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Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78945] Wed, 24 January 2007 17:11 Go to next message
Paul Braun is currently offline  Paul Braun   UNITED STATES
Messages: 391
Registered: September 2005
Senior Member
I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
acoustic concert series into other venues.

Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.

I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.

Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
stupid money. Really stupid.

Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.

I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
straps to tie it down.

Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
the Mac here.

As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
doing that?

I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.

Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
I'm a really nice guy?

If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
whip something up, but he's never seen one.

Thanks.

pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78947 is a reply to message #78945] Wed, 24 January 2007 18:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
excelav is currently offline  excelav   
Messages: 2130
Registered: July 2005
Location: Metro Detroit
Senior Member
You could build your own brackets. I've been thinking about doing a business
and G4 brackets would be one of the products. Only they would steel power
coat, and cost under $50.00.

James

Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>
>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>
>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>
>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>stupid money. Really stupid.
>
>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>
>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>straps to tie it down.
>
>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>the Mac here.
>
>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>doing that?
>
>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>
>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>I'm a really nice guy?
>
>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>
>Thanks.
>
>pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78948 is a reply to message #78945] Wed, 24 January 2007 17:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Chris Ludwig is currently offline  Chris Ludwig   UNITED STATES
Messages: 868
Registered: May 2006
Senior Member
HI Paul,

If you already have a G4 laying around then either having your machine
shop buddy or buying the marathon stuff will be the cheapest solution
either way.
You would have to buy a Computer MAC/PC otherwise which if you want to
use Paris to record with then your options will be really really limited.
You should maybe also consider a hard disk recorder. If you are doi0ng
24 tracks or under then they would probably be the most reliable of the
bunch.

Chris


Paul Braun wrote:

>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>
>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>
>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>
>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>stupid money. Really stupid.
>
>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>
>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>straps to tie it down.
>
>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>the Mac here.
>
>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>doing that?
>
>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>
>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>I'm a really nice guy?
>
>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>
>Thanks.
>
>pab
>
>

--
Chris Ludwig
ADK
chrisl@adkproaudio.com <mailto:chrisl@adkproaudio.com>
www.adkproaudio.com <http://www.adkproaudio.com/>
(859) 635-5762
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78950 is a reply to message #78948] Wed, 24 January 2007 18:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Paul Braun is currently offline  Paul Braun   UNITED STATES
Messages: 391
Registered: September 2005
Senior Member
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:57:57 -0500, Chris Ludwig
<chrisl@adkproaudio.com> wrote:

>HI Paul,
>
>If you already have a G4 laying around then either having your machine
>shop buddy or buying the marathon stuff will be the cheapest solution
>either way.
>You would have to buy a Computer MAC/PC otherwise which if you want to
>use Paris to record with then your options will be really really limited.
>You should maybe also consider a hard disk recorder. If you are doi0ng
>24 tracks or under then they would probably be the most reliable of the
>bunch.
>

Right now, I'm running one card on a beige G3/300 desktop - I just
wanted to up the horsepower a bit and add a second card possibly.

I think I have a motherboard and a reasonably fast Athlon on the
shelf, so building a windows pc wouldn't cost that much.

Yeah, a HD recorder would probably be easiest and lightest, but
ultimately, considering what I already have, a lot more $$$.

But I'll consider it.

pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78951 is a reply to message #78947] Wed, 24 January 2007 18:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Paul Braun is currently offline  Paul Braun   UNITED STATES
Messages: 391
Registered: September 2005
Senior Member
On 25 Jan 2007 12:51:22 +1000, "James McCloskey" <excelsm@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>You could build your own brackets. I've been thinking about doing a business
>and G4 brackets would be one of the products. Only they would steel power
>coat, and cost under $50.00.
>

I'd be all over a pair of those at that price point.... how serious
and how close to making a set are you?

pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78959 is a reply to message #78951] Wed, 24 January 2007 21:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
excelav is currently offline  excelav   
Messages: 2130
Registered: July 2005
Location: Metro Detroit
Senior Member
It will be awhile before I get to that project. So do what you have to for
now. I'll make you the beta tester when I get to it. One of the biggest
problems is the liability insurance.

