Need 1U Rack gear. What should I get?

[DrGonzo]

Is there a picture or list of other gear in the rack already?

Because my go-to for this is "patchbay" or "midi patchbay" but no idea if relevant really.

DIYRE Colour Duo looks fun and useful. For a less subtle distortion unit the Sansamp PSA-1 is a classic.

Thinking of adding a 1u drawer containing a taped-down Cioks DC7 to my own rack so that it's quick and tidy to power pedals and other gadgets that have come out of cupboards.

At the moment I have declared war on patchbays in my studio. As useful they are, they are always a cornerstone of too complicated setups that I never remember how to use.

[DrGonzo]

And what about a dB meter? Not very useful as a measurement tool, but dirty cheap and always nice to look at all those led lights in the rack. Oh, and black, of course.
https://www.thomann.de/es/the_t.racks_dbmeter.htm

I didn't think in those terms - but I like where you are going with it. Are there rack tuners? That's would actually be damn useful.

[DrGonzo]

A blank panel would be the cheapest option... maybe one with pre-drilled holes, so you can add some connectors (if you have something that you'd like to bring to the front, but you don't want to install a patchbay).


For the show, I'd suggest a Plasma Rack by Gamechanger Audio (disclaimer: I've never tried it, I have only the Plasma Pedal and I think it's a very particular / specialized effect, something I rarely use... and it's expensive... but the look is impressive!).

Or maybe you could consider a spring reverb like the Vermona VSR 3.2 (again, I never tried it, but it's all black but the knobs and Vermona is a reputable brand AFAIK)...

I also got the pedal And it really looks good.

[vurt]

blank panel with a decepticon logo, so your rack looks like a transformer, a robot in disguise...

[kritikon]

Maybe even one of those 1-unit rack drawers that slide out , fill it with chocolate bars, biscuits, possibly even minibar bottles of spirits/liqueurs and a couple of sweet fat cigars so that you're never short of life's luxuries in the studio and have a secret stash that the wife doesn't know about and frustrates her as to why the diet she put you on isn't working, cos I guarantee she'll never think of looking in your racks to find them, even if she goes through your underpants drawer to make sure you're not cheating. Just a thought...

[muki]

Are there rack tuners? That's would actually be damn useful.

korg:
https://www.korg.com/de/products/tuners/pitchblack_pro/

what about a furman power conditioner ?

or a nice old lexicon pcm (70, 60 or so)?

[DrGonzo]

Are there rack tuners? That's would actually be damn useful.

korg:
https://www.korg.com/de/products/tuners/pitchblack_pro/

what about a furman power conditioner ?

or a nice old lexicon pcm (70, 60 or so)?

Looks gorgeous! And it has a cable checker too. Not bad! Thanks!

/C

[zerocrossing]

I always regretted not buying a Reflex. I got the Alex and really liked and still like it, but Reflex is far better specced in terms of editability. Lovely sound too. You still see them around for sale at not silly prices. And seriously better than any old Alesis reverb.

This one have completely slipped under my radar. Looks very fun indeed! Thanks for a great suggestion.

I was just going to suggest a Vortex or JamMan. Lot’s of fun there.

[Azbest]

Thermionic Pullet, Overstayer Saturator, Oberheim Matrix-1000, Bricasti M7...

Elysia makes some great (and relatively affordable) 1U units if you can stomach the blue color lol.

[thecontrolcentre]

Novation Bass Station or Drum Station Rack. Digitech Studio Quad, Samson SM10 Line Mixer, Vesta DIG-110 Delay, Alesis MidiVerb ...

[muki]

and actually, imho korg had quite a very nice lineup of 1u'ers back in the 80s

sdd-300
wonderful delay
2000 and 1000 aren't bad either

kmx-62
6 chanel keyboard mixer (nowadays something alike is also called "summing mixer" )
with a funky CV-controlled VCA i/o

kec-42
a very strange compressor/compander/expander/gate thingie

kmp-68
a 8 channel midi patchbay - always useful imho

most of them have a black panel
sdd a (very) dark blue

[thecontrolcentre]

Software controlled, 1U synth, but definitely not black (except for the back panel)
https://reverb.com/item/55172809-nord-m ... k-warranty

My first ever sampler fits the bill ... I used to have two of them.



https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/cheetah-sx16/414

[DrGonzo]

Software controlled, 1U synth, but definitely not black (except for the back panel)
https://reverb.com/item/55172809-nord-m ... k-warranty

My first ever sampler fits the bill ... I used to have two of them.



https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/cheetah-sx16/414

What a cool suggestion! I have completely forgot about Cheetah. Didn't they make a 1U S1000 clone back in the day?

[thecontrolcentre]

The SX16 is the only Cheetah product I'm aware of ... it was the only "affordable" sampler back in the early 90's. Not the best sound quality, but with plenty of outputs. Mine got used as a lo-fi drum machine mainly.

[Constructed Identity]

In a pre-congnative way, I have the same (future) problem-
Thinking about my setup, I imagine two 3U rack containers, one on each side of the monitor to set my speakers on top of so they are higher and therefore ear height. If I buy an audio interface with 8 ins it will be 1 rack space in addition to the Furman's 1U, so that makes one U empty!
And 3U on the other side...
...was thinking one of those old dbx compressors on the cheap (used) side or on the high-end side, a channel strip from one of those highly-respected companies...