You're in the right place.

There are several manufacturers who make a rackmount product for the G5. It will take your existing case and allow it to fit neatly into a road case. Below is one of the adapters I'm referring to.

http://mwaudio.com/product_info/COMPUTERS/MARATHON_G-RACK.html?manufacturers_id=82&osCsid=fdc1d3e1aa4341f2296e01171eff6358

J...

Problem with a G5 is that it is larger than rack size... Marathon's solutions are for placing the computer vertically in the rack or cutting off the handles...

I think your best bet would be to have a case manufacturer make a foamed case that fits the computer exactly and you pull the whole computer out whenever you leave the studio. The monitor is easier- see the custom thread for a link to photos on what I did for my field monitor...

Contact me off list- I may actually have a case sitting around unused that would work (but send me measurements of the computer and I'll check...)

--Ben

FifthCircle wrote: Problem with a G5 is that it is larger than rack size... Marathon's solutions are for placing the computer vertically in the rack or cutting off the handles...

That is true...

Another case manufacturer that I love for transporting computers is Pelican. They make cases that photographers typically use, but some of their cases are very large (big enough for a computer and several mics) and quite affordable too.

They are what I use for a lot of my equip including my PC.

J...

Hey Kid,

I did a couple of gigs moving G5 / ProTools setup. I just used the
original Mac and display boxes (I saved them). And the off-board
stuff and DigiRack I have in a nice rack.
You may use the contacts Ben and Jeremy mentioned and buy
those G5 racks. But if you are gonna do lots of recording gigs
at locations - consider getting a power book G4 and external HD.
I'm thinking about it myself, moving G5 is such a hassle.
Cheers,

Costy.

Costy wrote: But if you are gonna do lots of recording gigs
at locations - consider getting a power book G4 and external HD.

If location is your living (as it is mine) I would NEVER consider a laptop for several reasons:

1- Not very robust. One accidental serious impact and you care out of business, at least temporarily.

2- If you want a truly professional interface you need a Magma chassis to use PCI cards, and they are $1000 and the cooling fan makes a bit of a racket. Also, once you start stringing together a bunch of stuff using laptop-type connectors, you realize the whole rig is pretty fragile just from a connector standpoint.

3- an adequate Powerbook (G4/<800mHz) will cost more than something more substantial and expandable, especially as you add external drives.

4- Everyone has a laptop. If you are doign professional work at professional prices, you can't show up with something that isn't very different than what the client already owns. This is a bigger factor than many people realize is you are presenting yourself as something more than a hobbyist.

I thought about the very same options a littel over a year ago and realized if I was going to have my livelihood depend on a computer I was slogging around, I better get something rugged. I bought a Sequoia shuttle and have not regretted it for a nanosecond.

Rich

I thought about the very same options a littel over a year ago and realized if I was going to have my livelihood depend on a computer I was slogging around, I better get something rugged. I bought a Sequoia shuttle and have not regretted it for a nanosecond.

Me too. I bought a very specialised PC to lug around, the Nagra V. Sonarerec, your post contained thoroughly excellent points.

DavidSpearritt wrote:
Me too. I bought a very specialised PC to lug around, the Nagra V. Sonarerec, your post contained thoroughly excellent points.

You're session photos that you posted also had that POS thing in it... Oh yeah, it is called a Genex.... :P

Not exactly low end there, my friend...

--Ben

Well, I'm perfectly happy and content with the size of my uh....LAPTOP, :wink: and don't have any worries about people (clients and competition) who might think otherwise. (And they don't pay me by the pounds of gear I lug around, either!)

A Hobbyist?? Hardly. Time is $$ in this biz, and with the sheer number of gigs we do every week, laptops for me are a great way to go; I am simply tracking on location, and using the big guns back at the studio for all the other stuff.

I've been using Sony VAIO laptops for over three years now on live remotes, and the trick is to transport them with a proper carrying case, etc., and treat it the same as any other expensive device, be it a mic, monitor, or a full size PC. Treated properly, they're not any more fragile than a PC in a box, or an LCD screen in a case. Drop any of them, and they break the same way. ;-) Connections are a non-issue with 6 pin FW cables, and I keep a dedicated power supply wired in my rack for the laptop as well...it's always there, non-flexed cables, too.

With a P4, lots of ram and a 120 gig FW HD, I have never experienced any problems at all due to the laptop itself. The problems were always pilot error (mine) and something dumb happening.

Arguably, it's a safer system than a PC (without a UPS). The battery at least saves the program - the VIP - should power go out. To date, I've never lost a thing related to power issues on remotes. Maybe it's Samplitude, maybe it's XP, or the drive,or a combination of things, but I recently had a total power outtage (without a UPS online) and was able to get the VIP file working again - complete with a hole in the wav files, and start anew. I figured the whole thing was toast, but aside from the HD taking a nasty power-break, I was able to continue with minimal damage.

