Signal Flow setup help (sp404, analog heat mk2, isla s2400)

S2400
1

Hello, first time isla user and i am really excited for this unit to come.

In order to color the sampled sound the way I want to, i need help with the signal routing of these devices. My idea is to sample from YouTube or my turntable into the analog heat, then the heat into the sp404 and then into the isla2400, finishing the beat before routing the audio into Ableton by the USB Audio of the s2400. So Basically, using the 2 devices (sp and heat) only to color the sound, tweaking the knobs and sounds and having the wet signal arrvive in the isla, where i begin to cook and get myself in stanky mood. I’ve always been confused with these setups, am i missing something? Is this doable?

Turntable/MacBook → ins Behringer UMC1820 outs → ins Analog Heat MK2 outs-> ins SP-404 outs-> S2400

UMC1820 Outputs (Main Out or Line Out 3/4?) → Yamaha HS7 Inputs. im not sure which ones to take. What routing inside my DAW (Ableton) tracks? I’m assuming ins are whee my output is going from the interface (1/2 or 3/4) and outs master?

thank you

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I think it depends on what you want to accomplish. With your setup i would go with one of the 2 setups

Turntable / S2400 / Analog Heat / Interface

Mac / Sp 404 / S2400 / Analog Heat / Interface

But really you can do what you want. Because rhe S2400 has phono preamps going into the s2400 directly would be easiest.

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okay thanks!! sure you could do either or. i was wondering if it was good to have the 2400 last so i could print out the 8 track beat via usb. thats my only issue, i want to have every effect hitting going into the s2400 so i could integrate this in my daw better.

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4

Anything is possible routing wise, and the setup you described would work great.

Another (more complicated but also more flexible way) would be to use your s2400 to record your turntable and also to bounce to your daw, and use the sp and heat as send fx.

To do this, you could route 2 of your individual outputs (say 7 and 8) to the input of your sp, and the outputs of the sp back into the s2400 inputs 3/4. You can then sequence stuff on the s2400, send it to the sp (and/or heat) for fx, and then record it as a live loop in one of the looper tracks.

This is the way I work, and it works great. Its very flexible, because you can add additional fx whenever you want.

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Hey Sleepy,
thanks for the reply, interesting insights for sure. sending the sampled source to other units and then resampling it back into the s2400 sounds promising. thanks for letting me be part of your workflow. someone posted this on this sub, fattening drums before hitting the isla 2400 using the sp and mk for example (the sample being primarily from a good source of course). i was inspired by that and liked the idea. anyway, couple of questions if you don’t mind.

I understand that i would sample into the s2400 and then i could send stuff to either machine and then i would resample it back into my s2400 correct? is this what you mean by “looper tracks”? would this give similar results compared to sampling through the units and then hitting the s2400?

Secondly, would a patchbay be useful in this case with 3 units to not get lost or make it easier to change routings? i guess the only problem with my setup would be that i couldnt send lets say samples on my sd card to the units to colour them. i will think about this. it really pains me sometimes to think of all the different routing possibilities. i guess the two things that are most important to me are having the isla as the last sequencer and bouncer to daw and colour the sound before hitting the s2400 (really driving the units inputs and saturating/clipping - i always read that was one way to get good results. i hope i make sense =)

Also, what kind of music do you do, what is your approach to drums?

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Hi Giorgio, glad to help!

Your setup would work perfectly for coloring samples before the s2400, and is fairly simple to set up. The only downside is: once you recorded your samples into the s2400 you cant change the fx/color anymore, because thats the way you recorded them.

The benefit of ‘my’ setup is that you can play your beat, and then add color, reverb, delay or any other effect to whatever sound you want while listening to how it sounds in the mix. If you like it, you can record it to a looper track. The s2400 has 8 live looper tracks. They can be used to record synths, instruments or whatever in sync with your beat like a looper pedal. The can, with some cables, also be used to record one of the s2400 outputs with fx added by the sp and analog heat.

A patchbay would make this more flexible, but its not necesary. The simplest way would be:

-Sample source (turntable or whatever) into s2400 input 1-2
-s2400 main outputs into computer for recording/listening

Hardware setup for fx loop:
-s2400 outputs 7-8 into sp404
-sp404 outputs into analog heat
-analog heat outputs into s2400 input 3/4
-sp404 ext source button on (otherwise you wont hear anything)
-probably something on the heat to let audio go through, not sure how as i dont have one.

Setting on the s2400 for fx loop:
-set all s2400 tracks to output 1-6 (not 7-8)
-set s2400 looper tracks to input 3-4
-very important to avoid extreme loud feedback loops!!!: never set the looper tracks output to 7-8!!! Keep em on 1-2 (or 3-6).

How to use it:
-you can record everything into the s2400 from the turntable, make a beat, and record it to your computer.
-if you want to add fx (sp or heat) set output on this particular s2400 track to 7-8. You should still hear it, but its now going through the sp and heat back into the s2400. If you apply fx on one of those, you should hear it immediately. For instance, you can set the channel of your snare to output 7-8, then apply reverb on the sp404.
-once you like the sound, you can record it on the looper track on the s2400. Learn how to use them first, theyre very simple to use.

I make hiphop (mainly boombap with some synth influences). For drums I love to chop drumbreaks! How about you?

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yes, i see. both yield good results i suppose, comitting to decisions early may or may not be in my favor lol. i should try both and see really. i will get back to you when the i set it up and encounter problems. thanks for clarifying the looper track issue. by the way is there any latency introduced while playing then?

awesome, i dig old school too. mainly sample based. I’ve always struggled with drums (+ hence this signal flow approach, obviously it won’t magically make them better, but you know?) as most of them were processed and any additional plugin would tend to flatten them rather than enhance or beef them up. many many changes in the approach, lately ive been doing less to them and focusing on finding good quality samples.

thanks again =9

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