Running two LE systems together

[@?,*???&?]

Anybody do this yet?

If I have click printed on one system and have the first system clocking to adat lightpipe from an ADA8000 and then run adat lightpipe to second LE system, I should be able to keep all the clock rates the same. I should be able to then take the click over to the second machine. Data can then be transferred back to the main machine via lightpipe and aligned using the click.

OR

I should be able to split the click to both machines, but will have to let go of grid capability.

Any thoughts? Anyone doing this yet?

If Pro Tools allowed for 32-track recording with an LE system, this would be a moot issue.

[GooberNumber9]

Hmm... so 2x computer with 2x 002/003 and 2x PTLE?

Ideally you would have one computer be the clock master and the other be the clock slave, and then you would also have some kind of SMPTE or MIDI clock between them, and THEN you would have MMC between them, so that your start/stop/ff/rew controls would be synchronized. I'm pretty sure that PTLE cannot be a SMPTE slave (or master, I don't think you can get SMPTE I/O in real time on LE even with DV Toolkit). Howver, you could try to do the whole thing over MIDI with MIDI clock and MMC.

That's what I would try to do.

Actually, that's NOT what I would try to do. I would get a MOTU interface and use the free version of Digital Performer that comes with it and use the ASIO/ drivers for the 002 and do all my tracking with DP Lite (or whatever it's called) and then I would edit and mix in Pro Tools. Of course you have to have a Mac to use the DP that comes with an interface. Maybe there's an interface (RME?) that comes with a lite recording package that you can do your tracking in if you're on a PC.

Todd Wilcox

[eh91311]

Anybody do this yet?

If I have click printed on one system and have the first system clocking to adat lightpipe from an ADA8000 and then run adat lightpipe to second LE system, I should be able to keep all the clock rates the same. I should be able to then take the click over to the second machine. Data can then be transferred back to the main machine via lightpipe and aligned using the click.

OR

I should be able to split the click to both machines, but will have to let go of grid capability.

Any thoughts? Anyone doing this yet?

If Pro Tools allowed for 32-track recording with an LE system, this would be a moot issue.

Pro Tools has the Music Production Toolkit for PT LE 7x which allows up to 48 mono or stereo tracks at 24/96 for $500. What a bargain.

You can also try synching 2 PT LE computers together, check this old TOMB;
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=33272
I believe sync is achieved thru midi-ing them together.

There was also an old PT LE 7 program version that allowed 32 tracks to play back by mistake, I think, but I'm not sure. Digi apparently fixed that bug real quick though.

[@?,*???&?]

Thanks so far, but that last post is all known information.

The problem with the LE system is the 16-tracks as INPUT only. Expandable by 2-channels with a S/PDIF interface.

As I have a few LE systems here, this seems like the workable solution. Using MIDI is an absolute NOT. Should not have to do so anyway.

It seems like everytime I track with a single system there is always a bunch of things I want to record, but can't.

Budget for the record is a certain amount that does not allow for renting in an Apogee Rosetta 200 at $75/day or purchasing any new equipment to make this easier.

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

[JGriffin]

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

Don't abandon it, just track through the MOTUs, move the session over and mix on the ProTools.

[drumsound]

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

Don't abandon it, just track through the MOTUs, move the session over and mix on the ProTools.

Maybe not the most elegant system, but I'd bet it is easier then 2 seperate systems for tracking dates.

[JGriffin]

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

Don't abandon it, just track through the MOTUs, move the session over and mix on the ProTools.

Maybe not the most elegant system, but I'd bet it is easier then 2 seperate systems for tracking dates.

Exactly. Not dissimilar to the people who track on analog and transfer to PT to overdub/edit/mix. Use the tools for whichever part of the process you find them best suited for.

[@?,*???&?]

If I buy the new system, then the studio makes no money and I don't get paid. Everything goes in to new hardware.

That is not the way to run a business.

Studios should spent approximately 10% of annual income on equipment, not every single dime.

[eh91311]

Thanks so far, but that last post is all known information.

The problem with the LE system is the 16-tracks as INPUT only. Expandable by 2-channels with a S/PDIF interface.

As I have a few LE systems here, this seems like the workable solution. Using MIDI is an absolute NOT. Should not have to do so anyway.

It seems like everytime I track with a single system there is always a bunch of things I want to record, but can't.

Budget for the record is a certain amount that does not allow for renting in an Apogee Rosetta 200 at $75/day or purchasing any new equipment to make this easier.

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

If you need to track more than 16 inputs at once, wow, that is some huge tracking session.

Like others have stated, I would track with something other than PT and then import those files to PT to mix.

[@?,*???&?]

The budget is about what the MOTU set-up would cost, but I am not anxious to move directly over to a new system and abandon what I have. Too much in this system makes it very usable for mixing.

Don't abandon it, just track through the MOTUs, move the session over and mix on the ProTools.

Maybe not the most elegant system, but I'd bet it is easier then 2 seperate systems for tracking dates.

Exactly. Not dissimilar to the people who track on analog and transfer to PT to overdub/edit/mix. Use the tools for whichever part of the process you find them best suited for.

As for the analog thing, certainly, that would be my preferred method. Budget being what it is, the band does not have the $$ to hit up a 'real' studio. Instead, they get a 'real' guy in an exclusively Pro Tools environment. The 'real' guy is trying to get the most out of the set-up.

As a side note, the last 'real' studio I went to here in Detroit, I spent 3 hours calibrating and aligning the MCI 24-track and found out the machine only had 16 reliable tracks anyway- although the console was amazing, I still only had what I'd have at my place tracking with Pro Tools.

[buzzaudioguy]

Is 24 tracks enough for initial tracking? If so, rent an Alesis HD24 to track the basics and just transfer them into Pro Tools for overdubs and mixing. Just an idea!

[@?,*???&?]

Is 24 tracks enough for initial tracking? If so, rent an Alesis HD24 to track the basics and just transfer them into Pro Tools for overdubs and mixing. Just an idea!

Hmmm, might be cheaper than the Apogee to rent, but then I have to deal with the jitter of a tape-based system. Not sure I want to go that route.

[buzzaudioguy]

The HD24 isn't a tape based system.

[GooberNumber9]

As I have a few LE systems here, this seems like the workable solution. Using MIDI is an absolute NOT. Should not have to do so anyway.

As far as I know the only way to synchronize two LE systems is with MIDI Time Code. So if MIDI is absolutely out then your only options are to maximise the inputs that you have (18), or to get some other way to record and then import into Pro Tools for editing and mixing.

When I want to track a lot of simultaneous inputs I do just what Buzz suggested - I record to an HD24 and then import the tracks into Pro Tools.

Todd Wilcox

[drumsound]

If I buy the new system, then the studio makes no money and I don't get paid. Everything goes in to new hardware.

That is not the way to run a business.

Studios should spent approximately 10% of annual income on equipment, not every single dime.

But this is one project, not your entire year of work. You can "amoritize" this purchase with you whole year's project. Especially if it will make not only this project go a little smoother, but many projects throught out this and the next few years. If you are that hand to mouth maybe an additional part time job would help.