etotheix Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 When using the optical input, does anyone know what record level on the NH900 gives a neutral result -- no gain, no attenuation? (I definitely don't want to use AGC because I want to preserve the all dynamics of the original recording.) Seems like this should be listed in the manual but I can't find anything. I tried 30 but got lots of clipping; so obviously 30 is not zero gain. I experimented with some other settings and got a fine recording, but I'd really like to know where zero gain is. Anybody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deafplayer Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 i believe someone in the "Live Recording" board said that through experimentation he found 12 to be "unity gain" (signal goes out same as it goes in) which i think is what youre looking for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etotheix Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Thanks deafplayer, I'll try to find that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etotheix Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 OK, cool. I Looked around some more, and apparently unity gain around 17 or 18/30. Dex, A440, I'd love to hear how you guys figured this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadeclaw Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Hmm, isn't Auto(AGC) 0dB anyway on digital? When using optical in, I leave it on Auto and there is NO difference in the level between recorded and uploaded and ripped from CD directly into SonicStage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etotheix Posted December 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Oooh, so you're thinking AGC is 0db gain for optical-in? That would be great! I was thinking AGC was AGC and that for both optical & line-in, AGC would tweak levels as you record the same as with the mic-in AGC. Have you done very careful comparisons? Like using a source that varies levels a lot -- say a classical piece that is soft for a long time and then gets really loud? Do you think that for analog line-in, AGC might be a constant 0db too? I kinda half remember doing some experiments that made me think is wasn't. But, if the analog line-in AGC was a constant 0db, then couldn't you use a mic with a preamp at line-in and never again have to worry about resetting the recorder to manual when recording live? That would be very good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 doesn't the auto gain control distort the signal though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etotheix Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Played with the analog line-in with AGC. Yeah, that's definitely NOT plain zero gain. Haven't tried optical yet... I'll check it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonahn Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 jadeclaw is right, "Auto" mode when using optical in is fixed 0dB gain, not AGC at all. Manual setting of 23/30 (IIRC) gives the same result - this was on a NH700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etotheix Posted December 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 Great! I was playing with the optical, switching between AGC and Manual, and it sure did sound like 23/30 was the same as AGC. This may be a silly question but what does (IIRC) mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streaml1ne Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 If I Recall/Remember Correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samplehunter Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 etotheix said: When using the optical input, does anyone know what record level on the NH900 gives a neutral result -- no gain, no attenuation? (I definitely don't want to use AGC because I want to preserve the all dynamics of the original recording.)Seems like this should be listed in the manual but I can't find anything. I tried 30 but got lots of clipping; so obviously 30 is not zero gain. I experimented with some other settings and got a fine recording, but I'd really like to know where zero gain is. Anybody?←AGC is only done on the analog inputs. if you record from digital this means unity gain. they only didn't spend a own menu item for this. The manual level is only useful if you have a already digital signal from a weak source or if you want to fade out/in a digital recording. I've tried it with the spdif out from a digital mixer.with "AGC", the levels were the same. with manual level i thought unity gain was at 15/30 and 30/30 is about +12db. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 How I figured out that 18/30 was "unity" [actually slightly below it]:1) I played a loosely-calibrated -12dBfs signal [output by my sound card as -12dBVU] and matched the levels on the HiMD so that the hash mark on the scale was where -12 sat. I then repeated this with -6dBfs and 0dBfs signals to see how close it was. It's out by about -1.5dB at 18/30 according to my exquipment.This would be more accurately done with a signal generator and oscilliscope, but alas, I have neither. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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