m00dawg Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 So my band is trying to gear up for live shows and I'm now in the process of planning out a live rack. I am really just wanting something streamlined since I don't foresee using many control surface elements live. I hope to use say an MBSEQ and/or Ableton Live (if I can get it to play nice with MidiBox patch change CC's) to handle that for the most part. And in a pinch I was going to use MIDI gear (control keyboard, pedals, etc.) to control things. Was curious if anyone has been able to cram an MBSID or MBFM into a 1U case with success? Biggest issue I see is the buttons below the LCD - I don't think they will fit. Anyone have any suggestions there? If I drop those (or move them) I could probably cram both an MBSID and MBFM into the same 1U case. I was thinking of using 1U half-rack boxes for that (if I can find some). Really all I need is an LCD display, probably a menu knob or just up/down buttons. The other thought I had was power. I was thinking of making a power box which was just another 1U case that took mains AC in and output various voltages for all the rackmount gear that doesn't already have mains AC (so MBSID, MBFM, MBSEQ, ArdunioBoys). Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) You may not need to buy full 1U/2U enclosures if you go for a "closed rack box", like a flight case, as its sides and the back is already covered. In fact, you might only need 19" blends/frontpanels and attach everything behind with hex standoffs... a bit like a "modular" with its slots. Or find a way to fasten the "guts" to the back wall of the rack and just have long cables between the front panel and the PCBs... Regarding your question - I think it should be possible to add small tactile switches below a 2x20 or 2x40 LCD, that would still fit into 1U - it will be difficult with a 4 lines LCD (for the MBSID) though! Bye, Peter Edited July 8, 2012 by Hawkeye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00dawg Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 (edited) Stand-off might work for some things, but since I was going to use the sammichFM and sammichSID baseboards, I'll probably still need shelves, but probably don't need a full enclosure. That's a pretty good idea though - you're right I don't actually need a full enclosure for the most part. The only real thing I need to solve for there is having a good system of connections between modules as well as to the outside world. I was going to panel mount things like MIDI jacks and power to the rear so I'll need to put some thought into that. As far as mounting buttons underneath and LCD, it would only be needed for the SID and FM modules. I would use the full control surface for MBSEQ at least until I'm comfortable with the feature set, and then I might slim it down a bit. For the SID and FM though, I haven't found a great way to put the buttons under without making it a tad sketchy to mount. So I think I will just offset the buttons or do away with them entirely and rely on MBSEQ programs or CTRLR when needed. EDIT: Hmm, seems like I could grab one of these and then just affix the panel on the front of that and mount everything using stand-offs and, room permitting, I can make I/O boards of sorts for the MIDI, power, etc. connections (so I don't risk damaging my Sammich boards if a cable gets stuck or pulled). Edited July 8, 2012 by m00dawg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.