Members MrJoshua Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I have a rather large rack - it's about six feet tall. I got it from a guy who used to own a radio station. He was going to throw it out for scrap, and instead he gave it to me. A quick paintjob later, it's a great studio rack. The thing is, if you look inside at the back it's a complete jumbled mess of cables going to two XLR patchbays for mic inputs, a TRS patchbay for line ins and outs, and various preamps and compressors and converters and whatnot. There are probably seventy-five to a hundred different connections. I added a cable here and a cable there as additional gear was purchased for the rack, and over time it went from being fairly neat to being a complete maze. So, I'm going to be moving my gear into a new room soon, and I'm going to take this as an opportunity to take each piece of gear out of the rack and make sure I have the correct serial numbers and such recorded and photographs on file for insurance purposes. It dawned on me that this would also be a great chance to re-route some cables and hopefully neaten things up a bit. What do you use for cable management in a scenario like this? Do you just tie-wrap things together and attach to the side of the rack, or are there specific products made to help with this sort of problem? I'm planning on just bundling together specific groups of cables (for example, the eight line input cables going from the TRS patchbay to the Digi002 Rack line inputs will be a bundle, and the four XLR cables used as mic inputs to the Focusrite ISA-428 preamps will be bundled together) and then tie-wrapping them to the side of the rack, but I thought I'd ask just in case some of y'all had alternate suggestions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I've seen a lot of zip-ties to control the cable mess, and velcro ties and that kind of thing. Not sure what else there is that you could use... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 23, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I've seen a lot of zip-ties to control the cable mess, and velcro ties and that kind of thing.Not sure what else there is that you could use... Yeah, that's what I figured. I just thought I'd ask in case someone had any other suggestions. I'm pretty much planning on going to town with a bag of zip ties. I might use velcro ties just to make it easier to replace or rearrange things down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 I like the vecro ties. They make rearranging alot easier. I also like to color code things, but that can be done with either type of wrap. Also, using cables that aren't excessively long to begin with will help minimize the mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdoubleyou Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 Make sure you keep audio cables seperated from power cords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted July 23, 2008 Members Share Posted July 23, 2008 Zip ties can damage your conductors and shielding if you crimp it a little tight, or even with appropriate pressure, if you ever snag it on anything, the zip tie doesn't really have any "give". Secondly, velcro can be a good way to keep them bundled, but with that many cables, you might end up with too much weight on a couple particular connections. I would suggest buying wire managers from a telecom or IT infrastructure warehouser. Google leviton or panduit "wire managers" and look for both vertical and horizontal managers, and in conjunction with velcro, you can keep a neat, secure, and convenient system of holding all that jazz together. It's the stuff on racks in data centers where there are hundreds of cables going all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alcohol Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 I have a small studio. 7' high ceilings. I put lots of hooks in the ceiling and route the individual cables around the ceiling down to a cable box that has a snake connected to the console. It doesn't look great, but we're not stepping all over cables anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 You know, all I really need is some of that plastic cable duct, isn't it? I just thought of that. Bundle cables in that according to what's going where, then tie the plastic duct to the side of the rack. Signal cables on one side, power cables on the other, and done. I'll probably just go by the local electrical supply store and pick up some of the plastic tube duct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 The only problem with InterDuct (the plastic tubing stuff) within the rack itself is that typically you have cables entering and exiting the tube throughout the length of the tube - which negates much of it's "organizational" appeal. Note to that it makes "chasing" cables much more difficult later since you can see the cables within the tube. I'd second DeepRig's suggestion to look for vertical and horizontal wire management products - combined with some velcro ties. You might also want to consider how you're going to document your cabling. Drawings and/or labels applied to cable ends can be a real lifesaver down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 The documentation will mainly be performed at the termination points, but probably