James

Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>On 25 Jan 2007 12:51:22 +1000, "James McCloskey" <excelsm@hotmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>
>>You could build your own brackets. I've been thinking about doing a business
>>and G4 brackets would be one of the products. Only they would steel power
>>coat, and cost under $50.00.
>>
>
>I'd be all over a pair of those at that price point.... how serious
>and how close to making a set are you?
>
>pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78964 is a reply to message #78959] Wed, 24 January 2007 20:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Paul Braun is currently offline  Paul Braun   UNITED STATES
Messages: 391
Registered: September 2005
Senior Member
On 25 Jan 2007 15:30:11 +1000, "James McCloskey" <excelsm@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>It will be awhile before I get to that project. So do what you have to for
>now. I'll make you the beta tester when I get to it. One of the biggest
>problems is the liability insurance.
>
>James

Right now, I'm using one EDS in a beige G3/300 desktop case, sitting
on a rack shelf under the MEC.

I can live with that for a while longer, I guess, but I was hoping to
up the road rig to a Sawtooth or Quicksilver.

The Marathon piece was nice, but cost almost as much as the cpu, and
apparently they've gone out of business anyway.

pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78978 is a reply to message #78945] Thu, 25 January 2007 08:05 Go to previous messageGo to next message
TCB is currently offline  TCB
Messages: 1261
Registered: July 2007
Senior Member
I'd say a rack strip and two pieces of velcro would do the trick. Not pretty
but you didn't ask for that.

As an alternative I'd think about a laptop. I'm keeping quiet about it because
I'm still stress testing, but I just set up a $500 (yes, $500) laptop with
an RME cardbus card that is doing astonishing things. You might be able to
record with laptop + RME cardbus/firewire and then fly the tracks over to
PARIS via lightpipe.

I know this isn't not the best place to be saying this, but native is looking
really impressive these days. I bought the $500 laptop on the theory that
I could take it out live and not care too much if I broke it. This was after
watching my work laptop fall off a stand while on stage, with me wondering
if I had backups of my perl code or not. But this crappy little machine is
something else. Again, I'll stress test it and see what I can find out, but
think about that as an option.

TCB

Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>
>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>
>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>
>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>stupid money. Really stupid.
>
>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>
>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>straps to tie it down.
>
>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>the Mac here.
>
>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>doing that?
>
>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>
>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>I'm a really nice guy?
>
>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>
>Thanks.
>
>pab
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78980 is a reply to message #78978] Thu, 25 January 2007 08:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rich[3] is currently offline  Rich[3]
Messages: 132
Registered: January 2006
Senior Member
What Laptop (model and spec's) are you using? Tracking in Cubase or?

Thanks!!!


"TCB" <nobody@ishere.com> wrote:
>
>I'd say a rack strip and two pieces of velcro would do the trick. Not pretty
>but you didn't ask for that.
>
>As an alternative I'd think about a laptop. I'm keeping quiet about it because
>I'm still stress testing, but I just set up a $500 (yes, $500) laptop with
>an RME cardbus card that is doing astonishing things. You might be able
to
>record with laptop + RME cardbus/firewire and then fly the tracks over to
>PARIS via lightpipe.
>
>I know this isn't not the best place to be saying this, but native is looking
>really impressive these days. I bought the $500 laptop on the theory that
>I could take it out live and not care too much if I broke it. This was after
>watching my work laptop fall off a stand while on stage, with me wondering
>if I had backups of my perl code or not. But this crappy little machine
is
>something else. Again, I'll stress test it and see what I can find out,
but
>think about that as an option.
>
>TCB
>
>Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>>
>>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>>
>>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>>
>>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>>stupid money. Really stupid.
>>
>>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>>
>>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>>straps to tie it down.
>>
>>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>>the Mac here.
>>
>>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>>doing that?
>>
>>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>>
>>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>>I'm a really nice guy?
>>
>>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>pab
>
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78987 is a reply to message #78980] Thu, 25 January 2007 09:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
TCB is currently offline  TCB
Messages: 1261
Registered: July 2007
Senior Member
Not saying yet, until I work with it a bit more. It will be shocking if it
keeps working like this.

