The best way to go about hooking up an external comp for my rig

[City Beats]

So I've got a Fast Track Ultra 8R and could use the insert points on Ch. 1 and 2, but I'm gonna be upgrading to a Profire 2626 soon for ADAT to get another 8 channels because the FTU8R doesn't have them... and for whatever reason the Profire doesn't have insert points, just line outs... (it's like having peanut butter but no jelly on each unit lol) so my question is, since I've already got a few external pre's, I COULD just route : mic > external pre mic in > line out to external comp > line in on the Profire from the external comp.... but that would leave me kind of limited on using the comp, because I'd only be able to use it whenever I decided to use whichever pre I had it connected through and would have to re-route it and unplug it depending on which pre I wanted to use that day.... plus it would be a part of the audio permanently, which doesn't bother me really.. I got over the phobia of using hardware processors on tracking when I worked at the studio... so would it be smarter to just route through the line outs of my interface (i.e. 7-8, since 5-6 will be my main monitor outs, as I read that on the Profire the 2 headphone inputs are controlled through the outs of 1-2 and 3-4, meaning that the level of my main monitor mix will affect headphone volume... thought I'd throw that info in there for anyone thinking about buying the unit that didn't know) ..... so anyways, should I just route : interface line out 7-8 into channels 1 and 2 of the comp, and then back into 7-8 line in's on the interface, that way I could just insert the comp into the signal path through an insert in my D.A.W (Pro Tools, btw) ... then I could just print the comp'ed audio down to a new track (also would make hybrid bus mixing pretty easy) ... and I also wouldn't be limited to having the compressed audio be a permanent thing... either way you look at it it's got pro's and cons both ways, so I guess I'm just asking what would you guys do if you were in my situation...

Oh, and before you say "grab a patch bay" ... I don't really want to mess with patch bays, because I really don't plan on having that many pieces of external gear... plus, honestly hooking up patch bays still confuse the hell out of me... I understand using them once they're all neatly hooked up and labeled lol... but as far as doing the dirty work of hooking them up I'm still confused... so if I ever decide to upgrade and grab more hardware I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Anyways, thanks for stickin it out and readin this long post... appreciate any feedback I get. Pz

 

[City Beats]

Uhhh... you're welcome? Lol.

 

[bandcoach]

So I've got a Fast Track Ultra 8R and could use the insert points on Ch. 1 and 2, but I'm gonna be upgrading to a Profire 2626 soon for ADAT to get another 8 channels because the FTU8R doesn't have them...

and for whatever reason the Profire doesn't have insert points, just line outs... (it's like having peanut butter but no jelly on each unit lol)

so my question is, since I've already got a few external pre's, I COULD just route :

mic > external pre mic in > line out to external comp > line in on the Profire from the external comp....

but that would leave me kind of limited on using the comp, because I'd only be able to use it whenever I decided to use whichever pre I had it connected through and would have to re-route it and unplug it depending on which pre I wanted to use that day....

plus it would be a part of the audio permanently, which doesn't bother me really..

I got over the phobia of using hardware processors on tracking when I worked at the studio...

so would it be smarter to just route through the line outs of my interface (i.e. 7-8, since 5-6 will be my main monitor outs, as I read that on the Profire the 2 headphone inputs are controlled through the outs of 1-2 and 3-4, meaning that the level of my main monitor mix will affect headphone volume... thought I'd throw that info in there for anyone thinking about buying the unit that didn't know) .....

so anyways, should I just route : interface line out 7-8 into channels 1 and 2 of the comp, and then back into 7-8 line in's on the interface,

that way I could just insert the comp into the signal path through an insert in my D.A.W (Pro Tools, btw) ...

then I could just print the comp'ed audio down to a new track (also would make hybrid bus mixing pretty easy) ...

and I also wouldn't be limited to having the compressed audio be a permanent thing...

either way you look at it it's got pro's and cons both ways, so I guess I'm just asking what would you guys do if you were in my situation...

Oh, and before you say "grab a patch bay" ...

I don't really want to mess with patch bays, because I really don't plan on having that many pieces of external gear... plus, honestly hooking up patch bays still confuse the hell out of me...

I understand using them once they're all neatly hooked up and labeled lol...

but as far as doing the dirty work of hooking them up I'm still confused...

so if I ever decide to upgrade and grab more hardware I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Anyways, thanks for stickin it out and readin this long post... appreciate any feedback I get. Pz

Now that I have broken your question into easily readable chunks -(the whole tldnr; routine comes back to chunking all of your ideas into one paragraph, imnsho), let me attempt to answer your questions:

the issue for me is that you want the compressor before your signal hits the audio interface, otherwise you will involved your daw and computer cpu into the processing equation. So looks like you will have to get used to rewiring as you need.

That said, I am a fan of patchbays even if you only have a few devices to plug into them. they allow you to have normal routing setups that can be broken and patched to other sources without having to rewire your entire setup - which is what you are talking about here; wiring different pre-amps to the compressor and wiring the compressor to the interface.

By having the compressor permanently connected to the interface via the patchbay and each preamp connected to the patchbay and then to the interface also, you allow yourself maximum flexibility with a minimum of fuss.

If you need help figuring out the best way to wire up a patchbay, drop me a line - have done several systems now.

as for the other poster - spammer and pirate

 

[City Beats]

Thanks bandcoach... honestly you were the person I was hoping would read this out of everyone else.. you've always been super helpful and definitely know what's up when it comes to audio... appreciate it.

Anyways, thanks for the tips... I didn't think about it, but going out 7-8 and back in through 7-8 would definitely use CPU power... but it shouldn't be much should it? Especially since when I get my iMac for graduation it's going to be a pretty fast, solid machine built to audio specs. I was thinking the processing it would take would be, at the most, as much as it would take to run your common Native plug... like a Digi EQ/Comp or something like that.

I was sort of leaning towards routing out the line outs of my interface, as like I said it would make bus mixing a breeze... instead of inserting a plugin comp on my aux groups, or even my mix bus, I could just insert my 7-8 I/O which I thought would be pretty cool. Especially since I did a little bit of hybrid mixing like that when I was at the studio... bringing everything into Pro Tools and then throwing it all out on the board and into an SSL comp for bus compression was pretty cool in my opinion.

But like you mentioned, the CPU could be an issue... do you see it being a huge problem, or something relatively minor?

Also, I don't entirely have the money for a patch bay and the patch cables yet (upgrading to the Profire and grabbing an 8 channel digital pre are my main priorities right now, because I'll be doing a lot of half to full band tracking.. plus my friend is a metal drummer with a Chris Adler kind of setup... 5 toms, 8 cymbals... lots of mics... grabbing a comp is just something I'm looking into, which lead me to the question of how to set it up... I'd hate to buy one and not hook it up the best way possible) but I probably will be looking into it soon, especially now that you mentioned you'd be willing to break it down for me... I appreciate it.

Thanks for the reply, bandcoach