Organizing my aux sends/receives

[tsunami]

This post is part looking for advice and part looking for how to perform the advice you give. Here's my situation. I have a DM4800 connected via FireWire to my mac running Logic Pro 8. I have a variety of external effects which I want to wire up to the aux sends/receives.

My question, first of all, is how do you guys recommend I configure this given that I can only run 24 inputs via FireWire to my mac? At present, my aux receives are returning on individual channels that map onto 8 of the 24 firewire channels. Then add the two internal effects and i have blown 10 of my 24 channels on effects returns! Is this the right way to do it? It seems like there should be a better way. How do professionals do it?

In thinking this through, it seems like it would be better to return all the internal and aux receives to higher channels (perhaps 49 thru 59) that don't go to the mac, and then bounce all these to two channels that do go to the mac for recording? This gives me fine-grained control of the returns which I can sub-mix. If that seems like the right approach, how the heck do I achieve this?! I find all the routing on this beast absolutely confounding. I cannot work out how to bounce 10 channels onto two.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Arjan P]

1. Why only 24 channels? Do you have the older firewire interface?
2. Do you want to mix in the box or out of the box?
3. Are your external effects analog or digital, and do you want them in the final mix to stereo or as external inserts in your DAW?

 

[TascMan]

Do you use all of your external effects at the same time? Probably not. If they are analog, perhaps a patchbay would be useful for you. Just wire up a few sends/returns from a patchbay to your 4800. Then wire ins and outs of all of your external gear into the patchbay, and use jumpers to/from each effect as needed.