Spent most of the day Sunday making cables

I got this much done today. Now I have to wire it in. More mic inputs than I know what to do with.

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A stereo compressor would help to even out the volume between the loud and soft levels but if you're using the TV's internal speakers I don't know how you would patch it in. If you're sending the audio portion on the program out to an external monitoring system then you could find a way to put it in the lines somewhere. In order for the intense or action scenes to hit really hard they have to be much louder than the calmer ones. They use dynamics in the same way music does. There has to be quiet in order for loud to have an impact. One thing to be aware of if you decide to get a compressor, the noise level will increase when the quiet sections are brought up in level. It will take some adjusting.

There are a number of relatively inexpensive units out there. Call Sweetwater and talk to one of their sales engineers. They can help you choose which will work for you at the amount you want to spend. Their staff is excellent.

This studio rewiring is getting very tedious. I gutted my rack 4 days ago and started with updating the AC power distribution in it. I have a 20 Amp line conditioner/regulator for all my studio gear. The way I had it all hooked up before there were some things that didn't run through it. I spent about 14 hours over the course of 2 days just getting the power for everything routed through it. I had 2 boxes that were level-full of IEC power cables like are used on computers and most audio hardware. I went to Lowe's and bought a bunch of 3 pronged AC plugs like one would use to repair a broken extension cord. I cut the IEC cables to length where they fit each and every device in the rack without any extra so it was all neat and clean. I was able to route all the AC power on one side of the rack so I can run all the audio stuff on the opposite side to keep induced AC hum at a minimum. All the AC cables are tied up and mounted to the rack so they are secure and out of the way.

Onto the audio cabling and patch bays. I had already made the audio cables for the top half of the rack but hadn't connected them to the patch bays at that time because I was waiting to get the AC power sorted out before I mounted any of it. I got all that mounted and plugged in. Then onto the bottom half of the rack.

I'll be able to reuse one of the 16 channel snakes I used previously because I had already made it to fit what is there. Each channel of that snake has colored shrink wrap on the lines so I can trace which channel it is which from either end of the cabling. I have 6 colors of shrink wrap and can can combine them in different ways to get a multitude of different and unique color combinations. I didn't want to repeat any of the ones I had already used so, on the spreadsheet I made for my patch bays, I made a list of all the possible color combinations. Then I made another list of the ones I had already used. I needed 24 more channels of cabling so I listed all the connections and assigned unique color codes to each cable along with the correct type and gender of plug the cables need to plug into the devices. TRS, XLR male or female. Then I went to the drawing of the patch bays and inserted the applicable color codes to each individual patch point for each connection.

I did that once and when I double-checked it there were some errors. Rather than try to insert corrections here and there I just wiped it out and did it over. That way I could work through it systematically from start to finish. I hadn't done that the first time and that's why there were problems. When I double-checked the second version everything was perfect. Now when I start cutting cable and soldering plugs onto the wires I have a map to follow. That way I'll get the correct plug type (TRS, XLR male or female) in the right location with the correct color code. I can follow the codes on my map and plug the right cable into the right jack on the rear of patch bays.

It took me all afternoon to get that mess drawn up and documented. I would rather plan it well up front and have it work the first time rather than fly by the seat of my pants and have to go back and fix problems after I'm finished. I've always had pretty good luck with that method. If I did this kind of thing everyday I would probably find ways to streamline this process but, this works for me.  Otherwise I might insert a compressor on a channel and when I hit the enable button the toilet might flush in the bathroom.  

I can't even imagine what would be involved building out a major studio with a huge console and rack after rack of outboard gear. I'm sure there are shortcuts which come with experience. I have built a couple small home studios and the time involved is crazy. I have also built out numerous racks for mobile PA's and live rigs. You just have to use higher quality hardware or stuff breaks from having to be moved around and transported all the time.

I'll resume soldering tomorrow. My back hurts already.

Some of the color codes.  Many more to come.

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Almost done. All the analog audio cabling is done. Still have to run the digital lines and MIDI cabling. I'm so glad I decided to do this. It's turning out better than I anticipated.  I need to invest in zip tie companies.  That way I can get some money back for how much I spend with them.

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So Ninworks, not your 1dt rodeo I see. Nice work.