TCB

"rich" <studiodog_99@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>What Laptop (model and spec's) are you using? Tracking in Cubase or?
>
>Thanks!!!
>
>
>"TCB" <nobody@ishere.com> wrote:
>>
>>I'd say a rack strip and two pieces of velcro would do the trick. Not pretty
>>but you didn't ask for that.
>>
>>As an alternative I'd think about a laptop. I'm keeping quiet about it
because
>>I'm still stress testing, but I just set up a $500 (yes, $500) laptop with
>>an RME cardbus card that is doing astonishing things. You might be able
>to
>>record with laptop + RME cardbus/firewire and then fly the tracks over
to
>>PARIS via lightpipe.
>>
>>I know this isn't not the best place to be saying this, but native is looking
>>really impressive these days. I bought the $500 laptop on the theory that
>>I could take it out live and not care too much if I broke it. This was
after
>>watching my work laptop fall off a stand while on stage, with me wondering
>>if I had backups of my perl code or not. But this crappy little machine
>is
>>something else. Again, I'll stress test it and see what I can find out,
>but
>>think about that as an option.
>>
>>TCB
>>
>>Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>>>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>>>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>>>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>>>
>>>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>>>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>>>
>>>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>>>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>>>
>>>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>>>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>>>stupid money. Really stupid.
>>>
>>>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>>>
>>>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>>>straps to tie it down.
>>>
>>>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>>>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>>>the Mac here.
>>>
>>>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>>>doing that?
>>>
>>>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>>>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>>>
>>>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>>>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>>>I'm a really nice guy?
>>>
>>>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>>>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>>>
>>>Thanks.
>>>
>>>pab
>>
>
Re: Thinking of making a mobile rig... need suggestions [message #78991 is a reply to message #78987] Thu, 25 January 2007 11:29 Go to previous message
Rich[3] is currently offline  Rich[3]
Messages: 132
Registered: January 2006
Senior Member
OK - I'm really interested in hearing this (I'm sure I'm not the only one)...

Thanks in advance!!

"TCB" <nobody@ishere.com> wrote:
>
>Not saying yet, until I work with it a bit more. It will be shocking if
it
>keeps working like this.
>
>TCB
>
>"rich" <studiodog_99@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>What Laptop (model and spec's) are you using? Tracking in Cubase or?
>>
>>Thanks!!!
>>
>>
>>"TCB" <nobody@ishere.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>I'd say a rack strip and two pieces of velcro would do the trick. Not
pretty
>>>but you didn't ask for that.
>>>
>>>As an alternative I'd think about a laptop. I'm keeping quiet about it
>because
>>>I'm still stress testing, but I just set up a $500 (yes, $500) laptop
with
>>>an RME cardbus card that is doing astonishing things. You might be able
>>to
>>>record with laptop + RME cardbus/firewire and then fly the tracks over
>to
>>>PARIS via lightpipe.
>>>
>>>I know this isn't not the best place to be saying this, but native is
looking
>>>really impressive these days. I bought the $500 laptop on the theory that
>>>I could take it out live and not care too much if I broke it. This was
>after
>>>watching my work laptop fall off a stand while on stage, with me wondering
>>>if I had backups of my perl code or not. But this crappy little machine
>>is
>>>something else. Again, I'll stress test it and see what I can find out,
>>but
>>>think about that as an option.
>>>
>>>TCB
>>>
>>>Paul Braun <cygnus_nospam@ctgonline.org> wrote:
>>>>I may be taking a long break from the theatre (certain people down
>>>>there are sucking all the fun out of it....) and expanding our
>>>>acoustic concert series into other venues.
>>>>
>>>>Obviously, my second Paris rig won't be staying up in the treehouse
>>>>where it's been living for the past 5 years or so.
>>>>
>>>>I'd like to make it into a mobile rig that would fit into no more than
>>>>two rack cases - cpu, MEC, two lcd's, keyboard & mouse.
>>>>
>>>>Problem is, I'm a Mac guy. I've been looking on *bay for the Marathon
>>>>G-rack to rackmount a G4, but since they're discontinued, they are now
>>>>stupid money. Really stupid.
>>>>
>>>>Hacking the motherboard into a rackmount ATX case is a huge PITA.
>>>>
>>>>I suppose I could just lay it on its side on a rack shelf and make
>>>>straps to tie it down.
>>>>
>>>>Or, I could use the rack case I already have, throw an AMD board and
>>>>Athlon chip, and run the mobile rig on XP or 98, then mix at home on
>>>>the Mac here.
>>>>
>>>>As long as I use fat32 on my firewire drives, do you see any problems
>>>>doing that?
>>>>
>>>>I have had such good luck with the Macs - typically, I'm tracking 8 or
>>>>more tracks for 2 hours straight during a concert and nary a hiccup.
>>>>
>>>>Or does someone have an unused G-rack lying around that they'd be
>>>>willing to sell to me for significantly less than stupid, just because
>>>>I'm a really nice guy?
>>>>
>>>>If I had access to one, a friend of mine owns a machine shop and could
>>>>whip something up, but he's never seen one.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks.
>>>>
>>>>pab
>>>
>>
>
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