io, betacam concern

[Jeremy Garchow]

If you bypass all extra equipment & plug the io straight into your 1800, is the signal still low? If the signal is good, you have something messed up in the chain between the io & the 1800. Make sure the front level gains on your 1800 are set to about “6” or 2 o clock.

———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2

ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre

[Rick Neely]

Thanks for responding.

Did what you said and the io is fine. I’m guessing it has to be the Eurorack board. The tascam patch panel has no controls and no power. I have zero-ed out all channels and balance. It just seems like it needs some additional trim and the eurorack just doesn’t provide. I’ll do some more research, but if you have an idea, let me know. Thanks.

Rick

[Jeremy Garchow]

Yeah, I’m not so sure, but i can sure try and help. I’d add in each piece of equipment one at a time and see when the signal starts to break down. Since the patch panel is a pass through, I’d add that in first, then see if you’re still getting a good signal. After that, add the eurorack. Make sure all of your cables are good, and switch channels on the eurorack if the first two aren’t working. Make sure there’s nothing soloed or muted and that you’re going into the line ins (not mic) of the eurorack. Are you getting proper levels to other pieces of equipment?

Jeremy

———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2

ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre

[Rick Neely]

OK,

I have confirmed that the io and the eurorack are both fine. So it has to be either the tascam patch panel or the particualar 1/4 jumper patches. I’m trying to get some info on it, but could the patch cables I use cause the problem? could they be weak signal connectors.

Rick

[Jeremy Garchow]

Could be. Are they balanced 1/4″ cables (TRS) or unbalanced? Is the patch panel balanced or unbalanced? Without knowing exactly what you have and how it’s hooked up, it’s hard to tell. it sounds to me like a bad connection in the patch panel somewhere. Have you tried using different ports?

———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2

ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre

[Bob Zelin]

Rick states –
The tascam patch panel has no controls and no power. I have zero-ed out all channels and balance. It just seems like it needs some additional trim and the eurorack just doesn’t provide.

REPLY –
I have two suggestions –
1) you stated above that you “zeroed out all the channels and balance”. If this means that you have zeroed out the AJA, the Mixer and the Beta 1800 to read zero on your meters (with tone), but when you play your program material from the FCP system, the meters on the Beta 1800 look low – THIS IS NORMAL. The Beta 1800 has averaging meters, and the average program level (of mixed normal program material) ALWAYS LOOKS LOW on the meters of the Beta 1800. If you put ZERO TONE into it, the 1800 meters look correct, but when you play your actual audio (not tone), it looks low. THEY ALL DO IT !

2) you state that you have a Eurorack mixer, but do not state what model, nor do you state what outputs you are using. I own a Behringer UB2442FXPro, and the ZERO output of the UB2442 is 0 dBu, where the Beta 1800 zero is calibrated for +4dBu, so there is a 4 db difference between the Behringer and the Beta (and AJA). Zero on your mixer may be where it says “4” (2 yellow LED’s up).

3) you have not stated what model mixer you have, nor have you stated what outputs you are using. If you are using the TRS (phone plug) outputs you are ok, but if you are using an RCA jack output, you are taking a -10dBu output to feed your Beta VTR, so ZERO on your mixer would be -14dB lower than zero on your Beta VTR.

4) you state that you are going thru a Tascam patch bay. Tascam DOES NOT MAKE a balanced 1/4″ patch bay – they ONLY make unbalanced patch bays. And I don’t know what model Tascam bay you are using. Older Tascam bays used UNBALANCED RCA JACKS on the rear of the bay. YOU CANNOT USE THIS with your system. Want a cheap patch bay with 1/4″ balanced jacks – get a Behringer PX3000 for $49.95. This has BALANCED 1/4″ phone plugs on the front AND rear. All of your cables must be 1/4″ BALANCED TRS cables, not unbalanced cables. God only knows if you have cabling errors. For example – if someone lifted up the black (low) wire in wiring up your cables, and you are only plugging in tip sleeve, leaving the black (low) wire floating, you WILL GET LOW LEVELS.

Bob Zelin

[Rick Neely]

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOU ADVICE!

Bob’s recent post was correct. Wasn’t aware of the slight differences in the pot levels between gear, but the problem was with the patch panel. I had a tascam pb-32p patch panel, an unbalanced panel that wasn’t delivering a high enough signal. So I picked up a Behringer PX-1000 and some balanced 1/4″ cables and the signals are fine now. Not the best sound expert here so all the advice has been a good learning experience from here on out. Thanks again guys and take care.

Rick

[Vince Sanchez]

Does the mixer have an XLR type connector? You’re probably coming out of the mixer at -10 level and the 1800 expects +4. If your tascam patch panel is 1/4 inch or RCA its probably unbalanced and if you come out the same type of connectors on the mixer output its probably -10 unbalance. You want +4 balanced, that’s either a 1/4 TRS connector or an XLR connector, which is what the 1800 has.