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dex Otaku

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Posts posted by dex Otaku

  1. Oh! Now I get it, sorry! I never tried recording live...but I'll remember your advice when I'll make some.

    About merging tracks: is it true that merged tracks on MD (removing the track marks) give bad results during uploading? :huh:

    This appears to have been fixed with SS 3.4. If you really want to find out if it works, record something, break it up into tracks, recombine some of them, then upload. It'll take you 5 minutes and you'll know for yourself.

  2. maybe it's my MZ-NH700 that's faulty, but when I record from line-in (analog) I can record one track, no problem.

    I've been recording several LPs and reel tapes, and then I've uploaded them with SS with no problem at all...

    Auto trackmarking depends on levels falling below a certain threshold [lower than -30dBfs] for 2 seconds or longer. If the material you're recording doesn't do so, you don't get trackmarks.

    Live recordings can end up with -many- seemingly extraneous trackmarks during breaks between songs, conversation with the crowd, and during more dynamic passages where levels fall below that threshold long enough.

    I've [also] made recordings from radio, TV, &c. that were several hours in length without ever having a single trackmark placed automatically. On the other hand, I've made live recordings "off the board" that were so dynamic [with long silent periods between songs] that hundreds of trackmarks end up getting placed.

  3. If I can cough up the cash, I'll be buying one.

    The one big minus of this unit is the LIP-4WM battery. Extras/replacements from the closest to local source for me [in Montreal, about 2500km away] are $66CAD each, and I know damned well that I'll need at least one extra.

  4. Hello there, new to the forums, wondering if you could help me. I recently formated my harddrive and since then i can't get any version of sonicstage to work! It comes up with the Database files are corrupted. click on ok to carry on, then comes up with copy a blank Database file click ok then comes up with "the files required to use the database file may not be located, and an error code 00005e36. I've tried deleting all the sony registry files and uninstalling and reinstalling sonicstage but no joy :angry: If any one has any suggestions that would be great! Jimsie

    You say you reformatted .. have you also re-applied all the servicepacks to Windows? Is MDAC properly installed [a Microsoft database component required by SS]? Are you sure that your Windows installation actually meets SS's requirements, in other words?

  5. I am planning on purchasing a Sony Minidisc (I don't know which one) and a microphone (I don't know which one). I tend to overdrive mics, so it is hard for me to find one that will work.

    Regardless of the equipment you end up with, it's easy to solve the overdriving problem - just move the mic farther away.

  6. I have yet to see a single DVD-A available for purchase around me. Companies should face it. Who wants to pay 20 dollars for Hi-fi multichannel audio..

    I'm hardly "average" but I would.

    SACD titles seem to be reasonably easy to find here. DVD-A media is nonexistent. Funny thing is, DVD-A compatible players -can- be found here, and at [relatively] reasonable prices. SACD players - not a chance.

    I've had my SACD copy of Dark Side of the Moon for over 2 years .. have yet to even *see* a player capable of playing back the SACD layer. I've been searching the filesharing nets for a DTS copy for as long as I've owned the disc, but no one has bothered transcribing it that I can see. It begs the question: what's the point?

  7. Bottom line: the middle hashmark on MZ-RH910 is -6 dBFS

    The manuals for all units, as well as the labels over the display, indicate the middle hashmark to be -12dBfs. This would be its lower threshold [as your experiment actually proves to be correct].

    Basically if it's on/lit, levels are at or above -12dBfs.

    ---

    Having reread both my and your posts, I'll call myself incorrect now. Heh. Your experiment does indicate that the hashmark is -6dBfs. The manuals and the labels on most units still ID it as -12dBfs, though.

  8. Now all we need is Sony to release a remote that has the recording functions built-in.... ;)

    Given the fact that many people record with microphones, that none of those mics are connected to HiMD recorders with balanced connections, that many people don't primarily record extremely loud concerts or, say, jet engines, and that the EM noise created by display remotes is plainly audible in mic recordings, I'd say that a recordings remote with display is probably one of the least useful things imaginable. Unless you actually prefer your recordings to have a constant droning bzzzzBLEEPbzzzzBLEEPBLEEPbzzzzBLEEP in the background, that is.

    Until Sony starts making micro balanced connectors and all the portable mic manufacturers start making mics to interface with them, this will continue to be the case.

    That said, a recording remote with NO display but simply a LED indicator [solid on/solid off = no duty cycle to cause EM noise] for recording or not could be slightly more useful.

    As things stand now, the RM-MC35ELK that came with my [JP model] RH10 has the following recording features [once recording has been started on the unit itself]

    * display shows REC and time with track#

    * pressing the DISPLAY key toggles time elapsed/time remaining

    * pressing P MODE key drops a track mark

    * PLAY/PAUSE pauses and unpauses [of course]

    * if manual levels are enabled, the FF/RW slider increases/decreases REC level

    * STOP stops recording, DATA SAVE and SYS WRITE display on the remote

    The only thing it actually lacks are rec level meters [the MC40 has them] and a REC button [none do].

    When using line-in this works OK, but when recording with a mic you get the bzzzzBLEEPbzzzzBLEEPBLEEPbzzzzBLEEP unless the source you're recording is very loud [in which case the source masks the noise, which is still present].

  9. So I have this MZ-M10 and tonight was my first attempt at recording off the board into the line in. When I got home and went to transfer the concert onto HD i was faced with a few hundred 'tracks'. Eveidently I forgot to turn something off... "ooops"

    Now, is there a way to erase all but the 1 at the beginning of the group, fix this in SS or am I stuck doing this by hand?

