Which Open Rack Frame to Buy?
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- KVRist
- 54 posts since 15 Jan, 2006 from Taiwan
The manual says that we'll need to buy a standard 19" open rack frame to put the Recetpor into a rack. I have searched the internet and found different open rack frame. Can anyone tell me which, and where, can I buy one that fits? Thanks in advance
Arys Chien
Deep White Studio
Deep White Studio
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
HI Arys
Receptor will fit in almost any 19 inch rack that conforms to EIAJ standards. Please be aware that some cheapo racks are not properly made and as a result Receptor can be a tight fit in those racks. We've had good luck with SBK and Gator rack cases, and all the pro studio rack manufacturers should be fine as well. Beware off-brand cheapo racks and cases, that's where the problems will occur.
When racking Receptor, it is important to keep in mind several different things: the environment in which the unit will be kept, the mechanical shock and vibration that Receptor will be subjected to, and the amount of available airflow in the rack. Let's take these one by one:
1. Environment: if you are in a studio that is climate controlled and dust free, Receptor will happily occupy a rack most anywhere in the room. It is advisable to check the ambient air temperature inside the rack, as some peripherals, like amplifiers, tube mic pres or compressors, and some other sound modules can cause the temperature INSIDE the rack to rise considerably. We do not recommend running Receptor above an ambient temperature of 80 degress farenheit without additional airflow. (see comments on airflow below)
2. Mechanical shock and vibration: Receptor weighs 14 pounds, which means that in a studio, the rack ears are sufficient to keep it properly supported. However, if it is sitting in the middle of a 8 or 10 space rack with no additional mechanical support and you are hauling Receptor around, which can cause serious problems due to the depth of the case. If you expect that you will be touring with the Receptor, we recommend additional exterior support in the form of angle irons attached to the rear bottom corners of the unit with velcro. I can provide an illustration if you like, simply send me an email at bryan@museresearch.com. You definitely want to provide additional support to Receptor if being shipped by air, as I have seen Receptor mounted in a rack case being dropped from a height of about two feet on to luggage belts, and dropped about 18 inches onto concrete floors... all in one trip! The good news is the Receptor still worked fine, but this is not a good practice! Ideally, one should treat Receptor the same way you would treat your laptop. Of course Receptor is a lot more robust than a laptop, but the last thing you want to do is arrive at a gig and find that Receptor has been damaged by shipping, so treating it with aplomb is a good idea.
3. Airflow: Receptor has a lot of componentry stuffed into a two-rack space package, so the cooling design is clever and also critical. The basic cooling design has fresh air entering in the front left side and bottom of the case, which then cools the power supply, flows across the rest of the unit, across the VGA and up through the CPU heatsink where the incoming air it drawn across the CPU heatsink and pushed up against the top of the case. The top case is aluminum, so a certain amount of the heat is transferred to the top of the case and transferred to teh outside via convection. The rest of the air is decellerated through a plastic venturi, where it is then exhausted from the unit with the larger system fan located on the right hand rear of the unit.
Critical things to know about good cooling is to make sure that the incoming air vents are not constricted, and ideally this means that a perforated blank rack space strip is mounted below the unit. The exhaust air has to get out of the rack, so enclosed racks are a no-no, as the hot exhaust air will get sucked back into the unit and you essentially have a hot air feedback loop. Not good. Most pro racks and pro studios have an airconditionig feed to their racks, which will most likely keep Receptor nice and cool, and eliminates the need for the perforated space below the unit.
This is probably a ton more info than you expected, but sometimes you get more than you bargained for in life!
Cheers
Bryan
Receptor will fit in almost any 19 inch rack that conforms to EIAJ standards. Please be aware that some cheapo racks are not properly made and as a result Receptor can be a tight fit in those racks. We've had good luck with SBK and Gator rack cases, and all the pro studio rack manufacturers should be fine as well. Beware off-brand cheapo racks and cases, that's where the problems will occur.
