Old 06-18-2021, 11:27 PM   #1
lanceaustin
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Default Where is your audio interface?

Currently, my RME Fireface 802 resides in a rolling rack case, apart from my current desk.

But I'm also shopping music recording desks atm, and noticed many have a 2u or 3u rack space on either side.

Anybody house their interface in this space? It seems that protruding cables from front input jacks could be an issue.

EDIT: More succinctly, is your interface mounted in your desk?

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Old 06-19-2021, 04:11 AM   #2
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I built myself 2 shallow 4U racks & keep every rack mountable piece of kit in them.

Even with eight mic or instrument leads hanging out of the front, I don`t seem to get in a mess, so don`t spend too much time worrying about, it unless the cables all cover a large chunk of the real estate in front of the rack mount area.
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Old 06-19-2021, 06:46 AM   #3
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My audio interfaces are in my mix desk, behind my midi keyboard. I have six XLR channels in the back that go to my drum snake.



Full image of the desk, which is an Omnirax Presto that I bought in 1999 and have loved it ever since. When I bought mine, they were only about $250 without the keyboard shelf.

https://sclkssl.ssl.hwcdn.net/52/img...205_808451.jpg

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Omnirax...mnirax&index=1

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Old 06-19-2021, 09:11 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
I built myself 2 shallow 4U racks & keep every rack mountable piece of kit in them.

Even with eight mic or instrument leads hanging out of the front, I don`t seem to get in a mess, so don`t spend too much time worrying about, it unless the cables all cover a large chunk of the real estate in front of the rack mount area.
And does this rack case you built reside on top of your desk?
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Old 06-19-2021, 09:18 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Glennbo View Post
My audio interfaces are in my mix desk, behind my midi keyboard. I have six XLR channels in the back that go to my drum snake.
That is one tidy work station!

You mentioned the rear of your interface. But I also see XLR jacks at the front. Are these inputs? Would you be able to use several (front) inputs without creating a space issue?
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Old 06-19-2021, 12:25 PM   #6
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That is one tidy work station!
Thanks. I've set it up so I can record acoustic drums, electric bass, electric or acoustic guitars, keyboards, and vocals without having to hook stuff up or get levels. The moment I have an idea, I can be recording it before the moment fades.

Quote:
You mentioned the rear of your interface. But I also see XLR jacks at the front. Are these inputs? Would you be able to use several (front) inputs without creating a space issue?
The XLRs and line inputs on the front of the red face unit are an 8 channel ADAT expansion unit. The 1 space unit right above it is the primary audio device and it has 6 XLRs on the back and 2 on the front. The first 6 are connected via a 6-channel snake to the acoustic drums in the room, and the other two are connected to a vocal mic and a mic on a guitar speaker cabinet isolated in the closet.

The expansion unit has a hardware modeled bass guitar amp/speaker pedal in it's 1st channel, and so far I've only needed the second channel to plug guitars and basses in direct, but if I were to have the need to plug more XLR lines into the red face unit, I can easily tuck the cables behind my midi keyboard where they are out of the way of the keyboard. There are still 10 inches of desktop from my midi keyboard to the edge of the desk.

Edit: I plugged in an XLR mic cable into the last input of the red face expansion unit, so it would be in the worst possible input and you can see that it still doesn't interfere with access to playing the midi keyboard, and there is still a lot of desktop remaining to use as a desktop.

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Old 06-19-2021, 12:51 PM   #7
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In my computer.
2 ea RME HDSP9652

W
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Old 06-19-2021, 01:18 PM   #8
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All this gear privilege making me feel bad about my Presonus sitting on top of my computer. 😊
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Old 06-19-2021, 01:21 PM   #9
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Don't it all starts somewhere.
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Old 06-19-2021, 04:36 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Glennbo View Post
Thanks. I've set it up so I can record acoustic drums, electric bass, electric or acoustic guitars, keyboards, and vocals without having to hook stuff up or get levels. The moment I have an idea, I can be recording it before the moment fades.



