Recording - September 2016 - 8

Note to faithful writers: When sending your letters by email,
please remember to include your name and where you hail from.
Getting hit by fear is way more likely than getting hit by lightning
Hello Scott Dorsey: I've played professionally since 1972, and done
a lot of tracking on guitar, bass, and backing vocals, but I am a novice
at recording, getting into it for the first time at age 67. I am on the
mend after an accident and am almost done with my recovery; having moved recently, I thought I'd start playing on weekends, take up
being a guitar tech again, and put in a home studio. I have a TASCAM
2488neo desktop multitrack recorder and Yamaha active monitors in
a soundproofed room.
My question concerns protecting my gear from lightning strikes
and power surges. It's very much on my mind, because I just read a
pretty long article in the magazine's online archive about all the different ways to protect your home studio recording equipment.
We are having an incredible amount of rainfall with lots of thunder and lightning, and the most recommended unit for those problems
has been a rackmount line conditioner, the Furman P-1800 AR. Until
I'm back at work again, I can't afford $880, even though I know the
old saw about "it's not expensive at all if it does the job correctly."
I have a less expensive surge protector in my PA rack, which I'm
told daily isn't good enough, and I've read about balanced power supplies costing thousands of bucks, more than all my equipment together, usually with dire warnings about how they are the single most
important piece of gear to have because with one lightning strike you
could lose everything.
I expect I would shut down during these bad afternoon storms anyway, just as a matter of common sense. Can I get away with a less
expensive solution and still have peace of mind?
Gratefully yours,
Carolyn
Colorado

Scott Dorsey replies:
Hi Carolyn. The first question you must ask yourself about
inexpensive power protection solutions like the one in your PA
rack "not being good enough" is: Why is it not good enough?
Where are you playing? If you're just playing at home rather
than on the road in different venues with iffy wiring, I wouldn't
worry about anything fancy, except maybe upgrading your
home's power system (just as a generally good idea if you live in
a building that has older wiring).
When you play, does your power protector go into a weird
clicking where it's constantly hunting for a new tap, because the
line voltage is dropping? Are the lights dimming?
If you're having issues with line voltage dropping in the places
where you are playing, there are gadgets that can help with that.
There are gadgets that can help with line noise. And there are
gadgets that can help with spikes and surges on the power line,
up to (and sometimes including) lightning. But how many times
have people had actual issues with power where you are now? Are
people in your area often complaining of equipment being ruined
by spikes or lightning... TVs, stereos, or computers being fried?
I mean, anything is possible. A bus could come right through
your living room wall and run you over. Are you installing crash
barriers on your front lawn, just in case? I hope not. You can pay a

little money for a little protection or you can pay a
lot of money for a lot of protection, but you never
really know how much protection you actually
need, not even after disaster happens (or doesn't).
Yes, you can get a really nice ferroresonant
transformer that will cost as much as all your
equipment put together... and probably weigh
more than it, too. But if nobody is seeing problems in the neighborhood where you live, and
your gear is behaving well, I wouldn't worry all
that much.-SD
Carolyn, thanks for writing. I concur with
Scott's conclusions and would like to add a few
words...
First and foremost, I think that the most important thing you can do is not be fearful to the
point where you're afraid to even plug in your
studio, just in case something might happen!
Rackmount power gear is useful in pretty much
any home studio, if only because it provides a
centralized way to safely distribute power from a
single wall connection and minimize ground
loops. But compared to occasional surges and
line voltage fluctuations, actual lightning damage is relatively rare (unless you live in a truly
lightning-prone part of the world, like Singapore
or Lightning Alley in Florida).
You should also be realistic about your budget
and your needs. You do have a good investment
in your home studio, but you're not talking about
one-of-a-kind vintage mics or signal processors
that are literally irreplaceable. Occasional surges
or line voltage sags can be handled nicely by
much less expensive products, and not buying
something that can truly stop lightning (which is
difficult and costly) may be a reasonable choice.
You might ask your insurance agent for data on
lightning damage claims in your area.
The folks at Furman don't expect everyone to
buy the P-1800 AR; if they did, they wouldn't
make a very good line of less costly power protection systems. The same goes for other manufacturers of surge suppression gear; they would
rather that you pay for some protection that's
within your budget, rather than convince yourself that you need the best... and lose gear to an
easily avoidable surge while you're saving your
pennies.
As in all things, common sense and real evidence should take precedence over fear and
rumors. Take a deep breath, buy surge/voltage
protection you can afford, unplug during lightning storms, and get back to enjoying your
music!-MM

Write to us at: Talkback, Recording Magazine, 5408 Idylwild Trail, Boulder, CO 80301
Or save stamps and send email to talkback@recordingmag.com
8

RECORDING SEPTEMBER 2016



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2016

Contents
Recording - September 2016 - Intro
Recording - September 2016 - Cover1
Recording - September 2016 - Cover2
Recording - September 2016 - 1
Recording - September 2016 - 2
Recording - September 2016 - 3
Recording - September 2016 - 4
Recording - September 2016 - 5
Recording - September 2016 - Contents
Recording - September 2016 - 7
Recording - September 2016 - 8
Recording - September 2016 - 9
Recording - September 2016 - 10
Recording - September 2016 - 11
Recording - September 2016 - 12
Recording - September 2016 - 13
Recording - September 2016 - 14
Recording - September 2016 - 15
Recording - September 2016 - 16
Recording - September 2016 - 17
Recording - September 2016 - 18
Recording - September 2016 - 19
Recording - September 2016 - 20
Recording - September 2016 - 21
Recording - September 2016 - 22
Recording - September 2016 - 23
Recording - September 2016 - 24
Recording - September 2016 - 25
Recording - September 2016 - 26
Recording - September 2016 - 27
Recording - September 2016 - 28
Recording - September 2016 - 29
Recording - September 2016 - 30
Recording - September 2016 - 31
Recording - September 2016 - 32
Recording - September 2016 - 33
Recording - September 2016 - 34
Recording - September 2016 - 35
Recording - September 2016 - 36
Recording - September 2016 - 37
Recording - September 2016 - 38
Recording - September 2016 - 39
Recording - September 2016 - 40
Recording - September 2016 - 41
Recording - September 2016 - 42
Recording - September 2016 - 43
Recording - September 2016 - 44
Recording - September 2016 - 45
Recording - September 2016 - 46
Recording - September 2016 - 47
Recording - September 2016 - 48
Recording - September 2016 - 49
Recording - September 2016 - 50
Recording - September 2016 - 51
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Recording - September 2016 - 53
Recording - September 2016 - 54
Recording - September 2016 - 55
Recording - September 2016 - 56
Recording - September 2016 - 57
Recording - September 2016 - 58
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Recording - September 2016 - 60
Recording - September 2016 - 61
Recording - September 2016 - 62
Recording - September 2016 - 63
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Recording - September 2016 - 67
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Recording - September 2016 - 70
Recording - September 2016 - 71
Recording - September 2016 - 72
Recording - September 2016 - Cover3
Recording - September 2016 - Cover4
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