Re: Choosing a Tascam DM24 or a Yamaha 01v96?

"Mike Rivers" <mrivers@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1126096278.643710.149840@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> You can paint yourself in to a corner, though, if you try
> to get too fancy, and, for example, use a preamp with a
> built-in A/D converter and want to route its digital
> output to a track, through your prized vintage LA3
> compressor. Then, you're sitting there with a digital
> cable in one hand and an analog cable in the other.

As I pointed out yesterday to Scott, this is far from
mission impossible. In a recording context, you can probably
patch existing unused I/O ports to support one such analog
device or a very small number of them.

> You run into the same problem if you want to use the
> console to mix 24 digital outputs from a recorder or
> computer equipped with a multi-channel digital output
> device.

The prime way to do this is digitally, using an audio
interface with compatible digital I/O.

This can mean slot adapters with AES/EBU at the high end,
and ADAT I/O at the lower end.

Cards like the Lynx mega-AES3 card seem to be designed for
this at the high end. What the world needs is a $200 card
with 3-4 ADAT input ports. AFAIK, what we have costs 2-3
times that much and does more that might not be needed.

> Digital console makers have finally figured this out and
> provide a patch point in the digital path where you can
> "insert" either analog or digital inputs and outputs.

Right, the Yammies have digital inserts and digital direct
outs in addition to the analog inserts on the low-numbered
mic inputs. You can patch the digital insert outs and direct
outs to ports on the cards that you use to fill the slots.

If anybody is going to do this on a Yammy, the hidden gotcha
is that you have to specifically enable the direct out or
insert I/O on each channel individually after you assign it.
You can't enable a direct out that hasn't first been
assigned. A digital insert that hasn't been enabled is dead
to the world just like the analog ones. Ditto for the direct
outs.

The good news is that you don't necessarily need the moral
equivalent of a cable that jumpers insert out to insert in.
You can just patch insert in to that channel's current
input source.

> Yamaha does this with what they call "omni" inputs and
> outputs (not sure if the 01V96 has them).

Yamaha has a great number of options for patching I/O
besides the omni I/O. However if these ports are free they
are a good starting point. The problem is that there aren't
a lot of them by multitrack standards.

> You can get there with some consoles by using aux sends
> and returns.

On a Yammy, you can patch the digital inserts and direct
outs pretty much to wherever you've got a free port,
built-in, or on a slot.

> You can't get there at all with some digital consoles.
> But the point is that there are ways to work that don't
> require a hardware insert on every channel.

Agreed. Also note that on the Yammies, there is a digital
direct out that you can patch pre-eq, pre-fade, or
post-fade, for every channel, whether real or virtual.

Here's a real-world example.

This 02R96 is primarly a SR console, so its omni outs are
pretty much tied up with on-stage monitors.

I'm currently routing 24 channels out of my 02R96, all
pre-fader, pre-eq. Since this is an upgrade from a Mackie
SR32, I'm heavily pre-invested in analog hardware.

Channels 1-16 are default-opatched analog insert out into a
Delta 1010 and a Delta 1010LT. Channels 17-24 are digital
direct outs user patched to the analog outputs of an
ADA8000, and then into another Delta 1010LT.

Since outboard mic preamps tend to come with line outputs,
theres a lot of more-or-less free output resources just
sitting there, for a lot of people.

I do have 2 free digital outs on the console that I could
use with the digital inputs on the Delta complex to get 4
more channels on the cheap.



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