When racking Receptor, it is important to keep in mind several different things: the environment in which the unit will be kept, the mechanical shock and vibration that Receptor will be subjected to, and the amount of available airflow in the rack. Let's take these one by one:
1. Environment: if you are in a studio that is climate controlled and dust free, Receptor will happily occupy a rack most anywhere in the room. It is advisable to check the ambient air temperature inside the rack, as some peripherals, like amplifiers, tube mic pres or compressors, and some other sound modules can cause the temperature INSIDE the rack to rise considerably. We do not recommend running Receptor above an ambient temperature of 80 degress farenheit without additional airflow. (see comments on airflow below)
2. Mechanical shock and vibration: Receptor weighs 14 pounds, which means that in a studio, the rack ears are sufficient to keep it properly supported. However, if it is sitting in the middle of a 8 or 10 space rack with no additional mechanical support and you are hauling Receptor around, which can cause serious problems due to the depth of the case. If you expect that you will be touring with the Receptor, we recommend additional exterior support in the form of angle irons attached to the rear bottom corners of the unit with velcro. I can provide an illustration if you like, simply send me an email at bryan@museresearch.com. You definitely want to provide additional support to Receptor if being shipped by air, as I have seen Receptor mounted in a rack case being dropped from a height of about two feet on to luggage belts, and dropped about 18 inches onto concrete floors... all in one trip! The good news is the Receptor still worked fine, but this is not a good practice! Ideally, one should treat Receptor the same way you would treat your laptop. Of course Receptor is a lot more robust than a laptop, but the last thing you want to do is arrive at a gig and find that Receptor has been damaged by shipping, so treating it with aplomb is a good idea.
3. Airflow: Receptor has a lot of componentry stuffed into a two-rack space package, so the cooling design is clever and also critical. The basic cooling design has fresh air entering in the front left side and bottom of the case, which then cools the power supply, flows across the rest of the unit, across the VGA and up through the CPU heatsink where the incoming air it drawn across the CPU heatsink and pushed up against the top of the case. The top case is aluminum, so a certain amount of the heat is transferred to the top of the case and transferred to teh outside via convection. The rest of the air is decellerated through a plastic venturi, where it is then exhausted from the unit with the larger system fan located on the right hand rear of the unit.
Critical things to know about good cooling is to make sure that the incoming air vents are not constricted, and ideally this means that a perforated blank rack space strip is mounted below the unit. The exhaust air has to get out of the rack, so enclosed racks are a no-no, as the hot exhaust air will get sucked back into the unit and you essentially have a hot air feedback loop. Not good. Most pro racks and pro studios have an airconditionig feed to their racks, which will most likely keep Receptor nice and cool, and eliminates the need for the perforated space below the unit.
This is probably a ton more info than you expected, but sometimes you get more than you bargained for in life!
Cheers
Bryan
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 54 posts since 15 Jan, 2006 from Taiwan
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for the reply.
Since the "rack ears" are not included in the original Receptor package, do I just go to any store and buy a standard pair rack ears, install them on each front side of the Receptor, and lock it into a SKB rack?
Best Regards,
Arys
Thanks for the reply.
Since the "rack ears" are not included in the original Receptor package, do I just go to any store and buy a standard pair rack ears, install them on each front side of the Receptor, and lock it into a SKB rack?
Best Regards,
Arys
Arys Chien
Deep White Studio
Deep White Studio
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
Alot of people aren't opening up the accessory pack, which is the rack ears in a little bag and wrapped around the power cable...
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 54 posts since 15 Jan, 2006 from Taiwan
Strange.
I bought it at full price. So it should be brand new.
But I didn't get the included iLok.
Nor did I have the included rack ears.
Strange.
But thanks for the replies. I'll try to find out what went wrong.
I bought it at full price. So it should be brand new.
But I didn't get the included iLok.
Nor did I have the included rack ears.
Strange.
But thanks for the replies. I'll try to find out what went wrong.
Arys Chien
Deep White Studio
Deep White Studio
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
You should definitely contact your dealer, as there should have been a white envelope with the iLok and your Receptor Remote installer disc, and then there should have been a power cord with the rack ears taped around it...
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
Huh? That's weird. There should be two of course. How were the rack ears packaged?
