H Series Live Recording Guide v1.0

[Pétur]

Originally Posted by sanguis

Petur, in Audition click Effects > Amplitude > Normalize

untick 'normalize L/R equally' then click ok.

chunka chunka chunka...job done.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would just remove DC offset? Or does it do more? What I'm seeing isn't DC offset...

Peter

[Pétur]

framesaver, concerning the Skytronic 173.623:

if your iRiver gives 2,5V and the battery box only 1,5V, why do you bother using the supplied battery box? Isn't 2,5V power better for the dynamic range of the mic?

I did notice the battery box also attenuates the signal quite a bit, maybe that is the reason?

For me the choice is important: my H340 supplies 3,37V and I'm into recording loud concerts...

thanks,
Peter

[malan]

Greetings,

I just picked up an H-120 to record live acoustic music, but I'm confounded by the fact that when I record from the ext. mic or inline settings (I have a Giant Squid stereo electret condenser mic with 9v pre-amp), its only recording in one channel. The firmware on the unit seems to be the original v. 1.60 Only when I record with the internal mic do I get a signal in both channels.

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?


Thanks,
Malan

[Pétur]

Originally Posted by malan

I just picked up an H-120 to record live acoustic music, but I'm confounded by the fact that when I record from the ext. mic or inline settings (I have a Giant Squid stereo electret condenser mic with 9v pre-amp), its only recording in one channel. The firmware on the unit seems to be the original v. 1.60 Only when I record with the internal mic do I get a signal in both channels.

I remember somebody saying the same, then later posting that he found the reason, it was said to be a setting... I think it was in this (long) thread

Peter

[malan]

I just picked up an H-120 to record live acoustic music, but I'm confounded by the fact that when I record from the ext. mic or inline settings (I have a Giant Squid stereo electret condenser mic with 9v pre-amp), its only recording in one channel. The firmware on the unit seems to be the original v. 1.60 Only when I record with the internal mic do I get a signal in both channels.

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks, Petur - I'm about halfway through the posts, but haven't found the discussion you mention yet.

Forgot to ask - should I just go ahead and update the firmware to 1.65? I know that allows one to set the line-in recording volume (which isn't possible with fw 1.60) Are there menu choices there for recording in stereo, or is this the default for both line-in and external mic recording? Finally, can anyone point me to a thread which summarizes the recording upgrades enabled by fw 1.65?

Thanks again,
Malan

[Pétur]

Page 8 near the bottom (post of framesaver)

Can't help you with the firmware question, I'm an H340 user

[malan]

Originally Posted by Pétur

Page 8 near the bottom (post of framesaver)

Can't help you with the firmware question, I'm an H340 user

Sorry, but I couldn't detect any reference to the problem of only recording in one channel (the left) when using the mic in or line in jacks. Any ideas, anyone?

Thanking you,
Mark

[Pétur]

This is the post I was talking about...

Originally Posted by dubdubdu2:
And of course one of the obvious differences not mentioned yet is that that Mic input is mono.

Originally Posted by framesaver:
Ta for the chip info dub - I assume you're referring to the int. mic being mono - the ext mic does record in stereo, you now just have to make sure you set it to do so in the main settings...

[malan]

Thanks again, Petur. I promise, I'm not really thick, but I don't think the posts you point to really get at my problem. I could be wrong, but I thought that even if the mic input is recording in mono, it should still come through both channels (i.e. both sides)? The thing is, when I record through the line-in (with the Squid mics and 9v pre-amp), its also recording just in the left channel. With the firmware version I have, there is no option in the recording menu to change the recording mode to stereo - is this something I have to upgrade (fw 1.65) to be able to do? Anyone??


Thanks,
Malan

[Pétur]

malan, again I'm sorry but I have a H340 so I can't help you other than to quote what somebody else said about your problem.

If you have no specific reason NOT to upgrade your firmware, than please do. The engineers didn't write it for fun. If you're suspicious, search to find out what changed in those firmware versions.

that's all I can say about this.

