Rack Case - XR18

[Mizzle]

Hi all,

 

I've not got it yet (waiting until October) but will have an XR18 incoming. I'm looking into a rack case for it and what to pop in there with it.

Short term I will probably go with a bag until I've decided just for ease of transport.

 

I had thought about a small/shallow case that would hold:

• IEM system x1, 4 in the band but I think the rest will use monitors the drummer might use headphones for his electric kit. I've not bought a system yet.
• Some sort of router ideally small to replace the in built XR18 one
• A power strip I thought might be helpful
• A small draw/shelf to put any other bits on

 

Open to suggestions thanks.

 

[itsmedunc]

XR18 takes up 3u, a drawer 1u, IEM 1u in height but only half width. You could get a 1u shelf and put the transmitter on there and have room at the side for a spare. Maybe an external router in there? You could reconfigure the headphones out on the XR18 to accommodate a monitor mix for your drummer.

Make sure there’s mounting rails on both sides of your case ( I’ve made that mistake) t for your power rail.

 

I would go for a shallow 6u (at least as things may change) case with lids not a bag. Think about the rack ears you buy too. You will need them to have holes to feed cabling through or you may need another rack space at some point. If you buy recessed rack ears, you can save on wear and tear, you can leave leads plugged in with no worries of the lids pushing against them when they are fitted. 

 

I play in a couple of outfits that use them with in ears with different configurations. I’ve just built one setup with mic splitters so it can be used live onstage, setup as if we are in rehearsals (We don’t really trust venues to control our in ear mixes). All the signals are now split to separate outs to go to a larger PA at venues. We set up as if we are rehearsing and the venue takes the feeds they need from our splitters.

 

It all sounds simple but the amount of times I’ve put stuff in a rack and taken it back out again to rearrange is a joke 😂 You’ll get the idea soon enough. Good luck, yore going to have a great system 😁

[lemmywinks]

We use one of these, the 3u shallow version as we don't need any drawers or other rack stuff in there:

https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/3U-19-inch-Shallow-Rack-Bag-by-Gear4music/WNQ

 

It has a small gap at the top and bottom so we just feed our ethernet and aux in cables through there.

 

You can fit a 5ghz router in there (mine is taped to the back of the XR18 with 3M tape) and also a power strip on the back. For the power strip I recessed it into the case slightly with washers so anything plugged into it doesn't protrude. We also have a USB powered bluetooth dongle on the power strip (via a regular USB charger) which is plugged into the 1/4" aux ins so we can stream bluetooth music from a phone.

 

These are also handy, hook round the back of the rack bag so you have somewhere to put your laptop or tablet:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006865252616.html

Edited September 11 by lemmywinks

[lemmywinks]

We are looking for a smaller 5ghz router if anybody has any suggestions! Would this be a good option?

https://store-uk.gl-inet.com/products/opal-gl-sft1200-wireless-travel-router

[Jack]

This rack is about 8 years old now, the only thing I've ever changed is the router. Gator gr4s, mixer, media player, power bar, shelf, captive cables and a router (now a Mikrotik hap ax2). 

Edited September 11 by Jack

[Mizzle]

Thank you all so far for the ideas, looks like a shallow rack is more worthwhile to keep it a bit more portable 

[Happy Jack]

My XR18 used to be mounted in a Gator 8U with wheels and a handle (like a suitcase). That ensured that everything racked could be in a single box with permanent signal & power connections, then towed easily across the car park with one hand.

 

System changes last year mean that I do it differently these days, but my Gator was then listed for sale here for months. I withdrew it due to failure to sell, but I still have it if you're interested.

 

 

[JPJ]

I wouldn’t go with a shallow rack, especially if you intend mounting a power strip in the back. The fan for the XR is on the side and I’d recommend you give it plenty of space as they do run hot. I have mine in a gator 6U full depth, along with a DriveRack, a drawer and of course the very necessary external router (Airport Express). 

[JPJ]

18 hours ago, Mizzle said:

Thank you all so far for the ideas, looks like a shallow rack is more worthwhile to keep it a bit more portable 

Be careful where you buy your draw from. I got mine from a computer company and it was deeper than a full depth rack case and required some metal butchery to make it fit.

