Multi track question

[franky03Participant]

Hello all!

New to this forum 😉

Im interested in a qu16 for recording bands without a computer.

Here is the back story if you’re interested:
I mainly do audio for tv.
I have a gig where we interview musicians in the morning and in the afternoon I record their performance.
My main recorder has 6 tracks and for most of my talking heads gigs this is more than sufficient… but when there is a full band I run out of tracks. Plus I have to disassemble my bag setup. The location varies from shoot to shoot and I have to deal with a different PA system each time :-/
Hence why Im looking at the qu16.
I would sacrifice a track for timecode which is not ideal but could work ok and would leave me with 15 tracks + st mix, I would be happy with that 🙂

Questions:
Can we name the multitrack recordings?
Can we choose polywave or mono?
Can we name each track?
Is finding a compatible usb key that difficult?

Thank you for your time and happy holidays!

franky03

[GigaParticipant]

Unfortunately that has to be answered with 3 no’s and 1 yes. You can do anything to the tracks you like but only after you’vr transferred ‘m to your computer. Bummer…..

Giga

[franky03Participant]

Hmmmmm, bummer indeed :-/

I really like this mixer but naming the recordings is kinda of basic stuff no?
Maybe they can implement it in a firmware update?

Peace out…

franky03

[Dick ReesParticipant]

I use the tried and true old-school method: paper and pencil. I have a bag full of Sandisk Extreme 16gig USB3 sticks, all numbered. I find that keeping a track sheet with notes to be mandatory and it is not possible to replace full session notes with digital labels. I simply key my notes to the stick #.

If you need to label everything ITB, take a laptop along. It takes less than a minute to transfer files and you can then label them at your leisure.

[franky03Participant]

Hello and thank you for reply Dick 🙂

I hear you when you speak about the pencil :p
But the thing is: as soon as the shoot is finished I hand out the recordings for them to be synced in post-production with the cameras, with timecode. A clap and a naming convention are the failsafe methods.

I dont want to carry a laptop, I dont want to do transfers.

Mixers/recorders like Sound Devices and Zaxcom incorporate metadata where we can name the scene, shot and take number. This is the professional way of doing things these days in production sound.

AFAIK you guys are already naming the tracks on the mixer… dont you find it a bummer that these names are not carried thru the recording?

Regards,

franky03

[Dick ReesParticipant]

I just wrapped up my 2016 work mixing audio for video. I feed the stereo mix directly to the camera with backup recordings on a Marantz digital recorder, a spare camera and the Qu-drive. All mixing is live>2, so no mixing in post. Saves time and money…

If you find this too much or too difficult I suggest you look for…and pay for…something that fits ALL your personal requirements. Qu-16 works for me, but so did a rolling rack with a 14:4:2 Wiz and my favorite outboard. Actually, the analog setup is better in a lot of ways. It’s just more than I want to haul at age 70.

[franky03Participant]

Dont get me wrong, I love the good old days of Nagra recording 😉
But same as you, I want to travel light.

They do give us the time and budget for post work on these shows so having a smooth workflow is essential.
This mixing board is so close to everything im looking for, just missing that naming feature… maybe someone from A&H will chime in with my xmas wish?

:p

franky30

[Dick ReesParticipant]

Don’t hold your breath on the gift idea…

I’d recommend you consider a Qu-pac or -sb and an AB168 to give you a scalable system with minimum size. Some advantages would be 32 channel core, local + remote inputs/outputs, increased track count via USB-b streaming to hard disk (I use a Seagate 500 gig) in addition to the standard feature set. A pair of iPads for dual-touch control is nifty.

With remote inputs via D-snake you can patch incoming channels as you wish, allowing you to use a consistent track template over many jobs. A standard “kit”, “swing channel”, bass, Gtr1, Gtr2, keys and four vox covers 90% of band work. Having an adaptable yet standard channel scheme makes for easier post…but then I seldom if ever do a post mix.
I use high-isolation headphones (GK UltraPhones) and nail it in performance. This after years of mixing live broadcast (what’s “post”?) audio.

Good luck. Keep your pencil sharp…

[franky03Participant]

Thanks for the tips and tricks… will look into it!

Happy holidays!

🙂

franky03

[Dick ReesParticipant]

Happy holidays. With the purchase of a Qu with the core 32 Santa brings you groups and matrices over and above the Qu-16. Just think of the fun you can have with such nice toys.

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