Peter

[Datman]

I have upgraded to 1.65 Korean version. It's better than all others I have tried. Its only defect is the reset of the FM radio to 87.5MHz everytime you switch off the player, but presets are ok.

[toolmanwill]

the rockbox recording has been revamped, you should try it out. Not one glitch and max file size is now 2GB which comes out to 3 hours 22 min per file!! Also level adjustment is on the fly now and the level meters are there but just not finished yet.
You can record from radio also. I recommend using the daily build from 11/17/05 as it's the most stable version for recording. Others are complaining about 0 byte files being written from recent builds.

[sanguis]

...and hot on the heels of rockbox (iriver's playing catch-up now) apparently the newly released 1.66 firmware fixes the recording glitch.

http://www.iriver.com/html/support/d...ew.asp?idx=765

I might actually use this occassionally until rockbox can implement optical recording. Then goodbye iriver fw.

[matheis]

Originally Posted by toolmanwill

the rockbox recording has been revamped, you should try it out. Not one glitch and max file size is now 2GB which comes out to 3 hours 22 min per file!! Also level adjustment is on the fly now and the level meters are there but just not finished yet.
You can record from radio also. I recommend using the daily build from 11/17/05 as it's the most stable version for recording. Others are complaining about 0 byte files being written from recent builds.

holy cows - rockbox has implemented otf recording level adjustment already!!! hopefully they'll get real-time level metering implemented soon, as well. then it's good-bye to hi-md for recording, hello rockbox-ed ihp-120 as in the discussion on multi-codec recording, implementing recording in wavpack or flac would be the next really killer step they could take as far as recording goes, imho!
later
nikolaus

[matheis]

latest rockbox build...
"iRiver recording changes: - Added Peakmeter in recording screen - Fix for stop bug - Fix for playback peakmeter not working after recording"
sounds promising! just loaded it up but haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet.

[toolmanwill]

its sweet, i'll be doing testing tomarrow with some level inputs and such, so far the meters work like a charm!
I never had the stop bug problem, but was awaiting a fix for the plaback meter bug badly. Andy has stunned me once again!!

[hes21]

Watch out for Korean 1.65.

It has the fault that, when you hold the stop button to stop a recording, instead of just pressing it once, then it will turn off the iriver. It does this before it has completed the file (writing the header of it). THis can be fixed using a hex editor and copying a good header from a maximum size recording file into the broken file.

So, in short, press stop, don't hold.

THere is a post earlier and a thread that discussed this and I posted a good header and instructions.

Cheers,
HAmish

[schurmas]

Hello,
could you please excuse my ignorance I know very little about IRIVER products, but I was very fortunate to recieve a an H10 for Christmas this year. The problem is I had imagined that in would have an external mic jack onboard, but alas it doesn't, and it appears that if I was to purchase the cradle it still doesn't have a microphone input. So then what to do. I'm not confident that I can drive the line in hard enough with a microphone.
So effectively what I would be up for is a cradle, a pre-amp, and an external microphone. It doesn't seem worth it. Is there another model with a mic pre-amp already built in?

I sorry if you have already covered this in the forum, but I couldn't find anything that seemed to relate directly to the H10.


Cheers
Chris

Originally Posted by framesaver

DECK SETTINGS

INT MIC - Really only useful for dictation etc. The noise of the HD spinning up will give you a headache pretty quickly when recording to WAV (every 30 secs or so) but for a 64Kbps mp3 (which is all you really need for note taking), this only happens around every 4 minutes, so it’s not so bad. Turning on the AGC cuts down the distortion levels pretty well, and helps to boost those more distant sounds. All recordings are dual-channel mono.

EXT MIC - Probably the most used setting. As the H Series currently lacks any record level indicator, it can be a little bit of trial and error getting it setup right to make good recordings. The gain applied depends very much on the sensitivity of the mic you’re using (I’ll discuss aftermarket mics later). In most cases, around 5 – 10 would do, though for ambient sounds you’d probably want to increase that, or lower it for loud music.

