Box of tricks
Box of tricks Posted on: 20.02.2011 by Brittaney Maxedon Hi guys thought I would post about my project I have in hand......The problem I have is that I am sick of plugging stuff in all the time and the missus is a little off with me for having all of the gear all over the place. I went out and bought an old analogue style 19" rack mixer box. What I wanted to achieve was to have this box that would be able to power all of my units from one kettle socket that I could just take to clubs with me and plug in and not worry. I also have space problems with HDD's As I am a DJ & VJ and a producer and all of the files fill internal laptop HDD's in seconds. The contents will be: Akai APC40, Vestax VCM600, 2 usb hubs, Native instruments ADJ8, Evolution X-Session (mounted to to top plate at 90deg so the crossfader will become a level fader), 2 no removable 3.5" HDD (Server style) connected to 2 external ESATA plugs that I can connect to my 17" MBP using a Express Card ESATA connector. Here are some pics of where I am with the project. Here are the two HDD's that I can remove from a door on the back (They are old HDD's so I dont damage the new 2TB ones that I have boxed at home). Here is the ATX PSU I am using as it is light and low powered and quiet. The PSU powers happily my APC40 And a USB powered hub to power my VCM 600 (that will be mounted in the top half of the box and will use UPVC style window hinges when the box is open) This gives me 4no usb ports for my 2 keyboards and Korg PadKontrol One of them to power my VCM 600 (that will be mounted in the top half of the box and will use UPVC style window hinges when the box is open to lift it into a tilted position) Just to give you and idea of how it will end up I am monting the APC40 with an Alu Tread Plate that will be powder coated the same graphite colour of the APC. to the right of the APC I will be drilling holes to put the Evolution X-Session to give me 16 more rotary pots, and above the APC40 I will be putting the NI ADJ8 - I am not too sure what I will find when I open my ADJ8 and if I can put the plastic bit with the LEDS there and have all of the connectors hidden within....... I now have to work on the AC input, distribution box, breaker and somehow get my MBP charger slot thingy in somewhere that I can connect the charger but no leave the main body permanently inside the box.... | |
| Brittaney Maxedon 29.05.2011 |
Originally Posted by 525Productions
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| Arcelia Siebeneck 11.03.2011 |
Originally Posted by fleater
what's he charging you for the watercutting? |
| Brittaney Maxedon 11.03.2011 |
Originally Posted by deathstarchris
Drawing up cut list in AutoCad for the upper aluminium body. Have a gig toevening doing visuals for Layo & Bushwaka and have zero time on my hands..... |
| Brittaney Maxedon 25.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by MiL0
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| Brittaney Maxedon 29.05.2011 |
Originally Posted by 525Productions
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| Elsy Wisely 28.05.2011 | hey @fleater - hahah glad you liked my picture |
| Brittaney Maxedon 28.05.2011 | Luckily I have a MBP 17" that still has the express port on it..... I am watching the development of the thunderbolt as I believe it will be a great little feature for expandability..... |
| Tatum Ansaldo 27.05.2011 | This kind of project is just the kind of thing that would benefit from thunderbolt being more widely introduced. |
| Dana Ordinario 27.05.2011 | I love what you did with the hard drives there really nice solution to the small hard drives of mac books. It has given me some great ideas for my summer project. I recently took an old podium home from school that's just big enough to house a 12inch mixer and plenty of "rack space". I just picked up a MBP and was believeing about doing the SSD upgrade but that would void the warranty. Now I believe I'll build into the podium 2 hardrives. Thanks for sharing. |
| Vernie Beharry 27.05.2011 | I believe I have a new name for that behemoth. . APC-R. . .for "RAPTURE" |
| Gloria Lemmel 26.05.2011 | Couldn't you get another box? It seems somewhat strange to put all of that effort into making the APC80 and later having to scrap the project because your box is too small. |
| Brittaney Maxedon 26.05.2011 | I have been a little distracted from my project and things have been left on the back burner. I have bought a APC20 and converted it into a APC80 The bloody thing does not fit into my box so I am back at the drawing board..... Found this image when posting this and it did make chuckle..... |
| Arcelia Siebeneck 11.03.2011 |
Originally Posted by fleater
what's he charging you for the watercutting? |
| Brittaney Maxedon 11.03.2011 |
Originally Posted by deathstarchris
Drawing up cut list in AutoCad for the upper aluminium body. Have a gig toevening doing visuals for Layo & Bushwaka and have zero time on my hands..... |
| Random X 10.03.2011 | Ah, this is where the thread went! Awesome doings bro'! |
| Adriana Bazzelle 10.03.2011 | Its gotta suck trying to mod this and use the equip at the same time. I like what you have done so far. |
| Brittaney Maxedon 04.03.2011 | I've had to bodge things for now as I have a gig tomorrow and I need it functioning. Some of my suppliers have been very slow with the supply of parts and its stitched me right up...... I will report back in due course. |
