skippy
New member
This is a very interesting piece of gear, and it has radically simplified my day-to-day operations. It's not for everyone, but for the sort of stuff I find myself doing these days, it's been a lifesaver.
What this box primarily is is a multi-input, multi-output monitor and gear switch, +4/-10 level shifter, and balanced/single-ended converter. Its basic function is to allow the connection of multiple outboard recorders to the monitor setup in a studio, allowing quick and easy dubbing from one source to another without repatching. "Patch bay" is my middle name, so some folks might be surprised that I'd want a piece of gear that eliminates a lot of patching- but this really does speed up dubbing work.
I have the following items that I routinely need to route signals to and from: my mixer, which is the primary signal source, my DAW, a minidisk deck, and two dual cassette decks. The SRM-80 provides 4 5-position router switches as a matrix, so that any signal source can drive any other. So when I need to dub 4 work tapes for an a capella quartet that I'm recording, I load 4 cassettes into the 2 machines, set them both up to take their input from the board, and punch go: dubbing them all 4 at once with no repatching. I can dupe from cassette to cassette, or from MD to cassette, or from the board or DAW to any of those, without touching a patch cable.
One thing I occasionally do is build complex sound effects for a theatrical group I work with: I can pull them into the DAW, edit them, and then dump them down to MD for the final production cut, and to a couple of cassette review copies for the director and his minions, simultaneously. No patching. It's also nice to be able to fly those SFX in originally from either MD or cassette, by simply setting up ithe DAW's monitor inputs to source from the appropriate deck. Very cool. Basically, I can take any source, and print to any destination deck (including the DAW) by just setting the matrix switches properly.
The box also has two other useful functions: it provides a high-res LED display for the monitor levels, switchable from true VU to PPM dynamics. This beats the hell out of the LED ladder displays on my Studio 32, and gives very good resolution around the magical 0dB point. It has internal switching for 3 separate sets of monitor speakers, with individual level trims, so that the relative levels can be set between monitor pairs. This is very useful for checking mixes between the monitors and the lousy speakers without incurring the psychoacoustic problems that come with differing levels ("louder is better"). And it has an overall monitor level control knob, and an "answer-the-phone" button that drops the level 20dB.
Does your average home studio need one of these? No way. But if your normal operations include a lot of dubbing between pro and consumer gear for whatever reason, this thing is pretty darned trick.
What this box primarily is is a multi-input, multi-output monitor and gear switch, +4/-10 level shifter, and balanced/single-ended converter. Its basic function is to allow the connection of multiple outboard recorders to the monitor setup in a studio, allowing quick and easy dubbing from one source to another without repatching. "Patch bay" is my middle name, so some folks might be surprised that I'd want a piece of gear that eliminates a lot of patching- but this really does speed up dubbing work.
I have the following items that I routinely need to route signals to and from: my mixer, which is the primary signal source, my DAW, a minidisk deck, and two dual cassette decks. The SRM-80 provides 4 5-position router switches as a matrix, so that any signal source can drive any other. So when I need to dub 4 work tapes for an a capella quartet that I'm recording, I load 4 cassettes into the 2 machines, set them both up to take their input from the board, and punch go: dubbing them all 4 at once with no repatching. I can dupe from cassette to cassette, or from MD to cassette, or from the board or DAW to any of those, without touching a patch cable.
One thing I occasionally do is build complex sound effects for a theatrical group I work with: I can pull them into the DAW, edit them, and then dump them down to MD for the final production cut, and to a couple of cassette review copies for the director and his minions, simultaneously. No patching. It's also nice to be able to fly those SFX in originally from either MD or cassette, by simply setting up ithe DAW's monitor inputs to source from the appropriate deck. Very cool. Basically, I can take any source, and print to any destination deck (including the DAW) by just setting the matrix switches properly.
The box also has two other useful functions: it provides a high-res LED display for the monitor levels, switchable from true VU to PPM dynamics. This beats the hell out of the LED ladder displays on my Studio 32, and gives very good resolution around the magical 0dB point. It has internal switching for 3 separate sets of monitor speakers, with individual level trims, so that the relative levels can be set between monitor pairs. This is very useful for checking mixes between the monitors and the lousy speakers without incurring the psychoacoustic problems that come with differing levels ("louder is better"). And it has an overall monitor level control knob, and an "answer-the-phone" button that drops the level 20dB.
Does your average home studio need one of these? No way. But if your normal operations include a lot of dubbing between pro and consumer gear for whatever reason, this thing is pretty darned trick.