Of course, whatever makes you comfortable on the gigs (and what is most reliable) is always best. Jeremy's "one trip with the cart" is similar to mine: I get inside with two trips from the van: One with the recording system and goodies, one with the hardware (mic stands) and cables.

I've thought many times about building a cart, a bit like the movie sound guys, they have the wheeled cart thing sorted and at the end of its evolution cycle.

http://www.rastorder.com.au/product_rmc.htm
http://www.rastorder.com.au/product_susound.htm

But there are so many steps in our venues and I would be tempted to make the cart the labour of love and it would end up being a real heavy structure with the kitchen sink bolted on the back.

How mature is the idea of a cart for our work? I still think its an excellent idea. The other thing with a cart is that one needs a truck to move it around.

I remember reading an article a few years back about a location music recordist in London who travelled to gigs on a motorbike as there was never any parking. He had all his gear in a backpack and a manfrotto slung down the length of the bike. Interesting idea.

Hey,

You guys are free to build carts and buy big trucks and vans, and,
if your clients get really excited about it, I'm very happy for you.

I just have told my opinion on ProTools LE portable setup: the G4-
book w/ 15" screen and 512 Mb RAM will work just fine with recording
($2000), extra 100Gb drive ($100), two FireWire cables are included
with the book and HD. Why: when recording you don't need any fancy
plug-ins the G4-book CPU power is enough. Back home: stick the HD
in your main computer (G5 or whatever) and keep going. As reliability
goes: I have a doubt that your vans are more reliable that Apple's
G4-books. Just an opinion.

Costy.

You're preaching to the choir here, Costy; my setup is very similar to yours, just my choice of platform is Windows/PC. I too take the HD files recorded by the portable remote rig and simply plug it in to the main system back at the studio.

Just to be clear, the VAN gets me and the gear TO the gig. The Cart (in my case, a $49 dual-function handtruck/cart that rolls) gets me IN to the gig. The rest of it sets up on any small-to-medium sized table top. (You can see my current rig right on my home page if you click on the Lipinski 505 speaker blurb on the main page, then click the picture again for a close up).

Many ways to get the job done, indeed.

I'm not preaching here. Sorry, if it gives this impression. You are right,
JoeH, there're many ways to do the job. As far as it sounds good at
the end, works for me.
For example, for simple gigs I use Yamaha MD8, 8-tracker (analog
mixer + digital recording). Old and cheap work-horse. Then, I toss
everything in ProTools. Why I have chosen the ProTools is another
story for another forum, I guess.
Have a fine weekend guys,

Costy.

Did not mean to offend laptop fans-- only relating my thought process. I actually borrowed a laptop, got a Magma and the rest and tried it before ditching it all for the shuttle. It was the PMCIA connector more than anything that led me to the conclusion that the entire chain was less than robust.

I am curious how you guys get 16 tracks of 24/96 into the laptop and what you run for backup.

FWIW I never record anything without a UPS. Hearing those heads hit the platters is NOT a happy sound! Twice I have been VERY thankful I slogged that 40lb anchor along.

Rich

Sonarerec wrote: FWIW I never record anything without a UPS. Hearing those heads hit the platters is NOT a happy sound!

I never use to believe this was worth it as hard disks are stopped suddenly all the time when PC's go off in power failures ... BUT ... last week, we completely stuffed our Genex 18G SCSI drive when the power was accidentally turned off while it was in PLAY. It must be a PSU issue where a spike hit the HD electronics.

Now I have the job of finding another older 18G SCSI Seagate 7200RPM drive on eBay that allows 2048byte sectors to be set. Only a few in myu testing actually permit this.

A UPS would have prevented it.

16 mono tracks of 24/96 for about 60 min should make about
15.5 GB (this I get from ProTools manual). Digidesign does NOT
recomend (understandably) recording on system drive. So, one
should size up the external HD accordingly to the needs. I have
160 GB to be on a save side (LaCie made).

Oh yeah, I got UPC screaming blue fire once too (when bouncing on
disk a heavy session). After that I bought one as big as I could find
(Belkin made).

Costy.

Costy wrote: 16 mono tracks of 24/96 for about 60 min should make about
15.5 GB (this I get from ProTools manual). Digidesign does NOT
recomend (understandably) recording on system drive. So, one
should size up the external HD accordingly to the needs. I have
160 GB to be on a save side (LaCie made).

The question was not about storage-- it was about interface. How do you get your 16 channels of audio (or AES) into your laptop, and what do you use for a backup when you are recording?

Rich

I have Digidesign's DigRack interface, it's only 8 inputs. That's my
limit for live recording.

As backup I use DVD disks, 4.7 GB each.

Costy.

Costy wrote: As backup I use DVD disks, 4.7 GB each.

