bump

In my experience, it's better to use decent to good plug-ins than to use moderate quality outboard EQs and compressors. A UA Plug-in card or TC powercore are great choices to consider versus the JoeMeek, etc.

i dont want to rely to much on plug ins, so that it wont take up to much ram or cpu on my laptop.
i was mostly wondering if wiring it up that way would work

nillox wrote: i dont want to rely to much on plug ins, so that it wont take up to much ram or cpu on my laptop.
i was mostly wondering if wiring it up that way would work

You can try it that way. The "Insert" point on the TwinQ is wired so that it picks off the signal between the preamp section and the EQ/Compressor section. If you patch the Insert 'Send' FROM the Firestudio TO the proper point on the TwinQ's Insert jack (this would be the "ring" on the TRS jack), you'll be bypassing all of the front end crap on the Joemeek before you are hitting the EQ/Comp portion. The problem you may have is that there might not be enough gain from the Firestudio to "push" the TwinQ in that manner. If not, you'll have some serious noise issues. I didn't see the proper spec's anywhere in the TwinQ's skimpy owners' manual to indicate this. And, there is also the possibility for the Firestudio to overdrive the EQ/Comp section on the TwinQ. Keep in mind that using the Insert on the TwinQ as an input means that there is no level-matching between the 2 boxes...
If using the TwinQ's Insert jack does noy work well, there is always the Line input on its' front end section. Be prepared to use that.

But I have to ask, why use the TwinQ at all? You are paying for renundant processing (mic preamps and A/D converters) of mediocre quality at best.
Cucco offered a much more sensible approach with the UA plug-ins idea.
First off, IMHO, Joemeek stuff is pretty low quality, made-in-China-for-amateurs type of gear. Looking on their web site, they spend more time telling you how pretty it is and how many bells and whistles it has than giving you the details that a real audio engineer would want to know. Like HEADROOM...the +21dB output that they claim is pisspoor. Then they offer free el-cheap-o mics if you buy the pretty-box-with-no-balls.
If you don't want to take Cucco's sage advice ( and he knows a helluvalot more than 99% of the other people on this forum, including most of us older farts), and you want to stick with hardware, OK, consider this:
For EQ, try the Toft AFC-2 mic pre/EQ. I have the ATC-2, its' big bro. While I am having a love-hate relationship with it, I have to say that the EQ section is one of the sweetest I've encountered in my XX+ years in sound. The AFC-2 is that same EQ, plus a couple of decent pre's. Better headroom (+24dB), built in the same factory, also pretty.
Then for a compressor, get a REAL one-the dbx 166XL. BSW has these on a special sale now. Both boxes are not going to cost you much more than the the TwinQ. But you'll get better gain control, more flexibility in WHAT is going into the signal path to mess it up, and better headroom. Just no free crappy mics :lol:

cool, thanks for all the input.
the reason i had chosen joe meek was because it was the 1st one i came across when i had the idea of the pre amp-compressor-eq all in one. i have been looking around and i did find some free fun plug-ins.
i had a look too at toft and i like their stuff.
can you tell me a bit more about the UA plug in card?

nillox wrote:
can you tell me a bit more about the UA plug in card?

It might not be the best choice for a laptop as you would need to plug in extra hardware. Some of the UAD's competitors offer firewire versions which would make your life a lot easier (Duende, Powercore, LiquidMix).

There are some great native plugs around these days however, many of which are easy on the cpu... you mac or pc?

Ha...you could SHOVE it into the PCMCIA port, but I don't know if it would work too well after that.

Yes, as IIRS states, the other manufacturers make Firewire options that don't require too much from the host computer (or nothing at all in most cases). I've been looking at the Powercore and LiquidMix very seriously lately - listening and working on both and both seem to offer some pretty nice effects (no, VERY nice effects) at a more than reasonable cost.

Also, Moonbaby's advice regarding the Toft is spot on too. It's a great unit and although it's technically manufactured by the same plant in China that manufactures JoeMeek stuff, it's definitely to a higher standard.

ya im on a macbook 1.83 Ghz intel dual core 2 gigs of ram.

ill keep an eye out for plug-ins since most mid priced outboard gear is nearly the same quality as the lower priced ones.

ill also keep an eye on the toft gear too, i always liked the look of them. ill prob settle for the fnr audio real nice compressor and pre amp if i do go for something.