The XLRs and line inputs on the front of the red face unit are an 8 channel ADAT expansion unit. The 1 space unit right above it is the primary audio device and it has 6 XLRs on the back and 2 on the front. The first 6 are connected via a 6-channel snake to the acoustic drums in the room, and the other two are connected to a vocal mic and a mic on a guitar speaker cabinet isolated in the closet.

The expansion unit has a hardware modeled bass guitar amp/speaker pedal in it's 1st channel, and so far I've only needed the second channel to plug guitars and basses in direct, but if I were to have the need to plug more XLR lines into the red face unit, I can easily tuck the cables behind my midi keyboard where they are out of the way of the keyboard. There are still 10 inches of desktop from my midi keyboard to the edge of the desk.

Edit: I plugged in an XLR mic cable into the last input of the red face expansion unit, so it would be in the worst possible input and you can see that it still doesn't interfere with access to playing the midi keyboard, and there is still a lot of desktop remaining to use as a desktop.


Hey Glennbo nice setup.

I just bolted my new umc1820 same as yours in my rack today and am ordering an ada8200 like you as well. I've read lots of great reviews about the ada8200 but one thing that came up time and time again was that it gets pretty hot. The recommendations from what I read was to keep the slot above it in the rack open so it can breathe and not be smothered on both sides. Just thought I'd throw that out there whether it's a valid concern or not.
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Old 06-19-2021, 06:32 PM   #11
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Hey Glennbo nice setup.

I just bolted my new umc1820 same as yours in my rack today and am ordering an ada8200 like you as well. I've read lots of great reviews about the ada8200 but one thing that came up time and time again was that it gets pretty hot. The recommendations from what I read was to keep the slot above it in the rack open so it can breathe and not be smothered on both sides. Just thought I'd throw that out there whether it's a valid concern or not.
Thanks Doc, I was told that the UMC1820 gets hot when it was the only one of them I had, and I did have a blank panel above it, which you can see in this wide shot.

https://sclkssl.ssl.hwcdn.net/52/img...205_808451.jpg

What I found though, was my UMC1820 didn't ever get hot, and I power it up every morning and leave it on all day for at least 15 hours. I've had the ADA8200 a couple months now and it's been getting the same 15 hours per day of on time. Currently it's 82F in my studio, both units were powered up at 8:00am this morning. It's now 8:30pm and neither unit feels anything more than slightly warm. I am only using phantom power on the last four inputs of the UMC1820, which may or may not have any effect on the thermals.


On topic: The racks in my mix desk are open back and there is open space at the top and bottom, which you can see in that wide shot. I suppose the 1/2" open slot above and 1 1/2" open slot below the two racks in my mix desk are helping keep things cool.


Edit: BTW, get two ADAT cables so you can keep the UMC1820 as the master clock for both units. That way the ADA8200 is getting it's clock over ADAT from the UMC1820 and the UMC1820 gets the additional 8 channels of input over the second ADAT cable coming from the ADA8200. You can use 1 ADAT cable, but the ADA8200 will be a fixed switch selected clock running either 44.1k or 48k, and if like me you have older projects done at 44.1k but now use 48k, letting the UMC1820 act as the clock so REAPER can switch both units when needed makes it transparent for switching sample rates.
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Old 06-20-2021, 12:01 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glennbo View Post
Edit: I plugged in an XLR mic cable into the last input of the red face expansion unit, so it would be in the worst possible input and you can see that it still doesn't interfere with access to playing the midi keyboard, and there is still a lot of desktop remaining to use as a desktop.
Perfect description, it helps a lot for what I'm hoping to do.
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Old 06-20-2021, 04:06 AM   #13
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And does this rack case you built reside on top of your desk?
I have a kitchen worktop piece that runs the whole width of my studio room. About 3 metres.
If you add the two racks at 52cm wide plus my 30" monitor at 72cm wide, I have both my audio monitors on top of the racks, supported by sorbothane hemispheres, so the whole thing currently takes up about 174cm.
Previously with my two 23" monitors, this measured out at 214cm, so I have gained 40cm and can also use the 30" monitor with either my huge desktop PC or my tiny Mac Mini, which sits underneath the worktop next to the PC. Working on adding my other laptop with Linux on it too....

