow dual-sources or not...I'll post a question about it on here as well. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Yes, you can easily feed the HD24 from multiple sources. I used to use my 01V and my Spirit328 together to give me 24 channels of input. As long as you sync the clocks correctly, you'll be fine. The best way to do that is using standard wordclock, but it can also work with just lightpipe.
 
I use 1-16 channel mixer and 1-8 channel mixer and I have more routing options then I know what to do and it works out great for me. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top