By backup I mean some means of capturing the data simultaneously with your primary rig. For live work it really isn't an option. Most of the guys on this list would agree that there are two groups of recordists:

Those who wish they had run a backup and those who were glad they did. If you are not in either group be thankful, and realize you are running on borrowed time!

If you search the forum you'll find alot of ideas and info for doing this.

Rich

Ok, thanks Rich. I'll check it out. I do not run any secondary rig.
My primary one did not mis-fire yet, but I don't do that many gigs.

Costy.

Costy wrote: Ok, thanks Rich. I'll check it out. I do not run any secondary rig.
My primary one did not mis-fire yet, but I don't do that many gigs.

Costy.

If you don't run backup, you're playing with fire... You may not get burned much, but guaranteed, you will get burned at some point. The best backup systems are the ones where you can have completely redundant recording systems that if one dies, the other will work. An example would be a mixing console that outputs a stereo mix to 2 different recorders.

With anybody I hire to work with or for me, a backup is a requirement. No backup, no gig. I don't care how good your master medium is.

--Ben

Rich, I know EXACTLY the sound you're talking about when a HD has its power dumped......hehehe......you have to be very quiet to hear, but it's the WORST sound in the world if you're working....aieeeee.... :shock: (that high-pitched whine that quickly dies off in the distance, followed by a "thwuck" sound of the interlock kicking in to stop the death-spin of the drive platters...)

As for getting 16 channels of 24/96 into a laptop, here's a few ways...

Until recently, I had 2 MOTU 896's. Clunky and big to haul around....most times, I only took one out, and did a few "sub mixes" to make it fit on 8 channels. Sometimes, I used 'em both and it was tricky. You must have a fast PC, two SEPARATE firewire ports - one port (a PCMCIA Card or equivalent, etc.) to handle the data coming IN to the laptop from the MOTUs, and (at least in my experience) a second, entirely different firewire port to send the data out to the Firewire EXTERNAL drive. (internal laptop HD's are generally 5400 or slower, and useless for large track counts.)

People have told me success stories about putting the interfaces AND the HD's daisy-chained on the same FW cable, but I never got mine to work succesfully that way, sooner or later, something would ALWAYS jam it up, and I found the answer is to go with two separate, dedicated FW ports, or use the USB 2.0 port for the HD, etc. (Three 6-pin FW jacks on a PCMCIA card does NOT a 3-port dock make! It' really just ONE port, daisy chained.)

Nowadays, I have the Mackie ONYX 1640 with the 24/96 firewire card option, and it works pretty much exactly what they say it does. Again, I run the FW out from the Mackie to my PCMCIA card (with a 6 pin cable) and I use the OTHER Sony built-in FW port (separate device) to go to/from the FW Hard drive. No data bottlenecks this way.

Just earlier tonight, on a Jazz gig (with two bands on the bill), we had:

1 Voc mic feed,
2 Sax mics,
2 piano mics,
3 drum mics (Jazz kit: Kick, Snare, OH)
1 Bass mic/DI,
2 conga mics,
1 "box" mic (latin percussive device),
2 House Mics (ambient mics halfway back, for applause)
1 feed from house console for HH announce mics, and
1 guitar mic/DI.

If I'm not mistaken in my track count, that's 16.

Oh, and just to be safe, we run an analog-out 2-bus to CDr, as well as a digital 2-bus (actually, this is a digital 17th & 18th channel (stereo mix out) on the Mackie) to the laptop as well - so technically, that's 18 channels at 24/96 to the laptop. (There is also a 2 channel digital RETURN to the Mackie, when you want to play back takes and tracks via the mixer - great for session work, or playback of "tunes" when you're not working on something important.)

It all goes to a Western Digital 7200 RPM 120 Gig external FW HD, and now I get to mix it all for a broadcast next Saturday. (Actually, this gig was SMOKIN', and i really had a great time doing it. - Peruvian & Paraguayan jazz, all in a "Coltrain" meld. - It's a series they have here, featuring different South American cultures.)

As far as backups go, I doubt I could EVER trust the laptop rig on its own. (You know how it is: It may never fail as long as you're running backup, but BOY, just go ONCE without it, and see how many things can happen!) I always run a CDr 2-mix as backup, and for the indefinite future, I am also running a Tascam DA-x8 for a digital tape backup. (It's only 8 tracks, and when the track count goes beyond that, I do submixes to slim it down..)

One ALWAYS has to have a "Plan B" (and even C) in this business. In over 15-20 years of doing this, I've never completely lost a gig due to non-backup. (Scares the heck out of me just THINKING about it!) Even with the worst disasters, there's usually SOMETHING available to save the recording, sometimes an alternate take from a rehearsal, or a second night, etc.

Oh, and it's Sequoia V8 software nowadays, but I did use Samplitude 7.2 before this for 24/96 stuff as well.