very little will be labeled on the cables themselves. All of the cables are terminated at a patch bay at one end, and the patch bay is clearly labeled. I may use a Sharpie to label cable ends just in case I wind up having to change out a bad cable later, to make sure I've unplugged the right thing, but that's a maybe. Generally it will be pretty clear where things go (for example, the TRS patchbay might have one point labeled "From API 1" and the cable plugged into the back of that point will have its other end plugged into the line output from the API 512c in port 1 of my Lunchbox). If I go with InterDuct, it will not have cables entering and exiting at different points. Instead, each duct will go to a different piece of gear. For example, I'll have one duct carrying four mic inputs and four line outputs from my two FMR RNPs. It might also carry the four insert cables from the RNPs. That's eight to twelve cables right there, and the duct would be sized accordingly and cut to length. Another duct will carry four mic input and four line output cables from the Focusrite ISA-428; a separate duct will carry the eight line inputs to the Focusrite's converter card. I think I'm going to have to have SOME kind of duct or similar method of bundling cables, just due to the number of cables I have. I'm still looking at options, though. It will probably be a couple of months before I'm ready to do this, but I thought now would be a good time to gather ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurfu Posted July 24, 2008 Members Share Posted July 24, 2008 Maybe these will inspire you: http://www.l-com.com/familylist.aspx?id=239 http://www.stayonline.com/cable-management.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Pet peeve time: IMHO, ALL rack units should conform to some sort of (currently undefined) industry standard insofar as location of power, audio and MIDI / "other" (USB, firewire, etc.) cables. It would make wiring up a rack and dressing cables a LOT easier! No more routing wire across units so you can get the power cable from the one unit that has it on the opposite side from all the others over to the "correct" side so you can route all your power together, and away from the audio cables... (which is definitely something you should try to do!) I use nylon zip ties for bundling things, as well as velcro ties for things I may need to "get into" more frequently, and those corrugated plastic tubes with the slit sides to put cable inside of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted July 26, 2008 Members Share Posted July 26, 2008 , and those corrugated plastic tubes with the slit sides to put cable inside of. I installed about 200 feet of that stuff today, I can't feel the tips of my thumbs. I hope I never see that stuff again. "Split Loom Tubing" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mick8882003 Posted July 26, 2008 Members Share Posted July 26, 2008 Get a few rolls of masking tape, cheap and you can simply break it if you need to... Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Get a few rolls of masking tape, cheap and you can simply break it if you need to...Mick That can work, but some masking tape, if left in place for a long time, can get pretty gummy and leave a sticky residue on the cables when its finally removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I installed about 200 feet of that stuff today, I can't feel the tips of my thumbs. I hope I never see that stuff again. "Split Loom Tubing" Yup, that's it! Sorry about your thumbs. It's pretty good for organizing things though, and if you can pre-stretch it a bit, and use a scraper or similar wide tool to wedge it open as you're putting cable into it, it's not too unreasonable to deal with... but it's still annoying enough that you wouldn't want to use it with something you're constantly changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 26, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2008 I'll figure out something. I still have some time before I get the studio up. Right now lots of things are still up in the air, and this is just one of them. Heck, I'm still trying to decide if I want to use the whole 24'x24' building as one big room, or split it into one 15x24' tracking room, one 9x12' control room, and then use the remaining 9x12' space to make two 9x6' storage closets / iso booths. I'm leaning toward splitting the space up, but who knows? The ceiling will be anywhere from 10-12' (the roof will allow me to go up to 12', but I'm running different numbers through the handy room mode calculator from Ethan's site to try and determine which ceiling height will give me the best, easiest-to-treat frequency responses). I'm just ready to freaking get this thing UP, though. Now if it would just quit raining every time I'm off work and have a chance to get outside and do something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Are there any existing walls in the room? And what do you plan on doing in there? If you'll be doing a lot of band tracking, separate rooms may be nice to have, but if it's primarily for your own stuff, a single room may be the way to go... although 24 X 24 X 12 is a pretty horrific set of dimensions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 26, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2008 Are there any existing walls in the room? And what do you plan on doing in there? If you'll be doing a lot of band tracking, separate rooms may be nice to have, but if it's primarily for your own stuff, a single room may be the way to go... although 24 X 24 X 12 is a pretty horrific set of dimensions... Basically, I'm putting up a 24x24' building (pole frame, metal exterior). It will be used as a studio for a couple of years, most likely, and I'll put a lean-to on the front to park under. After I move, any interior walls will probably be taken down and the building will be used as a shop/storage building. It will be a mix of myself, and tracking a band. But, I think that tracking myself with multiple rooms will be OK as I use a wireless keyboard. I just record-enable the tracks, then carry the keyboard to my amp or drums or whatever I'm playing at the moment and hit "3" on the number pad when I'm ready to start recording. I'm mainly looking at the storage aspect of the storage/iso rooms, honestly, although it will be handy to throw a guitarist or singer in there from time to time. I should be able to get a pretty good sound out of a 15'x24' room with a 10-11' ceiling in it (I'm thinking of putting in a drop ceiling with a mixture of acoustic tiles and plywood, to keep it from being totally dead, or I might just sheetrock it and add treatment), concrete floor with some rugs and possibly a wood riser for the drums, bass traps in the wall/wall corners and enough treatment to control the sound without completely killing the room. Then the control room will be 9'x12' with probably a 10' ceiling, although I might lower it some depending on what the ModeCalc software indicates will give me the easiest-to-tame nodes. Bass traps in the wall-wall corners and the wall-ceiling corners, and treatment to control the early reflections. The iso/storage rooms will probably either be treated to be completely dead, or get no treatment at all until and unless I try to record in them and decide they sound horrible (because I'm mainly going to use them for storage). ANYTHING I put up is going to be tons better than the 10x10x8' room I have everything crammed into now. Five-piece kit, two guitar rigs, a keyboard, and all my studio gear. There is not a lot of room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted July 26, 2008 Members Share Posted July 26, 2008 http://www.johnkeanestudios.com/studiotour.htm hover mouse over "Studio A" He's got a layout with retractable walls/panels on hinges in one big room, to get more isolation in live tracking, and movable; pretty neat idea. Not sure how original it is, but it's the first I've heard of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted July 27, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 27, 2008 http://www.johnkeanestudios.com/studiotour.htm hover mouse over "Studio A" He's got a layout with retractable walls/panels on hinges in one big room, to get more isolation in live tracking, and movable; pretty neat idea. Not sure how original it is, but it's the first I've heard of it. While that's cool, it's WAY beyond the scope of anything I'll be doing anytime soon. I don't make any money with this, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted July 28, 2008 Members Share Posted July 28, 2008 If you havent done it be sure to either number or color code all connectors before breaking down and moving. I used to use colored tiewrap combinations but it got to be too confusing without a key to figure them out. I changed out and went with a "A-1 A-2, A-3" for a patchbay #1 "B-1, B-2 etc" patchbay #2 This way if you got to go in there its easier to localize problems. For grouping wires I use trash can twist ties. i dont like tape cause it can make a stickey mess or with madking tape tear too easily. Tie wraps are OK but having to cut and replace is required for a rewire. You can get the long twist ties at a dollar store and theyre reusable. I have also used gallon water bottels and cut strips about 2X5". I then cut maybe 8~12 circles and notches in rows. I simply fit the wires into the notch and my wires are perfectly spaced. Makes tracing and replacing rack wires very fast plus the wires dont get twisted up. Great if you have to pull or replacing rack units cause the wires are in the proper order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted August 1, 2008 Members Share Posted August 1, 2008 That can work, but some masking tape, if left in place for a long time, can get pretty gummy and leave a sticky residue on the cables when its finally removed. That blue painters tape doesn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nerol1st Posted August 1, 2008 Members Share Posted August 1, 2008 Get a few rolls of masking tape, cheap and you can simply break it if you need to... Mick Gaff tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted August 1, 2008 Members Share Posted August 1, 2008 Here's a tip if you're using zip ties: use one tie to bundle the cables and attach another zip tie to the first one to attach the bundle to the rack. That way if you want to move the whole bundle of cables you won't have to unbundle it, you'll only need to cut the tie connecting the bundle to the rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.