?'s about "hooking up"

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krinkelfish

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Hey,
Help me, I am confused about some stuff.
We are running from a room snake, to a series of pre's (Sytek, RNP, OSA API clones, Focusright)...
We have a Soundcraft M8 mixer, and a Digi 001

The gain coming out of the pre's, is quite substantial, so the thought is, run into the M8, use the direct outs, and adjust the fader levels to not distort into the 001.

Does anyone know if we would be adding a lot of noise using the M8 pre's?


Does coming out of the direct out, by-pass the pre's... or are they in the signal path?
Would this add substantial noise?

We thought about going right from the pre's (XLR to TRS) to the Digi, but, the gain is too high, even when you go to the hardware panel, and turn it all the way down....

I really don't want to add a $20 pad, that would fuck up the sound, right?


So I guess we'll go, Snake.... pre's.... board... Digi.

Any ideas?








:confused:
 
Go directly from the line outputs of the preamps to the inputs of your recorder. Don't go through the mixer. Very bad idea. Most preamps have both balanced +4 outputs and -10 unbalanced too so you should have no trouble matching levels. I know I never do.
 
Yeah, you're already using nice pre's. Why muck it up by going through the MR8?
 
I hear ya... Has anyone else used the OSA, or for that matter, API pres with a 001?
I can't seem to suss out how to get a usable signal from these pres, just too hot!
 
Are you going into your line inputs on the 001? Are they configurable for +4dB/-10dB? It seems very strange that your preamps at low gain are generating too hot a signal.
 
Well, that is the question... To get some "beefier" sounds out of the pre's, you crank em up, right?
To make em work harder, that is what gets you "the" sound....?

I guess my question is, how can you make the pre's work harder, but still get a usable signal into the Digi?
 
Crank 'em enough to get a good signal into your soundcard.

I have the same problem using my MXL 603's with DMP3 as drum overheads. Even with the gain all the way down on the DMP3, the signal is too hot. So I run it through a Rane ME15B and use the level controls to attenutate the signal into my soundcard.

Don't inputs 1&2 on the 001 have a pad? And trim controls? Maybe you should switch some things around.
 
MadAudio said:
Crank 'em enough to get a good signal into your soundcard.

I have the same problem using my MXL 603's with DMP3 as drum overheads. Even with the gain all the way down on the DMP3, the signal is too hot. So I run it through a Rane ME15B and use the level controls to attenutate the signal into my soundcard.

Don't inputs 1&2 on the 001 have a pad? And trim controls? Maybe you should switch some things around.
Click to expand...
Right, but that would be just like running through my M8, right?

How do the "pros" do it?

That is, attinuate the signal to a usable level from a high output pre?
 
I use to OSA's quite a bit{I like em alot}Dependent on the source and mics I use the pads{20 db button on the front of the mod.} on the pres and set to taste..Like others have said go direct to the "recorder"..I always have to use the pads on drums..Good luck they should sound/work very well for you :)
 
Pads will retain your sound much better than running all your channels through a cheap little Soundcraft. Don't any of your preamps have output volumes? Typically, preamps without output volumes are not intended to give a different sound at different input levels. Typically if a preamp does not have an output trim it has been designed to sound the same tonally at both 20db of gain and at 60db. Also, adding a 20 db pad inline with the mic cable would actually make you drive your preamp harder. So if cranking the preamp is a goal for you, than a pad or two will actually facilitate that. If you pass the signal through the Soundcraft you are in essence doing the same thing but by using a lot of extra circuitry. Now that I think about it, the Sytek, RNP and the OSA's don't have output trims do they?
 
Yes the OSA's have a trim..and a pad on the module..Im not taking inline pads but the pad on the unit itself..Its a 20db pad that should get you there.

edit ..I don't know about the other pres you mentioned

Read a little about them here


http://www.atlasproaudio.com/osa2.html
 
if i remember correctly, digi allows you to set the line level inputs to +4 or -10 in the software. maybe you need to change that?
 
krinkelfish said:
Right, but that would be just like running through my M8, right?

How do the "pros" do it?

That is, attinuate the signal to a usable level from a high output pre?
Click to expand...
No, if you run it through the M8, you' re running it through another set of pre's, adding noise. You need to use a passive attenutor of some kind.
 
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