Studio Details and Diagrams

People occasionally ask me how gear X is connected to gear Y. These Audio Setup and Computer Setup diagrams should help to answer those questions. Also, it's nice to have these docs lying around so that, in the heat of troubleshooting, I don't forget any essential details.

Basically:

The G5 is the center of the system, serving as both DAW and mixer. Its MOTU MIDI and audio interfaces talk to everything else in the studio. A pair of Mackie control surfaces provide the physical mixing interface.

The G4 hosts an OASYS PCI card, which connects to the G5 via MIDI and ADAT lightpipe.

The Quadra 700 hosts two Lexicon NuVerbs - each providing the guts of a 300 on a computer card. Both connect to the G5's MOTU audio system via AES/EBU.

A pair of Focusrite channel strips provide mic and DI inputs, along with excellent analog EQ and compression via line-level inputs. These are the late, lamented Green series, which duplicated the Red series functionality and audio quality at about 2/3 the price (and 1/2 the rack space), by using surface-mount components and less expensive cases. I bought them after my brother and I did a blind comparison with a Manley VoxBox - and the Green 5 won.

The main outs of the G5's audio system are connected to a Mackie Big Knob, which provides monitor level control, speaker switching, headphone amps, and talkback.

Random Gear Meanderings 

I used to have a much bigger system, with piles of outboard dynamics and EQ, banks of patchbays, a big analog mixer, and more synths (I still have various pieces of equipment for sale). In June of 2003, I reconfigured the studio to use the computer as the main mixing and patching environment, replacing my much-beloved Mackie 3208. I also cut out a whole bunch of other stuff, along with about half of the cabling.

The philosopy was to concentrate on fewer but higher-quality pieces of gear, in an entirely automated system, so that I could focus on music instead of troubleshooting and maintenance. So far, it does seem to be a remarkably pleasant and stable setup. I must admit, though, that now and again I feel a little pianist-envy when I look at studios with walls full of synths and racks of esoteric music-making and signal-processing devices.

I just need to keep reminding myself that gear lust is based on an illusion, confusing the tools of creation with the creation itself. "If I only had that one new cool toy, then I'd really be able to make great music..."

Gallery of long-gone equipment

Some of the gear which is no longer here. Some great, some mediocre at best; some remembered fondly, some hardly at all.

Synths: NED Synclavier II (16-voice FM); Roland Jupiter-6, SH-2, JX-8P, and JX-3P; Yamaha TX-7; Oberheim Matrix-6r; Emu Drumulator; Ensoniq EPS and EPS-16+

Effects and processing: Sony DPS-R7 (x2), Lexicon LXP-1 (x2), Roland E-660 digital EQ, Yamaha SPX-900, Manley VoxBox, Alesis Quadraverb (x2) and Microverb, dbx 266 (x2), dbx 163, Behringer Composer and Intelligate

Mixers and automation: Mackie 1604 (x2) and Mixer Mixer; Mackie 3208; Niche ACM (x2), CM Automation 16-channel MIDI VCA, JL Cooper Mixmaster (x2)