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
That's a relief!
B
B
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- KVRist
- 44 posts since 7 Jan, 2005
so i've just started using my receptor live with my band and i'm loving it. i bought a gig bag for it to carry it around, but i'm wondering if it's preventing the air flow it needs.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRB2/
i got the gator grb-2u. i've played with the receptor in that bag for several hours with no problems, but when i go to shut it off it is pretty warm. not too hot to touch, but the bottom of the bag and the power cord on the back are pretty warm.
i just want to make sure that a bag like this is ok for the thermal needs...anyone have an opinion? i was wanting something small, like this 2U unit, but i also don't want to fry my receptor!
todd
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRB2/
i got the gator grb-2u. i've played with the receptor in that bag for several hours with no problems, but when i go to shut it off it is pretty warm. not too hot to touch, but the bottom of the bag and the power cord on the back are pretty warm.
i just want to make sure that a bag like this is ok for the thermal needs...anyone have an opinion? i was wanting something small, like this 2U unit, but i also don't want to fry my receptor!
todd
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this kind of bag restricts any fresh air from entering the unit. As a result, there is a certain amount of recirculation of hot air that occurs, raising the over all temperature of the unit.
Ideally, you really want fresh air to enter in or around the front left hand side or bottom left hand side of the unit. A tight fitting bag like this will basically block those air inlets, making the fans work harder and raising the temperature of the unit. This is more of an issue with Rev A and Rev B hardware than the Rev C hardware. I'm assuming you are using Rev B, since even running full tilt boogie the Rev C hardware rarely gets warm to the touch, even with the air vents blocked.
One thing you could do is to drill a large hole (say 3 inches) on the front left hand side of the bag and/or the bottom front left hand side of the bag and install a piece of perforated metal or a fan grate to allow air into the unit. You'd obviously have to find a way to finish off the sides of the hole so that it looked okay, but you could do that with some black fabric or strip of leather glued around the perimeter of the hole. The type of fan grill I'm thinking of is like this:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/fans-fangrill80.html
I would personally rather cut a whole in a $60 rack case and spend a buck or two to make it look nice rather than fry my $1500 Receptor...
If you really really really really don't want to modify your rack, and you're unwilling to go to a larger rack (3 spaces is ideal, leaving the space below Receptor open allows tons of airflow) then at the very least you should upgrade the fan so that there is more airflow. We can provide a suitable fan, send an email to info@museresearch if you want more info.
Thanks for bringing this up... its an important topic for long term reliability of your Receptor.
Regards
Groovology
Ideally, you really want fresh air to enter in or around the front left hand side or bottom left hand side of the unit. A tight fitting bag like this will basically block those air inlets, making the fans work harder and raising the temperature of the unit. This is more of an issue with Rev A and Rev B hardware than the Rev C hardware. I'm assuming you are using Rev B, since even running full tilt boogie the Rev C hardware rarely gets warm to the touch, even with the air vents blocked.
One thing you could do is to drill a large hole (say 3 inches) on the front left hand side of the bag and/or the bottom front left hand side of the bag and install a piece of perforated metal or a fan grate to allow air into the unit. You'd obviously have to find a way to finish off the sides of the hole so that it looked okay, but you could do that with some black fabric or strip of leather glued around the perimeter of the hole. The type of fan grill I'm thinking of is like this:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/fans-fangrill80.html
I would personally rather cut a whole in a $60 rack case and spend a buck or two to make it look nice rather than fry my $1500 Receptor...
If you really really really really don't want to modify your rack, and you're unwilling to go to a larger rack (3 spaces is ideal, leaving the space below Receptor open allows tons of airflow) then at the very least you should upgrade the fan so that there is more airflow. We can provide a suitable fan, send an email to info@museresearch if you want more info.
Thanks for bringing this up... its an important topic for long term reliability of your Receptor.
Regards
Groovology
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Bryan@MuseResearch Bryan@MuseResearch https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=9067
- MUSEician
- 618 posts since 18 Sep, 2003 from Silicon Valley
That'll work as well! Even better since there are no holes to drill!
Groovology
Groovology