My First Festival Recording Rig

[ghance]

Hi guys,

 

Having hired a 2x24 way recording rig for a few gigs this summer I'm thinking about buying something for next year.

 

Application is a festival stage #2 or 3 (def NOT a main stage). To record acts for off-line editing later. Potential for sharing media with video production co's etc.

 

I was very pleased with what we hired: 48-way BSS MSR604 active split. 48-ways of Focusrite Octo Pre LE mic pre's, and 2x Alesis HD24 HD recorder. All nicely cased up with a UPS for good measure. I just made sure the gain was in good shape and whipped the drives out at the end of the gig for sharing with a video production co.

 

So if I was to buy something I'm tempted to buy the same setup.. Questions:

 

1. Should I replace the BSS MSR604's & Octo Pre's with something the a KT Square ONE splitter?

2. Should I consider a whole different approach.. like direct into Protools or similar (not keen.. reliability / robustness is a bigger concern than price or quality)

3. Should be relatively affordable (This is a bit of fluff on the side of the main business.. the Live PA)

4. What else do I need think about.. gotcha's.. etc

 

cheers

 

.gh

[lightsource]

Ghance,

 

You've sort of answered your own question.

 

From the equipment you already use, do you like what you are hearing? what aspects do you dislike?

 

What do your customers require that you can't supply?

 

You are in a supply / demand situation from what you have described.

 

So budget vs equipment is what you need to address.

 

If everythings 'Ok' with the customer, then all is well, Just sort the issues as they arise, but ensure the budget is available to cover that eventuality.

[Bobbsy]

Indeed.

 

If it was for my own personal use, I'd go a different route and record direct to a computer using either Protools or Pyramix, likely the latter.

 

However, for hiring out I think you're right to go with an all-hardware solution.

 

I've never used the KT Square One you mention but I know both the BSS splitter and Octo Pre preamps to be very solid and nice sounding. The HD24 disk recorders are fine and reliable too--and stand alone disk recorders are getting to be a dying breed and hard to find.

 

Put it all in a nice, foolproof rack and you're done.

 

Bob

[Shez]

It might be worth your while looking at JoeCo's Blackbox recorders - 24 channel recording in 1U of rackspace to an external USB2 disk which can then be plugged straight in to your daw of choice. Much as I like my HD24, it's quite chunky and you have to convert the files before being able to do anything with them. The Blackbox is also designed for live event recording whereas the HD24 has a lot more complexity intended for studio use which is unnecessary live.

 

I've not used one yet so can't comment from that perspective, but it certainly looks worth investigating.

[paulears]

I'm not into recording much multi-track now, but have an HD24 and a separate computer system based on a Tascam A/D and Cubase 5. From choice, I'm using the computer system every time. The problem for me is that I'm usually recording long takes, and faffing about transferring files is the only real drawback. If I needed 24 or 48, then I'd probably still go with the HD24. The PC system is pretty stable, but human stupidity can crash it - AND with my set-up, the easy error to make is to have 8 or 10 tracks waving meters at me, hitting record and not noticing every track is actually connected to just one microphone, the others being routed nowhere!