| Anisa Fourte 25.02.2011 | Awesome project you got there though! I've built several DJ coffins in the past and am prepping for my newest one soon as I have a garage to build it in! |
| Anisa Fourte 25.02.2011 | I use a lot of LED strips in different projects. I order all mine from http://www.oznium.com/ they have some good products, fast shipping, and amazingly great customer service. I've had to call them on a couple things in the past and barely even had to explain the problem before they tell me a replacement is on the way. |
| Ralph Alderette 25.02.2011 | great project! |
| Brittaney Maxedon 25.02.2011 | I have now fitted the kettle lead to the side of the box so the unit is nearly self contained. I know the wires should be brown, blue and green but I just wanted to make sure it works....... I will be fitting a din rail for the disribution blocks and breaker early part of next week..... |
| Brittaney Maxedon 25.02.2011 | I will be buying a LED strip light ton Monday for lighting up where my name will be, I was believeing of using blue as it looks quite cool in LED's. Does anyone have any opinions or recommendations? Here is what I am believeing of as 12V is one of the outputs from my psu LINK |
| Brittaney Maxedon 25.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by MiL0
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| Arcelia Siebeneck 24.02.2011 | nice one - which company is that? is it local to Bournemouth? |
| Brittaney Maxedon 24.02.2011 | The project has just become even more complex as I have found a water metal cutting company that are going to cut out the button holes for the pad part, potentiometer holes and screen of the X session. They have also agreed to cut my dj name out of the back of the unit (part that faces the clubbers) in my own font. I have purchased some LED strips and will be put into a back mounted box and have my name lit facing the crowd...... Whoot..... for |
| Brittaney Maxedon 24.02.2011 |
Originally Posted by michaeldunne109
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| Maryanne Weatherill 23.02.2011 | Some pair of balls on ya for doing this +100 However opening up the audio 8:O Thats just unbelieveable for me. If you do though post pics id be very interested as im sure others would |
| Dian Manzanilla 23.02.2011 | nice project !! |
| Brittaney Maxedon 22.02.2011 | External disk tests I now have my 2 WD 2TB Caviar Green discs in the box. Both are powered from the ATX PSU. I have used a OWC Express card Esata adaptor for this test. Here are the Benchmark results from X-Bench. Internal HDD (Seagate Momentus XT 500GB) Results 39.24 System Info Xbench Version 1.3 System Version 10.6.6 (10J567) Physical RAM 4096 MB Model MacBookPro5,2 Drive Type ST95005620AS Disk Test 39.24 Sequential 114.15 Uncached Write 104.94 64.43 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 174.85 98.93 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 69.70 20.40 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 183.62 92.28 MB/sec [256K blocks] Random 23.69 Uncached Write 6.71 0.71 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 256.10 81.99 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 99.15 0.70 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 174.63 32.40 MB/sec [256K blocks] Disc 1 External 2TB Westerndigital Results 87.74 System Info Xbench Version 1.3 System Version 10.6.6 (10J567) Physical RAM 4096 MB Model MacBookPro5,2 Drive Type WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0 Disk Test 87.74 Sequential 144.67 Uncached Write 130.77 80.29 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 190.90 108.01 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 96.60 28.27 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 226.67 113.92 MB/sec [256K blocks] Random 62.97 Uncached Write 21.51 2.28 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 329.60 105.52 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 115.33 0.82 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 187.32 34.76 MB/sec [256K blocks] Disc 2 External 2TB Westerndigital Results 83.18 System Info Xbench Version 1.3 System Version 10.6.6 (10J567) Physical RAM 4096 MB Model MacBookPro5,2 Drive Type WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0 Disk Test 83.18 Sequential 128.20 Uncached Write 131.94 81.01 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 166.03 93.94 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 76.03 22.25 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 224.92 113.04 MB/sec [256K blocks] Random 61.57 Uncached Write 21.19 2.24 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Write 279.64 89.52 MB/sec [256K blocks] Uncached Read 110.84 0.79 MB/sec [4K blocks] Uncached Read 192.97 35.81 MB/sec [256K blocks] So I now have 4TB of disc that runs at double the speed of my internal disc, perfect for all of my Ableton Sound banks, videos for VJ and old Traktor files etc....... |
| Kecia Wnukowski 21.02.2011 | I really like when people get crazy, it's very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. |
| Leeanna Ayla 21.02.2011 | Interested to see this completed. |
| Brittaney Maxedon 21.02.2011 | Has anyone opened an ADJ8? What will I find inside it? |
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