Muse Research

kurtr2 · Post by **kurtr2** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:19 pm

can anyone comment on the viability for road use, both in terms of system stability and the physical rigors of travel?

thanks,
Kurt

botkiller · Post by **botkiller** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 3:34 pm

I know a band called Model A from Sacramento CA, they use a receptor on stage and tour ALL the time - and as far as I know, it's solid. You can check them out at

http://modelamusic.com/index10.html

looneytunes · Post by **looneytunes** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:32 pm

Hi again, Kurt,

I have a Receptor in a Gator 'Studio 2 Go' Hardshell case. I am able to lug this in my car to gigs, and deal with the typical wear this way. I might choose a different case for different kind of touring - especially where other people handle and ship your equipment.

Two other things should be mentioned in this discussion - Power and Heat.

For Power, I've had Receptor get confused by switching or poorly filtered power supplies. This has been very occaisional, and often remedied by changing to a different outlet. For the most part, the power system is adaptable to most fluctuations. I've even gigged with this powered from a generator at one time.

For Heat, this is where I am pretty impressed. Receptor does handle well in high ambient heat situations (I had used it at one gig in Hollister Ca last summer, temps at 117F). Other keyboard synths had thermal overload circuitry that were shutting down those units.

Overall, depending on how you 'rack-up' the unit, I'd say Receptor is well geared towards road use. Certainly moreso than any laptop and other rack/computer solutions.

Regards,
Kevin L

okiikahuna · Post by **okiikahuna** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:22 am

I had no problems on one short (3 week, 18 date) trip with my 160gb drive.

Does anybody have any info on how the size of the hard drive affects durability?

I got mine with a 160gb hard drive because I read somewhere that drives larger than this are not recomended for road work. Well, that hard drive has gotten filled up a lot faster than I expected (stuff like EWQLSO, Symphonic Choirs and Collossus seem to do that). I want MORE SAMPLES but I'm about out of space.

So, I've been thinking about upgrading the drive. But since I'm going out again in a couple months, I'm also worried about durability. Any experiences? Anybody from Muse have any advice?

Thanks for all replies

K.

Fixed Error · Post by **Fixed Error** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:13 pm

We just finished using a receptor pro for the 3 month tour with Lisa Gerrard with no problems at all. Had the occasional random reset but that was due to using Kontakt, not the receptor itself. Generally, travels well and is solid as a rock. No issues with the larger hard drive (750 GB) that i could see.

Regards,
James

Briggity · Post by **Briggity** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:29 pm

We've had a Receptor on the road with Tom Jones for about 16 months now. It is mounted in a heavy-duty shock-mount rack, with a sturdy support under the back of the unit. I think the rear support is critical, the rack ears alone are not adequate for serious road abuse. It has never let us down, despite thousands of miles in the back of semi, more than 150 load-ins and load-outs, outdoor gigs in full summer heat and humidity, and many trips in airfreight (where they are constantly finding new creative ways to torture your precious gear).

We have a 1U APC power unit, so it gets good clean power and has a battery backup in case of brief outages. I used to think it ran pretty hot, but after recently upgrading the machine to Rev. C hardware, it barely gets warm...amazing improvement. We have the 160 GB drive, haven't needed more space, but (and correct me if I'm wrong) I don't believe that Muse is recommending against the larger drives for touring anymore....

harry B · Post by **harry B** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:13 pm

Hey Briggity

Did you have trouble with ventilation for the fans in your shock mount flight case? I'm about to sort out a new case for my Rev C (because yes - the rack ears are not helpful to air travel stress and festival heart attacks) and I want to be able to throw the thing off a cliff but don't want it to over heat. Could you explain more about the rear support - do you mean more ears or just hard foam underneath?

Cheers

H

aknot · Post by **aknot** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:54 am

I have a revision B receptor, in an SKB rack with a 1U power conditioner above it, and a 1/2 width 1U audio interface just below it. I am noticing that the receptor gets HOT! Has anyone heard of a revision B actually overheating in high ambient temperatures?

Thx, D

Robert Karasek · Post by **Robert Karasek** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:54 am

I've been using my RECEPTOR on my QUEEN-Tribute Show Tour for about 4 months wihtout any problem in fields of transport or system (harddisk, heat etc).

btw: I'd recommend any user to upgrade to Rev C.
it's def a big plus !

thesoundsmith · Post by **thesoundsmith** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:43 pm

Briggity wrote: I think the rear support is critical, the rack ears alone are not adequate for serious road abuse. ...
We have the 160 GB drive, haven't needed more space, but (and correct me if I'm wrong) I don't believe that Muse is recommending against the larger drives for touring anymore....

I agree 100% about the rear support. The rack ears re fine, but the screws holding them to the case are very small. A good mod would be to drill out the mounts and make them sturdier, but even so the rear mount will help greatly.

Also, I believe Muse is now OK with their larger HD sizes, at least up to 400G.

citizen020 · Post by **citizen020** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:18 pm

the rack ears are terrible - I've taken my receptor out to europe and japan a few times, and i lose screws every time. after every flight i have to open up my rack and screw the unit back together. i should probably tour with a load of spare screws - they keep escaping.

the actual unit works perfectly every time, apart from being a bit temperamental about network connections to my laptop (which is probably at the laptop end of things anyway), but it seems crazy to me that a unit designed (at least partly) for touring musicians should be so unready for the road.

Robert Karasek · Post by **Robert Karasek** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 10:41 pm

citizen020 wrote:the rack ears are terrible - I've taken my receptor out to europe and japan

..just curious - what kind of flightcase/rack do you use ?
have some specs ? /company ?

I do have a shockmount case but I'm not sure if this one is really appropriate for RECEPTOR.
just need some info what other users use (esp. when flying... )

robert

peterfs · Post by **peterfs** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:42 am

Regarding losing screws on the rack ears, I use a drop of "Loctite Thread Locker Blue" on the rack ear screws before screwing them in. My Receptor used to wobble around in my rack as the screws became loose over time; I tried the thread lock and I haven't had a problem with them since.

- peter

ADino · Post by **ADino** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:14 pm

I too would like to know what kind of rack cases you guys are using...I recently picked up a ProJr, want to start using it on my gigs,, but I agree about the rear support. Anyone using a fan on their case? I have an SKB for a Roland module seems to be ok..Ive also seen guys that drill holes in their cases for ventilation for their units....any suggestions?

Thx, A.

Hybernation · Post by **Hybernation** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:36 pm

ADino wrote:I too would like to know what kind of rack cases you guys are using...I recently picked up a ProJr, want to start using it on my gigs,, but I agree about the rear support. Anyone using a fan on their case? I have an SKB for a Roland module seems to be ok..Ive also seen guys that drill holes in their cases for ventilation for their units....any suggestions?

Thx, A.

I'm no expert but I have my RevC in a SKB (pretty cheap) rack (8 space unit I think). I have some other things in there with it, and left one rack space above the receptor for ventilation, locating it on the bottom.

With revC and higher (pro and jr) you do NOT need a fan in the case....they run very cool (the original revA and B did not). I remove both the front and back panels on my SKB at the gig...plenty of ventilation and easy access to the back.

hope this helps,
John

Muse Research

KVR Audio

road worthy?