With its Insert send and return ports, iD48 offers a myriad of ways to integrate outboard equipment into your workflow. This article will expand on the various ways these can be used, to allow you to make the most of iD48’s flexibility.
What is a DB25?
Firstly, we’ll explain the DB25 ports used for the insert points which some users may be unfamiliar with, especially if they have moved from a smaller, low-channel interface to iD48.
The DB25 ports on iD48 are a connector that allows for up to 8 channels to be connected to a single connector, rather than a typical XLR or TRS connection which can usually only carry one or two channels per connection. This makes DB25 connections ideal for applications where you need a lot of connections in a small space, such as the insert points on iD48!
To access the various channels, users will typically use a DB25 break-out cable which splits the 8 channels into separate XLR or TRS connectors which can be plugged into other audio equipment. These are sometimes referred to as a ‘Loom’
It’s important to note that the DB25 connectors on iD48 use what is known as the ‘Tascam Format’. The Tascam format describes which pins on the DB25 connector are used to carry each channel. The Pin diagram for a Tascam Format DB25 can be found below:
There are other, less used, formats utilised by other equipment (such as Yahama Format) so it is important to purchase the correct DB25 loom.
Using The Insert Sends and Returns Whilst Tracking
The first use case for the Insert Send and Returns is to add effects to your recording whilst recording, committing the effects to your track. A typical example of this would be adding hardware effects such as Compression and EQ to the signal path while recording a vocal, often known as a ‘vocal chain’.
For this example, we’ll plug a microphone into Input 1 of the iD48, and add a compressor to the microphone signal to track through.
We’ll plug a DB25 Loom into the Insert Send/Line Outputs DB25 Conenctor and connect channel 1 of the loom to the input of our Compressor. We’ll then use a second DB25 loom to plug the output of our compressor into the iD48’s Insert Return/ADC Return DB25 Connector.
Now we just need to adjust the ADC path of Channel 1 so that the iD48 is sending the Mic Signal to the Insert Send and receiving audio from the insert returns. This is easily done by setting the ‘ADC Path’ dropdown menu for channel 1 to “Mic Insert’ in the iD mixer application.
Now the routing is done, you can adjust your Mic gain and adjust the settings on the compressor to your taste. You are now ready to begin recording through the compressor into your DAW. Other effects can also be used such as EQs, Reverb, saturation etc… and it's of course possible to chain together multiple effects to create your own unique sound.
Using the Insert Return to Bypass the Audient Pre-amps
Whilst the Audient Console Mic pre’s on iD48 gives you a clean, fast and crisp sound; you may wish to use a different external mic pre to give you a different sound. A mic pre-amp with transformer balancing for example to give a warm, chunky sound.
We could of course, just plug an external mic pre-amp into the iD48’s Line input, using the ¼” input found on the Combi Connector. However, this means that the amplified signal from the external pre-amp will also be passing through the Audient Pre-amp and this does increase the chance of additional noise or distortion being added to the signal. Therefore, for the cleanest signal path, we’d want to bypass the Audient pre-amp entry and feed the external pre-amp directly into iD48’s Analog to Digital converters (ADC).
This is where the Insert Return/ADC Input Connector comes in very handy as this can be set up to feed directly into the ADCs.
Firstly, we’d plug the microphone into the external pre-amps input using an XLR cable. Then the output of the external pre-amp is fed into the Insert Return/ADC Input DB25 connector using channel 1 on a DB25 Loom.
Now, in the iD48 mixer software, we can set the ADC path of channel 1 to ADC Direct
Now the iD48 will be receiving audio from the external pre-amp via the Insert Return/ADC Input Connector. Adjust the gains and settings on the external pre-amp as required and you’re ready to record.
Using Hardware effects as DAW Inserts
Finally, we may wish to send audio from our DAW software, out to hardware effects and then capture this effect in our DAW. In this example, we would like to send a drumbeat from our DAW out to a compressor and back into the DAW again.
Firstly, we’ll create a hardware insert in our DAW. Every DAW will have different ways to do this so we won't go into detail on how to do this (please check your DAW’s manual for more information). In this case, we’re using the IO plug-in found in Logic Pro X.
This allows us to select which is our Output channel (or Send) and which is our Input Channel (or Return). In this case, we have selected Output channel 9 and Input channel 1.
We now need to route the output channel to the Insert Send/Line Output DB25 on the iD48. We can do this in the System panel of the iD Mixer software by clicking on the ‘Line Outputs’ tab.
We will then set the first line outputs to “DAW ADAT” which feeds channels 9 and 10 to Line outputs 1+2 on the Insert Send/Line Outputs DB25. More information about iD48's output routing can be found in the Manual
Now we use channel 1 of a DB25 Loom to connect the Insert Send/Line Output Connector to the input of our compressor. We then use a second DB25 loom to connect the output of our compressor to the Insert Return/ADC Input Connector via channel 1.
Finally, in the iD Mixer App, we can set the ADC path of Channel 1 to ADC Direct so the audio from the Compressor is sent directly to the ADC.
Now, when we press play in our DAW, the audio will be sent out to the compressor, processed and sent back into the DAW. This effectively allows you to use the hardware effect just like a software plug-in.
A Wealth of Flexibility
In these examples, we have only been using channel 1 on the iD48, however, it is possible to use each of the above setups on each of the 8 input channels separately as each channel has its own ADC path control. For example, you could be tracking through effects on Channels 1+2, bypassing the pre-amps on channels 3+4, all while using Hardware insert on your DAW on channels 4-8.
You can have even more flexibility in your setup by connecting the iD48’s DB25 outputs to an external patch bay. Patchbay rack units can be found at most good Pro Audio stores which would pair perfectly with the iD48:
You can then use this patch bay to patch different effects into different channels to suit a particular session. To do this, you can simply plug the Insert Send/Line Output DB25 Conenctor into the inputs on the rear of your patch bay, and the Outputs of the patch bay to the Insert Return/ADC Input DB25 Connector. Don't forget to label these channels on the patch bay for ease of use.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article shows just how powerful iD48’s Insert routing can be, whilst making it easy to add external hardware effects into your productions. If you are unsure about a particular setup, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@audient.com with details of what you are trying to set up and we’ll be more than happy to help!