mobile studio

[RobN]

I have finally bit the bullet and am going to start a small mobile project studio and am wondering if anyone out here has some advice. I am starting out with a 002, Powerbook G4, Rocstor 120GB HD, ans 5 pairs of Sennheiser phones (which I still have to get a distro to use). I plan to record mostly local bands either live or in their own environments, so I am hoping to only need to buy a few good condensors later (at the moment my funds have been depleted). The only other thing I have on my list at the moment is a good battery back-up/surge protector.
I am wondering about mic pres. How would a multipul channel mic pre show up when plugged into the 002? Will you get all of the channels separate or just be able to use the single channel you've plugged into (I am referring to a firewire mic pre)?

[spkguitar]

Protools will not recognize any other I/O hardware other than it's own. You will not be able to use firewire preamps. You will need to get a lightpipe interface, and you may also want to get a two channel s/pdif interface as well. ( list of them on my website help page) This will give you a total of 18 I/O channels assignable to separate tracks. Protools still recognizes it's own ADAT lightpipe and s/pdif interfaces no matter what is hooked up to them, but not "other" hardware interfaces that might be hooked up to the PC, such as firewire.

Also, since the 002 only has 4 mic pres built in, if you want to have a total of 18 mics hooked up, you will also need to add 4 more preamps. A small mixer with direct channel outs can work well in this regard, but I would recommend one with better than average preamps (NOT behringer)

In a live situation, you will also need a way to get signal from the live board. Some boards can send you direct lines from each channel, or you may have to split the inputs coming from the stage, which would mean needing preamps for everything as well.
Good luck, hope that helps.

[RobN]

My bad on the preamp. I meant via lightpipe, not firewire (guess I've been looking too hard at the firepod pics...). For now I don't anticipate recording that many inputs in a live situation. I am mainly planning on doing small shows and such through the acts board (hopefully with at least a couple of busses for some control of the mix), so I think 8 extra mic ins will be good, though I was thinking in the extra mixer direction if the live thing takes off. The live angle will be mostly for "show tapes" and live demos for clubs. My main bread-n-butter will be smaller recordings for collaboration with my producer friend for demos and hopefully broadcast/movies.
If you can't guess by my question already, I have never set up a rig myself. I've only worked in studios as a second or assisstant engineer and in that situation, you walk in and turn on the equipment and work. No hassle. I hope to keep this rig small enough to travel easy (especially since I don't have a studio ) even though the 002 is huge (I figure I'll enjoy it when I get into mixing, though). Everything I have can fit in two gig bags so far even with additional mics and a preamp.