Guest Anonymous Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 Hey, I have a Sony ECM-MS957 mic going into a Sony MZ-R50 recorder. I use this setup to record loud rock shows at small clubs in NYC. I have been having problems with sound dropouts in many of my discs (i.e. it will be fine for a few seconds than there will be silence for a second, then back to normal). In between the dropouts, everything sounds great - there is no distortion. I have tried both manual and automatic record modes, checked batteries, checked cables, etc. and everything seems to be in fine working order. The weirdest thing is that at softer shows there seem to be less dropouts. I generally record on TDK discs, but I have also tried Maxells and had the same problem. These dropouts have ruined many of my recordings. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ_Palmer Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 Are you sure the recorder is maintained in a steady state throughout the show? Any jolts, shakes or bumps will cause the laser head to misalign slightly, causing skips or even erasing other sectors on the disc. On the whole try to keep movement to a minimum whilst recording. The R50 is also quite an old model, later recorders might be better equipped to handle movement, but it will always be a factor. Maybe the softer show phenomenon is due to a more relaxed crowd environment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 Yeah, I thought about the movement thing - that would make sense at the shows that I hand hold the MD. But, more often than not I have the MD on a table top, bar, or other flat surface and still have dropouts in the recordings. What the heck could be wrong with this thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 The problem is sub-bass vibrations from the PA speakers, bass amp, drums rattling the unit and causing it to skip. This is almost completely fixable by laying the unit on a piece of foam. My band used to use an old Sony MZR30 to play programmed backing tracks that the rest of the band would play along to. Our drummer would have the MD player next to him and listen on headphones to a click-track. The only way we could stop the thing from skipping all over the place was putting it on thick foam. I've recorded loads of band rehearsals on it, and it will skip like crazy unless I put it on something soft, usually someones sweater or something like that. I record bands, and I've even had a similar problem when recording straight to PC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 I've had the same problem. I had practised a few times at movies, etc, and everything worked great. Went to a show to try recording, used LP mode, and dropouts all over the place. The recorder was on its side, as before when it was sitting flat on my lap. I was highly disappointed. I sat still through the whole thing--never moved, and it still happened. Tried again at another show. Used different brand of discs, used the regulary mode, and set the player flat on my lap and it worked except for the very end, but I figure I had moved around at that point to clap or something, thus the dropout. Batteries were fresh, cables were fine....would heat from my body overwork the disc player to cause some of the trouble? (I have a Sharp MDSR60)....I'm assuming moving around would cause some of the problem...but would using LP mode, and having it on its side cause this? Maybe a cheaper brand of disc? I used Memorex discs for the LP, and Sonys for the other better recording... Is there anything I can do different to make the recordings better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjbraunius Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 I am trying to record my band's rehearsals and it is skipping like crazy...tried the sweater thing - still no good. Usually when I've had better luck it has been with a brand new MD and from the most expensive ones (Sony Gold, TDK Gold) and also when the MD was fully erased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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