buying one, setup question.

[tobiasvangils]

Hello,
I'm new here. A did a bit of research and found out that there are a lot of poeple willing to help on this forum.
I'm probably getting an D8B very soon, but I'm totally not familiar with mixers.
I always did everything in-the-box.
So I got the question how the set it all up.

I got a Mac Pro.
- I got a mackie big knob for the monitor speakers.
- I got 2 pair of active speakers connected to the knob.
- I got a kurzweil synthesizer, but Im using it as a midi-keyboard.

How to setup the Mac Pro with the D8B? (connect what to what)
Which connections to use?
Do you recommend the D8B for producing electronical music. It's not for some recording studio, maybe 3 or 4 microphones connected for vocals.
Can you open plugins with a button with the D8B?

Thx for the help
tobias

[Petersueco]

Welcome to the forum Tobias.

Before you buy a second hand d8b you should read this article:

Purchasing A Pre-Owned d8b: Checklist

There are many questions in your post and I'm sure other users will pop-in and answer them better than me.

Peter Holmquist.

[tobiasvangils]

Hi,
I already know that. I've been searching through the topics here and I saw this guide and the top ten problem list.

Yes there are a lot of questions.
I think the main one is how to connect it directly to my mac pro

[Petersueco]

Tobias,

First you need to find out what cards the console have in the Tape Return slots. Then buy an audio interface accordingly for you Mac.

Peter Holmquist.

[tobiasvangils]

Ok. gonna take a look what card it is. But I know there's an apogee clock in it.
As audio-interface.
RME Fireface 800 or Apogee Ensemble.
Or will something like the Apogee one will do the job?, saves a lot of money

or the MOTU 828 MK III HYBRID
http://www.thomann.de/gb/motu_828_mk_iii_hybrid.htm
that one still is my favourite

[Crash]

The d8b has four options for input/output cards. The OPT.8 is the ADAT light pipe protocol. The DIO.8 has the ADAT protocol as well the Tascam TDIF connections. There is the AIO.8 which is an anolog card which connects via dsub 25 pin connections. Finally, there is the PDI.8 card which is another digital card that connects via dsub and is AES/SPIDF.

Each card is eight channels of audio. You need to know what the console has and make desicions from there. The Apogee clock card is a must and it looks like you will be good there. The other cards are available on the used market with OPT.8 being the cheapest of the bunch usually.

The d8b will control your monitors. I actually run three sets off of mine with my Hr824'ws connected to Mains, NS-10's connected to Nearfields and a studio out feeds a pair of auratones. You can certainly still use the big know if that is your preference.

You question about plug-ins is rather vague...are you asking about external plugs..vst, etc?

[tobiasvangils]

OK thx for the help guys.
I got an used Motu 828 MkII firewire audiointerface yesterday.

@crash: where should I connect the Big Knob to on the mackie, because I want to keep on using the knob.

I've read some people on the internet saying it has 72 channels
I see 24 channels on the D8B, is there something like a swith button, so once you control channel 1-24, with another click on the button you control 25-48 and with another click you control channels 49-72. Or how does this work. Do they mean you have to buy 3 D8B's?. When you are using Logic and say you got 35 channels in Use, but only 24 will work on the D8B, can you control the other 11 manually in Logic, like you wont have a mixer?

My plugin question: I mean you have several channels. at channel 6 is the NI Massive, is there a button that you can click and the plugin on ch6 (massive) opens?

thx for the help

[Crash]

There are quite a few options I would think in regards to feeding the Big Knob signal. I don't use one but I would think the manual would be a good place to start. There are quite a few output options on the d8b.

There are 4 layers to the d8b:
Layer 1=12 mic/line inputs and 12 line inputs
Layer 2=24 tape returns
Layer 3=16 channels of internal F/X returns and 8 channels of ALT slot input
Layer 4=8 channels of virtual groups, 8 channels of MIDI and Buss 1-8. (Masters)

Yes, you have a select switch above the Master fader to select which layer you have on top so to speak.

As for Mackie internal F/X, that question is beyond the scope of typing out on a forum. I would suggest you download the free manual for the console from Mackie and research what you need to know. It is pretty easy to navigate and read.