*gasp* What a lot of effort for so little gain, but it IS more efficient.

As an aside, back when I was using Focusrite Octopres, I actually made a one U 19" rack unit with eight mic XLRs sockets in it, so I could access the rear inputs from the front! Needless to say, I dont need to use it with the new Behringer, but it could still come in handy one day.
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Old 06-20-2021, 06:59 AM   #14
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Perfect description, it helps a lot for what I'm hoping to do.
I knew you were concerned about cables being in the way. When I bought the ADAT expansion unit with front facing XLRs I had the same concern, but the Omnirax Presto has such a large desktop that it's not a problem.

The racks are leaned back too so some natural air flow can vent through the items in the rack and there is an opening below the racks where cables can be run. You can see that stuff better in this Musicians Friend pic without a midi keyboard on the desk.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...48080000257000

Edit: I found a spec sheet on B&H that shows all the dimensions. There are other similar desks for a lot less money. I bought mine in 1999 for a quarter of what they sell for now. Anyway, this spec sheet with dimensions might help, no matter which desk you are looking at.

https://static.bhphoto.com/images/mu...IMG_166200.jpg

One giant plus for the Omnirax Presto is that you can easily remove the desktop, and with everything still hooked up, fit it through a doorway. I put new commercial grade carpet in my studio a month ago, so I had to empty the room. I removed two screws that allowed the entire desktop to slide off, and with everything else still connected up, pushed it across the hall into the bedroom where I plugged it back in, slid the desktop back on without the screws, and had my computer available while the carpet was being installed.

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Old 06-20-2021, 07:40 AM   #15
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Audio interfaces mic preamps, AD converters, and headphone amp in a rack. I call it the front of house rack.
At home in the studio it sits between the control room and one of the recording rooms. The computer is the animal that needs to be kept out of the control room so it can run its cooling system. There's a walled off door to another room with a cable run under it for that. Amps for the passive speakers are in there too.

For a live sound gig the rack and computer are usually side stage or back stage. There's usually enough noise that the computer running is a moot point at a live gig.
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Old 06-20-2021, 09:08 AM   #16
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Thanks Doc, I was told that the UMC1820 gets hot when it was the only one of them I had, and I did have a blank panel above it, which you can see in this wide shot.

https://sclkssl.ssl.hwcdn.net/52/img...205_808451.jpg

What I found though, was my UMC1820 didn't ever get hot, and I power it up every morning and leave it on all day for at least 15 hours. I've had the ADA8200 a couple months now and it's been getting the same 15 hours per day of on time. Currently it's 82F in my studio, both units were powered up at 8:00am this morning. It's now 8:30pm and neither unit feels anything more than slightly warm. I am only using phantom power on the last four inputs of the UMC1820, which may or may not have any effect on the thermals.


On topic: The racks in my mix desk are open back and there is open space at the top and bottom, which you can see in that wide shot. I suppose the 1/2" open slot above and 1 1/2" open slot below the two racks in my mix desk are helping keep things cool.


Edit: BTW, get two ADAT cables so you can keep the UMC1820 as the master clock for both units. That way the ADA8200 is getting it's clock over ADAT from the UMC1820 and the UMC1820 gets the additional 8 channels of input over the second ADAT cable coming from the ADA8200. You can use 1 ADAT cable, but the ADA8200 will be a fixed switch selected clock running either 44.1k or 48k, and if like me you have older projects done at 44.1k but now use 48k, letting the UMC1820 act as the clock so REAPER can switch both units when needed makes it transparent for switching sample rates.

Thanks for the heads up and I'll be ordering two toslink cables.
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Old 06-20-2021, 09:23 PM   #17
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Mine is just sitting on my desk for now. The desk is big enough (6ft) that it hasn't been much bother. I have a snake running from the 6 rear inputs to the table behind me. Otherwise I'd have a hassle getting to the rear inputs.
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Old 06-22-2021, 11:43 PM   #18
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And does this rack case you built reside on top of your desk?
Yep. I will see if I can take a photo & post it...