Calibrating what gain level you need: the best method I’ve found is to run a few tests with the mic you intend to use before you run it in the field. Set up at home, with an appropriate sound source (your stereo or whatever) set to an applicable level. Run three record tests, at a gain of 0, 8 and 15, and then hook up to your PC. Then use whatever editing software you prefer to have a look at the waveforms. Here’s what you’ll probably see:

Gain 0: Probably a little too quiet




Gain 8: Not bad, but clipping on some of the loud peaks




Gain 15: It hurts my eyes! Put it away!




So from those 3 tests, you may decide to run at about Gain 5, which produces:



…a nice wave form with a bit of space to breathe around the peaks.

Remember it’s always better to run too quiet than too loud when it comes to live recording. Hiss is easier to deal with than distortion – I’ll cover this later as well. Once you have the recording levels set the way you like, there’s usually no need to use the AGC, as its compression effects can make your recordings sound a little uneven when they’re in any way dynamic.


LINE IN

Line In (Optical or Analog) will be used most often when transferring music from vinyl, MD, etc. but it could certainly be used in other situations such as:

- When you’re recording VERY loud music, when even Gain 0 is at risk of clipping (Note that at these sort of levels, your mics will probably be approaching their dynamic limit, so you may want to consider increasing the power to them – Again I’ll cover this later).

- When you have a more professional recording setup, with a mic preamp with either an optical or analog out to run to the line in. These often have a sound level indicator built-in, which will allow you to monitor and control the feed into your deck nicely. Several preamp options are available from soundprofessionals.c om, ranging from about $150 and up. Top of the line portable preamps include the Core Sound MIC 2496. If you have one of these though (or the money to buy one), you’re more likely to be running into a DAT or a JB3.

Another little tip – If you want to run a really stealthy setup, keep the remote (sans earphones) plugged in as your control interface. That way you can keep the deck with and battery box/preamp stashed in your pocket/bag. Now you can stop and start the system with the minimal amount of disturbance to your mics and without drawing too much attention to yourself.

[risingsun]

Hi framesaver.

I am wondering if the live recording info you threaded on misticriver would also pertain to my pmp?

I bought this for use as a method of recording live Native American pow wow music. I tried it this last weekend at a pow wow. All my files are heavily distorted. Wondering if you would have a suggestion for what type of mic I should get. (I used the internal mic... i am assuming that was my problem.) If you are wondering the environment of recording.. outside usually 1 big bass drum , 5-15 guys hammering on it and 5-15 guys singing high falsetto. A trip to powwows.com and listen to a song may give you an idea. Any help is appreciated.

[hellokitty]

Hi,

I heard that fw 1.66 would eliminate the recording limit (at least it would make possible recording more than 1h 15min in WAV). Can anyone tell if this is true ?
I loaded 1.66 just yesterday (the new feature MP3 / WAV shows up in the recording screen / boot shows V 1.66 E) but there seem to be no changes as regards recording time limits.
What am I doing wrong ? http://www.misticriver.net/boards/im...s/confused.gif

[hellokitty]

Hello,

one more thing...
I think about recording from a digital satellite receiver via optical line-in (H 120).
I heard that most receivers with optical line-out (Toslink) send ac3-format. Is my iriver (fw 1.66) capable of decoding this signal when it's recording ?
Will it recognise the data as audio and record it as WAV ?

Thank you very much.

[Pétur]

Originally Posted by hellokitty

I heard that fw 1.66 would eliminate the recording limit (at least it would make possible recording more than 1h 15min in WAV). Can anyone tell if this is true ?
I loaded 1.66 just yesterday (the new feature MP3 / WAV shows up in the recording screen / boot shows V 1.66 E) but there seem to be no changes as regards recording time limits.

Tried RockBox? Unlimited WAV recording