Digi 002 Rack question...

[chal7ds]

Hi,

I have a digirack 002R. I've never used the 5/6 and 7/8 channels until now, and I just realized that there are no level knobs for those channels. Does anybody who's familiar with the digi 002 rack know where you're supposed to turn up the levels for those particular channels? There's only 4 level knobs on the front of the rack (but those are used for 1/2 and 3/4)....

Any help much appreciated, thanks,

[albee1952]

5 thru 7 are line level inputs, They are designed as a simple way to patch in external mic preamps. Generally speaking, they are not for use with anything patched directly in, although you might have success with synths or sound modules. There are 2 switches on the back for setting the input level for each pair. The choices are -10 and +4. What are you trying top patch in those inputs?

[chal7ds]

Hi albee1952, thanks for the response.

I'm trying to directly plug in a bass guitar into the input 5 with a 1/4 plug cord. (also, you had mentioned "5 thru 7"..did you mean to say 5 thru 8? ..because there's 5 and 6 and then 7 and 8..)

So, anyway, when I plug it in..I see a tiny little level coming through in my software's mixer..but since there's no level knob, I can't turn it up. So, am I supposed to buy an external mic preamp to get it to work then? If so, can you point me in the direction of some good brands that would work good for a bass guitar/guitars to be able to be used in those channels (5/6, 7/8)?

Lastly, if I 'can' get it to work with a bass guitar, what input level should I use..-10 or +4??

any help much appreciated, thanks..

[Alexmc1988]

http://www.zzounds.com/item--GOAPRE73MKII

I have one of these and love it. Especially for the price.

[chal7ds]

Cool, thanks Alex!

Man, I wonder why they didn't just go ahead & put line level knobs for the 5/6 and 7/8 too? There's plenty of room on the front of this rack for'em! I guess they figured guys like me would own the unit for over 7 years and never need it lol (til now, psh)

[daeron80]

Yes, he meant 5-8. I'm sure that choice on Digi's part was simply a matter of meeting a price point. 4 extra pres would have jacked up the retail price of the unit by at least $500, I expect.

You will need something to boost the gain (not to mention match the impedance) of an electric guitar output such as a bass. There are myriad good ones, and as a rule, the more you can spend, the better you can get. Everything from the cheap and cheezy $39 Art Tube MP (not recommended) to the $2000+/channel Tubetech and Manley types. In the middle, Radial makes some very nice ones specifically for electric guitar/bass, and Summit has a lovely tube model. Search "preamp di" on any major music chain's website. Then what I'd do is look for used ones on ebay.

[chal7ds]

thanks daer.

one other question regarding this. If plug my TC Helicon voiceprism plus vocal processor's outputs into channels 5 & 6, will that work for those channels without the line level knobs? In other words, would the 48v (phantom power) that comes with that unit..is that already the power that it needs to power the unit..and so the 5 and 6 (not having line levels) wouldn't matter because the vocal processor makes up for it since it already has the 48v? Cause what I was thinking I could do is just take the outputs from my vocal processor that right now are going into 3 and 4 and put them in 5 and 6 and then take my bass guitar's 1/4 cord and plug it into either channel 3 or 4...

will this work, or does the vocal processor need a line gain on it too (to get the most out of it)?

[albee1952]

Yes I meant 5 thru 8. Anything that has a line level output should work fine in those inputs, but instruments generally will not(and microphones would not have enough level, and phantom power is not available on those inputs). As for the TC unit, check the manual. If the outputs are line level, it should work fine. If the outputs are mic level, it won't.

[chal7ds]

Cool, thanks.

I tried it just now with the TC to plug it into the 5/6 and the levels are much lower than if I plug it in 1/2 and 3/4, however, I noticed if I turn up the lead knob & input knob on the TC, I can get the level in the mixer to match the level I've seen when it's plugged into the 3/4, although I don't know if I'm still getting the same strength out of it or not. I'll try to find my manual and see if I can't figure out which type those outputs are. I'm betting they're mic since the level was comparitvely low when I switched'em from 3/4 to 5/6. And yeah, 5/6 and 7/8 don't have phantom power at all.

[daeron80]

According to the pdf manual, the Voiceprism 1/4" in has a 28 k Ohms impedance. That's a bit low for electric instrument pickups. Likely to sound thin. You could add a passive DI and go into the mic in on the Voiceprism. Here's an informative article about impedance matching. Something every recordist should know about.