Re: hooking up an edit system

your feedback issues may be unavoidable with your limited budget. If you take a VTR output, and send it into a mixer's input, it works !. If you take the output of the mixer, and send it back into the VTR, you can feed different sources from the mixer into the VTR. This works too. However, if the faders are up, and you eject the tape from the VTR, you get FEEDBACK. This is fact of life. So, how do you avoid this - you use DIFFERENT BUSSES on your mixer - one to feed your speakers, and one to feed your VTRs (and AVID, or FCP system). For example - if you take Mixer Out 1, and Mixer Out 2, and use this to feed all your VTR's, (you split this with custom Y splitters or an audio DA which you can't afford) - evertyhing is fed properly. However, if you now take the Main L-R output of your mixer, and feed your speakers (and DO NOT use the CR Mon Out of your mixer to feed the speakers), you have an independent way of feeding your spekaers, and feeding your record machines.

SO, you playback your beta VTR (for example) and hit the 1-2 button on your Mackie, or Behringer mixer. It goes into your AVID. Want to hear your AVID ? Raise the faders, and only hit the Main L-R button on these faders - NO FEEDBACK.

People say "I don't want to hit those buttons on the mixers, isn't there another way, and still avoid feedback" - there sure is, but it costs MORE MONEY (and you don't want to spend more money). You split the output of every VTR, and send it into a stand alone 10x1 router (even a cheap passive one), and take the output of this router, and send it into the 2 Track return of your mixer (or Tape in of your mixer), and now you have an ISOLATED output of each device, so you NEVER get feedback during monitoring.

Cables cost a lot of money. And if you want to avoid the costs of analog audio DA's to feed the inputs of all your VTR's, you will need to split the output of your mixer to feed all your VTR's and edit system. And if you cant' solder, you have to hire someone to make this up for you. And if you say "can't I just use the AUX outputs to feed different VTR's" - sure you can - and you will create another overly complex wiring and operation scheme, that will ultimately frustrate you.

For audio patch bays, I strongly recommend Behringer PX3000 - they are $50 bucks each, and are super reliable. Just make sure you
use cable ties in your rack to make sure your cables don't yank out of the back of the back of the patch bay.

bob Zelin