4 Ways To Cut Cable Clutter And Streamline Your Studio

There’s nothing quite as rewarding as a well-running, fully patched-in studio. There’s also no bigger eye-sore than seeing piles and endless streams of wires and cables in your otherwise pristine recording space. Cables are a given for any recording studio or pro-grade home recording setup, mainly because of all the components involved: Input sources like mics, MIDI controllers, and studio monitors that link to your computer, outboard gear like preamps or compressors, individual inputs and mixers for headphones, snakes for routing different rooms—the list goes on

Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to reduce your cable clutter without sacrificing audio quality or overhauling your studio. You might even have access to some of these tools without even realizing it. Here are some of our go-to audio interfaces for streamlining your studio wiring.

ADAT Ports

Almost every audio interface (and a lot of outboard gear) has ADAT ports. Formally known as Alesis Digital Audio Tape, the tech was created by Alesis in the 90s and was an early breakthrough in home recording technology. Most people may not even realize they have ADAT ports to use, but they are a great way to expand your available inputs/outputs without needing to buy a new audio interface.

ADAT ports add up to eight channels of audio to any interface with just one or two fiber optic cables (use can use two for a higher sample rate, but just one cable will suffice for most setups). Plus, you can easily sync up sample rate/bit depth between the interface and the connected device, making for a much neater and less power-intensive setup than hooking up multiple audio interfaces.

Using your ADAT ports is simple: First, connect the ADAT output of the sending device (e.g. input expanders or preamps) to the ADAT input on your audio interface. If you’re using a second cable to create an ADAT loop, then simply connect another cable to the remaining two ports.

Next, set the internal clocking of both devices—note that the sending device needs to be the master clock if you’re only using one cable, but if you have a two-cable ADAT loop, either device can be the master clock. Consult your devices’ instruction manuals to set your master clock, but it usually can be done via hardware controls or software settings.

Once your devices are connected, open up your DAW. If everything is properly set up, then your ADAT inputs should appear as “Digital” inputs in the I/O menu. Check your interface’s manual to find out which of your DAW’s digital inputs correspond to your ADAT inputs—it varies between brands/devices/DAWS, so make sure to check that if you aren’t getting sound.

Overall, bulking up your audio interface using ADAT drastically cuts down your wiring clutter and reduces the bandwidth on your recording setup, so it’s a must for any pro-level studio.

Dante

Audinate’s Dante software is a pretty hefty subject, but the gist of what you need to know is right there in the name: “Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet.”

As you may know, audio quality traveling via analog cables deteriorates over longer distances. Sending inputs from Studio A to the control room, for example, requires some pretty long cables. The usual solution involves sending signals through independent audio channels via thick, multi-wired snakes—which certainly doesn’t help at all if you’re trying to reduce cable clutter. Dante, on the other hand, can send multiple audio signals at once over hundreds of feet and to multiple places, all without any quality loss or latency. Oh, and it also typically requires a single Ethernet cable, so no snakes are required!

Setting up Dante is about as close to plug-and-go as you can get: Plug devices into an Ethernet switch (you can buy adapters made by Audinate for your analog gear) and connect your computer to the network. Audinate’s Dante app automatically routes your devices and lets you set up and reconfigure everything from one place. Not only does this mean that your current setup is streamlined, but also that expanding your studio gear down the line is as simple as a few clicks.

Ethernet Systems

Similar to Dante (which is Audinate’s proprietary system), there are other audio-over-Ethernet solutions that you can use to reduce your cable count and optimize your setup. Cranborne Audio’s C.A.S.T. system is a particularly versatile option, with products like the N8 using network cables (Cat 5e, Cat 6, or Cat 7) to create Ethernet-based snakes and breakout systems for the studio or stage. With the N8 and one to four NH22 breakout boxes, you can place multiple mic inputs and independent headphone signals anywhere in the studio for easy, high-quality live room tracking.

Speaking of headphone mixes, Hear Technologies’ Hear Back headphone monitors use Ethernet to process and send multiple, fully customizable headphone mixes, making for top-quality personal mixes for each and every performer.

MIDI Interfaces

Along with outboard gear and mic inputs, another common source of wire mayhem are MIDI instruments. Each MIDI device has its own input (usually USB), which may lead you to the false conclusion that USB expanders and power strips are the only way to hook multiple instruments at once. Thankfully, there’s a better, cleaner, and much cheaper way to achieve the perfect MIDI setup, and that’s with MIDI interfaces.

MIDI interfaces accomplish the same thing as audio interfaces but for MIDI. More specifically, they allow for multiple MIDI inputs to connect to a single source, which then gets sent to your computer through a single USB input (instead of one input per device). Most MIDI interfaces not only have USB ports, but they also have traditional MIDI inputs so that older, hardware-based devices can communicate with your DAW of choice.

Alternatively, MIDI hubs or splitters let you link and power your devices without using a computer or a DAW. These are great options for live performances or if you just prefer a computer-free setup, but if your MIDI instruments tend to not leave the studio, we recommend going with an interface.

MIDI interfaces tend to come in two-, four-, or eight-port configurations—the latter of which can support up to 128 MIDI channels—so you’re bound to find the right one for your particular setup.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of the audio interfaces mentioned in this blog or learning more about networked audio, we're here to help! Please contact a Vintage King Audio Consultant via email or by phone at 866.644.0160.