[JapanAxe]

On 11/09/2024 at 23:24, Jack said:

This rack is about 8 years old now, the only thing I've ever changed is the router. Gator gr4s, mixer, media player, power bar, shelf, captive cables and a router (now a Mikrotik hap ax2). 

 

 

My XR18 currently lives in a re-purposed Cobra mic case with the router velcro'd to the top, but I am looking at getting a Midas digital splitter so will need to go the full rack route. I'll aslo stick my IEM transmitter in there so following this thread with interest.

 

@Jack where did you get the Ethernet cable with sideways right-angle plug?

 

And where is your router aerial? Scrub that bit - just seen you have an Apple Airport!

Edited September 13 by JapanAxe

[jimmyb625]

I think the Hap ax2 doesn't have an external antenna.

 

Right-angled rj45 plugs look to be available from a few different places (Amazon, CPC, etc)

[tauzero]

On 11/09/2024 at 13:23, lemmywinks said:

We are looking for a smaller 5ghz router if anybody has any suggestions! Would this be a good option?

https://store-uk.gl-inet.com/products/opal-gl-sft1200-wireless-travel-router

 

I use https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/wifi-router/tl-wr902ac/ - very small and light, has been reliable so far. I use the XR18 naked so I keep meaning to put some velcro on it to hold it to the top.

[Jack]

On 13/09/2024 at 10:43, JPJ said:

I wouldn’t go with a shallow rack, especially if you intend mounting a power strip in the back. The fan for the XR is on the side and I’d recommend you give it plenty of space as they do run hot. I have mine in a gator 6U full depth, along with a DriveRack, a drawer and of course the very necessary external router (Airport Express). 

I do worry about mine getting hot, part of me thinks that in about 8 years it's always been fine, the other part of me thinks that I should look after it more as it gets older. Are the xlrs permanently mounted? Do they fit in the depth of the lid?

 

 

On 13/09/2024 at 13:25, JapanAxe said:

 

 

My XR18 currently lives in a re-purposed Cobra mic case with the router velcro'd to the top, but I am looking at getting a Midas digital splitter so will need to go the full rack route. I'll aslo stick my IEM transmitter in there so following this thread with interest.

 

@Jack where did you get the Ethernet cable with sideways right-angle plug?

 

And where is your router aerial? Scrub that bit - just seen you have an Apple Airport!

According to my Amazon history, my ethernet cable is this one. There are probably better deals out there if you look. No Apple products for me, I'm a tech nerd even more than a bass nerd, my house has a few Mikrotik products and I've had two in the xr18 rack as well.

[Jack]

Took advantage of the good light today when I was unloading my car to get some better photos. After a LOT of gigs, the rack itself is starting to show some pretty serious wear. Gator should offer cases that look like this when they're brand new and charge extra for the privilege.

 

From the front there's the ethernet, usb and aux channels permanently wired in through a very badly drilled hole. Those rack ears are tough.

 

At the back there's a power strip with everything plugged in all the time, the router, and some cable tidying that's optimised for durability if not neatness.

 

[lemmywinks]

Battery charger for an IEM pack is a great idea, will be stealing that and having two sets of batteries on rotation!

[Mizzle]

Thanks again lots of great ideas, have seen some of the aftermarket rack ears for cable management that also might let a little more air flow though not sure how much difference they would make?

[mike257]

I made use of some of that dead space on the rack ears with mine. Fitted it in a Gear4Music shallow 3u, drilled out the rack ears for a Powercon input and thru connector, put a 13a socket on the front so you could charge your tablet from it (pictured with a USB charger left in), and a 13a socket in the back for the router. All the electrical connections were made with Wago blocks inside a junction box velcroed to the back of the mixer. 

 

Router was a little TP Link Nano, also fixed to the back of the mixer with heavy duty velcro. 

 

The rack case had a zipped pouch in one of the lids, so kept the power cable, mini jack cable, and a cheap Android tablet all in there so you had everything to run it in one box. 

 

Worked a treat!