    Auto trackmarking is on by default when using the line-in, and can't be turned off. There is no option for it [in current and past models].

    You have three options:

    1 - combine the tracks on the unit and upload again [read your manual]

    2 - combine the tracks with SonicStage [try "Help" in SS], or

    3 - don't bother combining them at all, drop them all into your editing app, do your editing, and render the results to files/tracks as you wish when you're done.

    In any case, keep the copy you've already uploaded [export it to WAV as is] so you have a backup.. then try one of the methods available. Combining on the recorder itself isn't that difficult, nor is combining with SS. SS tends to look as though it's locked up wehn doing long combines with lots of tracks though, so if you choose that method please do be patient and let it do its thing.

  10. Excellent! So it would be feesable to use HiSP for simply spoken word.

    Having used it for exactly that, I can say with confidence that HiSP's quality exceeds that required by most people for voice recording.

    What about the PCM mode. There is no joint-stereo schema for that mode, did the second generation units have mono capabilities?

    LPCM = straight stereo. There are no mono modes with HiMD. Period.

  11. Hi-MD recorders, how do they handle MONO recordings? Can I record 64kbit Atrac3plus mono, effectivly increasing the quality, since one channel is removed. How about in Linear PCM mode? Can you double the capacity simply by recording in Mono.

    There are no mono modes with HiMD, however, since HiSP and HiLP use joint-stereo encoding, recording mono signals results in effectively twice the quality [100% of available bandwidth is used for the mono signal].

  12. Thanks for your replys!

    Btw, should you always aim at having an optical line level setting about 18/30 on the mz-rh10? Does that give best sound quality? What if I have the line level at 10/30 or 25/30 as long the level meters on the mz-rh10 are in the "correct area", i.e. adjusting with the Denecke gain knobs.

    I´ve heard that you get more noise if you increase the gain on the preamp. But it is maybe worse to increase the optical line level on the mz-rh10?

    Sorry, I didn't note that the AD-20 is a preamp/ADC. I assumed you were talking about an outboard analogue [in and out] preamp.

    Either way, the Denecke's preamp is probably better than the one in your HiMD. Use the HiMD as a straight recorder only; don't adjust anything on it.

    I can't be absolutely sure [as I've never recorded using the optical in[ but the "optical line level" if not set to manual should basically mean unity gain [digitally]. To those of you who do recording with the optical in: please do correct me if I'm wrong. My point either way is to not adjust anything on the recorder, do everything with the preamp/ADC.

    Ideally, if you're using the digital in on your recorder and that's coming from an adjustable preamp, you don't want the recorder to be processing the signal in any way whatsoever*. Attenuating what's coming in means losing something, and amplifying just means adding noise. Let the preamp/ADC do the work, and set your levels with the AD-20 so they look okay on the recorder's meters.

    * - Yes, it's true that the recorder is always processing what's coming in since it resamples whatever is on the digital input. That's unavoidable, though.

  13. I'm afraid this is where my newbie-ness is showing. I just plugged in the mic, hit Record, and away we went. I assume that I was recording in Linear PCM. Does this seem right to you?

    I don't actually recall what the default is, but I do know that the current recording mode is actually shown on the display when recording.

  14. I know this doesn't help anyone else, but I'm somewhat confused by the fact that everyone wants battery modules or attenuators to deal with distortion caused by high SPLs hitting their mics.

    I have SP-TFB-2 microphone. The only sources I've ever experienced audible distortion with while recording were:

    * Thunder from a lightning strike within 500m of me

    * Jet engines within 20m

    * Jet engines in afterburn flying directly overhead at an altitutde of perhaps 200m

    * Artillery [Howitzer] firing at approx. 200m distance

    On the other hand, I've recorded grossly overpowered punk/metal shows in small venues, as well as similar music in tiny [acoustically] untreated spaces when it's necessary to wear earplugs [and even then it hurts] .. with no unbias/overSPL distortion whatsoever.

    Am I just lucky or something?

  15. Sounds to me like AGC trying to do its job.

    AGC compresses/limits the signal being recorded. When levels go above about -10dBfs [the middle hashmark on the record level meters is -12dBfs] compression rapidly kicks in.

    For very dynamic sources [i'd say wooden flute fits in that category] the AGC can cause audible problems. Flutes and whistles [for example] depend on the player using consistent breath/pressure and knowing which notes are the most resonant .. so some notes may be way louder than others, and blowing harder for emphasis of course means higher volume as well. When you hit those loud notes, the AGC kicks in with compression, which makes the volume on your recording "duck" to prevent clipping. The compression also holds for a brief period of time after the volume drops again; with sources that go loud very briefly, this makes the "ducking" really obvious as the other instruments and ambience pump up and down with the loudest part of the source.

    Solution: enable manual recording levels, set a level based on the loudest you'll be getting, and make your recording. The overall levels may seem lower, but the thing to remember is that this isn't cassette tape with a high noise floor and a dynamic range of 35-40dB you're using; even with a relatively mediocre microphone like the MS907 and the built-in preamp of a HiMD, your recordable dynamic range is >80dB .. in other words, when you go to listen, simply TURN IT UP. Alternately, you can apply light compression in post that has the same overall effect as the AGC without being so destructive to the recording in general.

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