Shows my ADA8200 (with its front loading XLRs & Jacks) currently.
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Old 06-23-2021, 06:19 PM   #19
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A rack is where it's at for me. On the back of this rack I have a patchbay and Mic/Line inputs on a panel. The majority of cables are inside the box.

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Old 06-24-2021, 05:53 AM   #20
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Rack mounted. My brand new RME UFX+ (still trying to figure out exactly how it works).

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Old 06-24-2021, 05:55 AM   #21
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This M Audio project has been my desk mixer / interface for a long time. It still works as fixer with nice motorized faders.


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Old 06-24-2021, 06:54 AM   #22
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Full image of the desk, which is an Omnirax Presto that I bought in 1999 and have loved it ever since. When I bought mine, they were only about $250 without the keyboard shelf.

https://sclkssl.ssl.hwcdn.net/52/img...205_808451.jpg
Hi Glennbo, great looking setup! A bit off topic...I've been looking at the Presto and Presto 4 but have been worried about them being too low.

How has the height of the desk worked for you? Do your knees fit under the keyboard tray?
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Old 06-24-2021, 07:34 AM   #23
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Hi Glennbo, great looking setup! A bit off topic...I've been looking at the Presto and Presto 4 but have been worried about them being too low.

How has the height of the desk worked for you? Do your knees fit under the keyboard tray?
Thanks, and BTW the difference between the Presto and Presto 4 if you don't already know is that the Presto 4 only has two 1U racks on each side for a total of 4 one space rack slots. The normal Presto like I have has 4 1U rack spaces on each side for 8 spaces total.

Keyboard tray is fairly low, and I use a vertical mouse which makes it worse. I'm 6' tall though, and just have my ergonomic chair at it's lowest position, which with my feet flat on the floor is just enough room to slide the keyboard tray all the way out and not hit my knees.

That said, the keyboard tray is what they refer to as "fully articulated" which in simpler terms means you can loosen the locking knob and put the keyboard anywhere you want in about a couple seconds.

For instance, I put the keyboard higher than the desktop in about two seconds.

Then I swiveled it so I could be to the side of the desk. The keyboard tray is expensive, but worth it IMHO.
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Old 06-24-2021, 08:00 AM   #24
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That said, the keyboard tray is what they refer to as "fully articulated" which in simpler terms means you can loosen the locking knob and put the keyboard anywhere you want in about a couple seconds.

For instance, I put the keyboard higher than the desktop in about two seconds.
Wow, I had no idea you could do that. That might seal the deal for me. Thanks for your help!
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Old 06-24-2021, 08:10 AM   #25
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Wow, I had no idea you could do that.
I didn't either until I was bolting it to the bottom of the desktop, which has pre-drilled holes so it's a quick install.

Quote:
That might seal the deal for me. Thanks for your help!
You bet! I bought my desk around 1999/2000 and never bought the keyboard tray. Then two years ago I started having carpel tunnel symptoms, and decided to pop for the keyboard tray. I was actually surprised that it and the desk were still current products. Evidently it was a good design to still be sold 20+ years later.

Once I got the keyboard tray and a vertical mouse, all the symptoms I was starting to have disappeared.

Edit: One additional thing. You can see in the first pic that I added a backstop so I wouldn't push my keyboard off the stand. I'm using a bigger multi-media ergonomic keyboard, and it put it to the edge so I just took a little strip of wood and two tiny wood screws to put a back stop on the tray. A normal keyboard wouldn't have that issue though.
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Old 06-25-2021, 06:50 AM   #26
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I like the rolling rack setup the best. I rarely have to touch my interface since everything feeding it either comes direct from a synth output or from my mixer console. If I had to unplug/replug stuff into it frequently, I'd probably want something handier.

The only downside to a full height rack is the acoustic shadow & reflections it creates. I have to use a couple absorber panels to keep it from affecting monitor speaker frequency response. But I'm (passively) looking for a half-rack to replace it.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/19dm...ew?usp=sharing
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