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To Lunchbox(500series) or hard box it?
Honestly, I get more direct, more practical solutions to my acoustic guitar recording questions here on AGF, than on Gearslutz. I think there are a lot of reasons for this. Many on Gearslutz are coming from an Engineers perspective. They need things to work right for the general studio needs. And they are looking for a piece of equipment that works on multiple sources. *To Lunchbox-chasis with 500 series, or hard box it? 1. Within a given brand and model, Is there any difference in quality between a 500 series and the hard box. 2. Are there differences in Lunchbox chassis? I would think so? There are connectors and some wiring? So would there not be some...sound difference? Does hard box or 500 series give better routing options? 3. If your answers to 1 & 2 are of a positive nature, then what 500 series chassis do you recommend? |
#2
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Last March I started a thread about my jump into the 500 stuff. You can read it here: https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=540383
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#3
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I don't have any 500 units BUT if I were going to expand my analog pieces or, If I was starting from scratch, it is definitely something I would seriously consider . Once you get past the initial outlay for the chassis, they are usually 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the rack mount units.
Besides Jim and Brent I personally know two engineers who use and swear by 500 series , because of the price point and versatility
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#4
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And space. My 11-bay chassis takes up 4 rack spaces. Even if I filled the 11 spaces with 2 channel single space rack units, the chassis still takes up 2 less units than the six I'd need for the rack units.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#5
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Thank you so much Jim1960, your answers are of great value. Been reading through your other thread.
More questions to come...Possibly another new thread. But as far as 500 series you have relieved my anxiety. Since I will be purchasing limited amount of effects;two mono's or one stereo preamp, a stereo compressor, and possibly a valve mic pre for voice, I will still have to debate which will be more practical verses saves monies.I will be investigating the Capi more. I was hoping that they made a lesser than 11 space unit. I do not believe they do. But at the price of just over $300, I have a good friend that can hep me assemble it if I decide to go with 500 units. Now all I got to do is understand what the heck is the difference between those 4 models. |
#6
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KevWind did my vouching for me, which is fine. I love my little API 6-slot box. It's such an early one, though, that it doesn't have d-sub connectors on the back. Make sure the one you get has them.
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#7
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This will give you some sense as to the size of the unit. And this is how I connect with the 500 units in the chassis. The Dsub snakes break out into TRS connectors that go into the back of the lower left patchbay. The XLR patchbay is for my preamp inputs. The preamp outs are the right side middle patchbay. From there I can patch into compressors and eqs before heading into my Apollo interface on the bottom right or into my Apogee 800 on the top right. As I recall, the API chassis were the safest bet a decade back when there were a fair amount of units that didn't play nice with certain chassis. I think they were also among the most expensive as well.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#8
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That makes sense since it's the format they'd been using for their consoles since the '70's. I didn't think much about it at the time because I was primarily buying the used preamps that came in it, and only learned later that not all lunchboxes are the same. I was under-schooled about it but got lucky.
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#9
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Did not mean to speak for you out of turn, but it seems you had posted a fairly positive post in Jims linked thread, which is what I was referring too.
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#10
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Not a problem, didn't mean to imply that it was :-).
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#11
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You didn't, I just realized it from the other thread
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#12
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As long as the rack's power supply is up to the task, 500 series equipment should perform as well as their stand-alone counterparts.
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Rick Ruskin Lion Dog Music - Seattle WA |
#13
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So how does one know if the racks power supply is sufficient or not? Got a message from Elysia. I had asked them if there was any difference between thier 500 series and the rack unit.Here is what they said: Both devices contain exactly the same electronics, so they hardly differ. However, the power supply still has an influence, but that depends on the 500 rack, |
#14
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I don't have experience with 500 series, so this is more of a question to get more informed.
Am I correct in that the power supply voltage supplied by the 500 series chassis is +/- 16V? If so there may be some differences in specs for a piece of gear that is available in both a rack mount and 500 series, if the rack mount version uses a higher voltage supply (i.e. +/- 24V). For example, a preamp with a +/- 24V supply could have a higher max output than a preamp running on a +/- 16V supply. In most cases this probably doesn't matter. Another thought is that a rack mount preamp with large input and output transformers may not fit in a 500 series package.
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Chuck 2012 Carruth 12-fret 000 in Pernambuco and Adi 2010 Poling Sierra in Cuban Mahogany and Lutz 2015 Posch 13-fret 00 in Indian Rosewood and Adi |
#15
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After Ruben from Elysia mentioned " the power supply still has an influence, but that depends on the 500 rack"
I then posted this question in reply to him: ( very impressive Responses, clear and easily understood. Kudos To Elysia for great customer service!) Thank you so much for your time and explanation. "So then If the power supply has an influence: * How do I know if the rack has a good enough power supply? * And because it is sharing power with other 500 series in the rack, Does that cause some type of Cross-bleed Effecting all the units? + How do I ensure that the 500 rack I buy is up to par and or does not weaken the signal of your unit? There must be some kind of printed measurement standard on the power supply?" His Reply" Hello, Victor, "One of the most important parameters of a rack is how low noise and hum-free the power supply is. This is comparable to the background noise of any audio device. Unfortunately, almost no manufacturer specifies this and it is not specified. Regarding crosstalk to the different modules there are no problems. Since there are so many different manufacturers and racks, we can only make recommendations." We have had good experience with API, Rupert Neve and WES Audio." |