Ferenc

I always combine tracks in the recorder. So when I upload there is already a single file.

Good - and obvious - question... havent tried!

Hello! I made some tentative noise analysis of my brand new MZ-RH1. I recorded samples of silence in different settings of the recorder then analysed their Fourier spectra. Experimental details The unit was powered by the battery. The recorded samples were typically 25-30 s long. It was ascertained using a wav editor that no transients, sections of silence, contact noise etc. were present in the samples. I made the tests with open circuit inputs, that is, connecting nothing. I know that this is not the correct way of measurement, but this is the most easy to accomplish, anybody can do it thus the results can serve as a basis of comparison between different units. When testing the mic input, I connected a dummy plug into the mic input to tell the unit to use the mic input. Tests were made with manual level setting in minimum and maximum level settings. Both low and high sensitivity settings of the mic input were studied. Of course, PCM recording mode was applied. Transfer to PC was done with SonicStage 3.4. I plotted the spectra with RightMark Audio Analyser, using default settings for the Fourier analysis. Results Line input, minimum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- Line input, maximum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- Mic input, low sensitivity, minimum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- Mic input, low sensitivity, maximum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- Mic input, high sensitivity, minimum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- Mic input, high sensitivity, maximum level: ------------------------------------------------------------- I think that the noise performance is quite good, however I am a little bit disappointed with the low-frequency increase of the noise. Any comments are welcome!

Thanks, MDfreak! Does this resistor affect the use of the battery pack to other USB-powered devices?

Hello! Nice project... Just a question: what's the role of R5 between pins 2 and 3 of the USB connector?

Experiment with microphone placement.

Czesc Wojtek! I think that Sala Kongresowa in PKiN has quite good acoustics. I was there at several concerts.

Recently I recorded a live rock concert and observed an interesting phenomenon. It was an open-air act, in a small court of a building, bounded by walls. I stood right behind the mixing desk, with cardioids taped to my eyeglass frames. The distance from the stage was about 25-30 m. Sometimes I had to move because people were walking around, conversating, drinking etc. When listening back to the recording, I did observe (not too disturbing, but noticeable) changes in the tone color and sound field. Next day there was another concert in the very same location. I was not interested in recording, so the situation offered the possibility of some exploration. I heard a profound difference between positions of exactly at the center and moving sideways by as small as about 50 cm! At the center, the whole sound somehow "jumped" to the front and the stereo effect became less natural. What's the explanation of this effect? (I suspect some - untypical - interference effects...) Have anyone observed similar? What are the implications for the practice of live recordings?

And what about gaps (not skips)? I very occasionally observed it during playback, but just the other day they appeared on my recording - about three-four times in a one-hour recording. Gaps last for a few tenths of a second, in both channels, usually at the same time but sometimes are shifted a little bit. It is definitely not a contact problem since contact noises cannot be heard. I have a Sony MZR-900 and the disc is TDK (MRGX-80 or whatever). What's the cause and how to avoid it?

Could you specify which brand of MDs caused skipping and which not.

I have MZ-R900 and Sound Professionals CMC-4 mics and recorded several classical concerts with good results. I would recomend it. Yes, whirring might indeed be a problem but if you keep the recorder in your bag or purse or under your pullover it will not disturb the recording. I use line in and battery box for loud music (orchestral / choral), and mic in in low sensitivity setting for softer music. I use automatic level control, which is comfortable but problems may occur which can partly be corrected. [bTW stealth issues are interesting in classical music. It is obvious that recording is explicitely prohibited in most rock shows but I never observed such announcements etc. in classical concerts. Also, artists are less concerned about taping, I think. Once I attended a festival where lots of people taped quite openly (with cassette dictaphones... :wink: ). For sure, I usually make my recordings discretely unless I know the performers and obtain permission. Getting your rig in is more easy to a classical concert but since the lights are usually not dimmed, hiding the rig during the performance is more difficult.]

Gaps appear during playback on my MZ-R900. This happens rarely. These gaps are typically a few tenths of a second long, they occur in both channels but with a small time shift of a few tenths of a second. The gaps are not on the recording since if I rewind the disc, the same detail plays without gaps. I don't really care of this, since that major use of my unit is live recording, but if it is a sign of some intermittent error and if gaps will be produced during recording.... Any opinion?

There is a little hope. Once the same thing happened to me, but a friend of mine who possesses an MD deck managed to bring the music back! I think that the error happened when writing the TOC. The music was recorded. That is, do the following: don't record anything onto that disc and try to clone the TOC of another disc which has only a full-length track on it. Good luck.

I would like to warn those who use Sony MZ-R900, but this might be applied for other models as well. The "hold" switch on the back and the "rec mode" button could be very easily switched or pressed accidentally. It happened to me just the other day that I accidentally recorded a show in LP4 mode because of this . (In the past it happened also once that the hold switch get slided but I noticed it and could interact immediately.) I cannot reproduce how it could happen but to prevent such failures in the future, I have placed a tape over the hold switch and a washer+tape over the rec mode button. Learn from my failure.

Try bypassing the preamp (maybe clipping occurs at the fisrt amplifier stage), that is mic -> battery box -> LINE IN. Brass winds and East-European singing can be very loud.