Using external converters with 002

[Scot Stafford]

Dear DUC

I help run a nonprofit studio in Cambodia running PTLE7.3 on Intel Macs through a 002r. We've been getting some fantastic donations recently (Brauner mics, 4 SSL pre's); and most recently a Kurzweil Rumour. I've been told by several people that the Rumour's converters will be a quality bump up from the 002r, but I know surprisingly next-to-nothing about digital routing... hence the desperate post.

Rookie question:

If I connect Rumour <-> s/pdif <-> 002r <-> FW400 <-> mac, can I do all of the following easily and effectively:

1) use Rumour for A/D in live tracking.
- Would you route analog outs from the SSL pre's directly into the Rumour, or through the 002's (bypassing conversion there)?
2) use Rumour for stereo bus/send reverb in PT mixing, without any A/D/A conversion (i.e., all digital).
3) use Rumour for D/A monitoring as well?

I'm fairly sure I can rig each situation, but I'm wondering if this is possible to easily and effectively set up one permanent cabling config so that any further changes can be done within Pro Tools?

Thanks for your help,

Scot Stafford

[stoneinapond]

Scot,

Where in Cambodia are you? I was there a little over a month ago and found great beauty, amidst rampant poverty in the countryside. For a foreigner, the landscape looks pristine, particularly in the eastern part of the country. But my heart goes out to the people who have to live there.

Also, just saw "The Killing Fields" yesterday for the first time. Man, have the people suffered. But there seems to be hope and an emerging economic revival that hopefully will include the greater population.

Anyway, to answer your questions with the caveat that I do use external converters with the 002R, but have no experience with the Rumour.

1) Given that you can bypass the effects section in the unit, connecting the Rumour the way you suggested and clocking the 002R to external sync will work. And should give you an increase in quality, with the only issue being that you can only record two sources at a time. A two-track live recording would be fine.

2) That will also work. However in this case you will need to set the 002R as the master, thereby depriving yourself of the better clock resolution of the Rumour. I would be more inclined to use the Rumour as a master for mixing, (that is setting the 002R to external sync) and using the analog I/Os of the 002R and Rumour for effect sends and returns.

3) You will only be able to use the Rumour for D/A monitoring if you are not using it as an effects device. I believe the S/PDIF and analog pathways mirror each other.

If you have time, I would try the various combinations and allow your ears to be the final judge of what is the better/more convenient routing.

All the best with your project, and part of me envies your situation - in theory that is, because the climate issue was one I found difficult.

Peace.

[Scot Stafford]

Thanks for your interest, and for the quick response. Cambodia is indeed experiencing the beginnings of a major renaissance that we're hoping to push forward. I am in the SF, CA area. The studio is in Phnom Penh, on what we call "Arts Street", an alley about 1/2 block in from the Himawari hotel along the riverside. More about our organization here:

http://www.cambodianlivingarts.org

The studio has just finished its third expansion/renovation funded primarily by a donation from Peter Gabriel and coordinated by Richard Chappell (Real World Studios). Our buddy Peter Mayer (SF/NYC) is there now, getting our first two CD's in more local stores (soon on iTunes) and recording a VERY cool new CD with some major heavyweights.

If you ever want to do something meaningful with your skills during a vacation... contact me. We work with the best musicians (trad. and modern fusion, hip hop) and arts organizations in the country. Usually something fairly mindblowing happening.

Back to your response...

It sounds like I can figure a way to connect all the cables and make any further changes (clock source, I/O) in PTLE, which is exactly what I wanted. I will have our engineers do some tests and report back... might be a while! It will be interesting to see which is better: conversionless digital reverb aux, using 002R clock; or D/A/D reverb aux, using Rumour clock.

Thanks again for the reply.

s