Building a mobile rig!

[fluffdo50]

Hello there,
I am looking to build a mobile recording rig with Pro Tools LE. The problem is, I need the system to be able to record 24 tracks simultaniously! Anyone know what I need to buy? Can I chain 3 Ultragains by Behringer together and have LE recognize all of the imputs?
Thanks
Fluffdog

[spkguitar]

Your limit with any LE interface is going to be 18 simultaneous. Pro Tools LE will not recognize any other hardware interface but it's own.

If you need dedicated 24 mobile channels, your best bet is one of the standalone recorders like the HD24 or the MX-2424, the results of which can be easily imported to Pro Tools later.

[gerax]

Agree

I have the SDR2496 for my mobile recordings, and it works great; I guess that since it's been discontinued by Mackie (though the support is still up) it can be found quite cheap on ebay; it's a solid 24 tracks 24 bit/44.1-48KHz recorder, (the n° of tracks halves to 12 for 88.2-96KHz) with everything you need built in: analog and digital I/O, WC, MIDI, SMPTE etc...and it sounds good.
I use the AD built in in my preamps to go in, bypassing the SDR converters.
After I'm done recording I just pull out the removable drive from the tray (I installed one Lian LI) and put it in my Pro Tools workstation; the files are standard .BWF (on a FAT32 drive)and can be lined up very fast and conveniently in PT. I recorded over a dozen records (both live gigs and remote recordings in theaters or concert halls) with it, and it never failed me (though I always pair it with a backup system on tape, you never know).
For me it's been a really handy way to record on the road, without the hassles of a PC, monitor, keyboard and al the reliability stuff...the system I have now is just simple: turn it on, arm the tracks, get some levels, Rec+Play and off you go.
If you want to go with a computer I'd go with a laptop and a firewire interface, but if you need more than 18 tracks at once you'll have to search outside of the Digidesign/Pro Tools realm, maybe I'd go with some RME and Nuendo software.

Hope this helps

L.G.

[PsyCoNo]

If you want to go with a computer I'd go with a laptop and a firewire interface, but if you need more than 18 tracks at once you'll have to search outside of the Digidesign/Pro Tools realm, maybe I'd go with some RME and Nuendo software.

HD

[WannabeSQ]

There's always the MDM method, though it's bulkier than the 24 track HDD recorders.

As said before, either get a Pro Tools HD system, (a used MIX+ system could work also) or another type of recorder. I tend to trust tapes more than hard drives, and with a MDM like a DA-88 or an ADAT you can add on later. You could even just buy one, and rent others as needed, you could import them into protools 8 tracks at a time later with one deck. DA88s can go up to 16 units, which is 128 potential tracks. I've seen numerous DA88s go for around $500 on ebay.

Tascam makes a 48 track recorder I believe, though you wouldn't be able to use all of them at once in PTLE. I guess it all comes down to budget, and time spent getting it into protools. Obviously recording straight to protools is the most efficient, but I'd be aprehensive trusting a fallable computer for location (read irreplacable) recording. I say go with reliability over all.

[yavuzj]

If you want to use 3 ultragains (Behgringer) this would be a perfect solution for you.

[dsetaro]

Are you saying that this RME device would allow you to have 24 inputs? If so, do they all show up in the I/O dialog to be named, assigned etc... Does it connect via firewire and will it work with PTLE 6.9?

[Riley Casey]

I use the Metric Halo MIO 2882 box. Each box has 8 analog, 8 ADAT & two AES or SPDIF inputs & will write 18 tracks of sd2 files to an HD with the MIO's own control app and the tracks can then be mixed & edited with ProTools. I can carry 36 tracks worth of recording including a DM1000, two MIOs, a Powerbook and an external HD in the back of a Subaru. As others have noted, you still needs the Digidesign hardware to run ProTools & the MIO boxes are not recognized by ProTools. You can send the stereo output of the MIO to the SPDIF input of an M Box however.

http://www.mhlabs.com/metric_halo/products/mio/