Play back PEAK METERS

[jukeboxjimmy]

Latest bleeding edge now includes PEAK METERS, however I have not been able to get good settings (peak release, hold, clip hold time, etc.), has anyone else had any luck.

Present settings I'm trying:
Peak Release - 50
Peak Hold Time - 500ms
Clip Hold Time -15s
Scale - Log
Min Range - (-24)
Max Range - (-4)

[narf]

To quote the build info:
"Initial attempt to support peak meter on iriver. It still has some strange behaviour and readings might not be correct."

To me it seems to have very little correlation with the actual audio yet, give them time to get it tweeked.

[Phantom]

what are peak meter for ? what is it ?

[vinylivo]

They are for showing the signal level. They are like the meters you had on your old tape-deck or similar equipment for adjusting recording levels. You have them on the iriver fw too, on the left and the right of the progress bar. With the iriver-fw they are not really for reading levels but more for some animation. The RB meters should then give more precise information about the levels of the track you're playing.

[FlameGrilled]

In most cases, for most people using equipment for playback in a domestic enviroment, Vu's are toys and eyecandy in practice whether they are accurate or vague representative items.

The exceptions to the 'eye candy' and 'toys' perception is when you acutally use the VU's for some real purpose.

For example, if you were connecting the analogue output of the DAP to a mixer and needed to ensure a consistent level between DAP output and having the same level appear on a output of the mixer (so, for example, a -16dB indicated on the DAP, with level adjust at the appropriate faders on the mixer, shows a -16dB on the Mixer's VU's, and say a cassette/MD recorder attached to mixer output also indicates a -16dB level on it's VU's when the Mixer's VU's do so and so does the DAP's) - then that's one time you would want a VU that both works and is usable. for amatuer and professional use.

But on a more simplistic level, given software VU's that are accurate and work, on a DAP - you would want record and playback use of VU's, along with record level adjust that could allow for R/T adjust of record levels to combine to allow you to record via the mic/line socketry or even from the tuner, and ensure the recording stays shy of persistent 0dB (0dB indicated, for digital purposes, is absolute peak.. and like when we used to let analogue records 'flash' on the + side, your main bulk still stayed comfortably on the - side of the VU indication).

In such an instance, for say Vinyl to digital transfer, you'd want a VU set inline at the amp if poss and also on the recorder. The dual sets allow you to replicate the levels accurately, so you would tweak the digital record level and/or scaling to suit to compensate for level losses in the analogue side. But at the very least, you would want a good VU facility for good reference and peace of mind in the record mode of the DAP.

But quite frankly, most don't know or care about such things - and listen to what people listen to often (clipping like crazy, punchy as sin, pop and the same effective scaled about 10 times on something like Death Metal), and if they had the facility and governed their recordings to suit sane and rational recording processes, they'd complain the audio was 'weak' and 'tooo quiet'..

So for the masses, the lack of VU's is no probs to them...

[Febs]

Originally Posted by FlameGrilled

But quite frankly, most don't know or care about such things - and listen to what people listen to often (clipping like crazy, punchy as sin, pop and the same effective scaled about 10 times on something like Death Metal), and if they had the facility and governed their recordings to suit sane and rational recording processes, they'd complain the audio was 'weak' and 'tooo quiet'..

This is true. The way a lot of stuff is mastered these days, with the dynamic range completely squashed down to nothing, the peak meter would hover around 0 dB all the time. I don't know how people can listen to that stuff. Everything is loud all the time, drums have no impact, etc. Yuck.

But back to the topic at hand. The peak meter is obviously useful when recording, but is mostly cosmetic for playback. I suppose that it could be useful for people using something like mp3gain to be able to see when their songs are clipping.

[narf]

I have to agree, the meters are just for show on the playback screen. Once recording is working they will be really usefull! One of my big complaints with the iRiver firmware was that there was no meter on the recording screen, you had to set things by trial and error.

[FlameGrilled]

Mind you, a decent OTF rec level adjust is also essential on the record side, to allow you to adjust , else all those rec mode VU's are gonna do.. is be eyecandy at best, and at worst tell you how much you are cooking the recording if you aint got the scope to externally adjust incoming level or have a level adjust in the record mode.

Older kit manages it, even with the level indicators being added way later on in firmware (aka the JB1) after the DAP went out of production, and likewise.. the level adjustment (JB1/Jb3) was there (in OTF form) from the outset.

RB People, take note - since you are clearly working on usable good implements of things, remember to carry on that way.. and OTF rec level adjust and rec/playback VU's will win you fans

[sanguis]

Originally Posted by FlameGrilled

Mind you, a decent OTF rec level adjust is also essential on the record side, to allow you to adjust , else all those rec mode VU's are gonna do.. is be eyecandy at best, and at worst tell you how much you are cooking the recording if you aint got the scope to externally adjust incoming level or have a level adjust in the record mode.

Older kit manages it, even with the level indicators being added way later on in firmware (aka the JB1) after the DAP went out of production, and likewise.. the level adjustment (JB1/Jb3) was there (in OTF form) from the outset.

RB People, take note - since you are clearly working on usable good implements of things, remember to carry on that way.. and OTF rec level adjust and rec/playback VU's will win you fans

Seconded (in its entirety).

Nice work RB folk. You've got me hoping my H140 will be a reliable recorder one day. I just wish i could do something to help out.

[Febs]

Copying what I just posted in another thread:

Here's what the Rockbox manual says about the implementation of the recording function on the Archos line of players:

The manual also indicates that the left button decreases gain and the right button increases gain.

Unless there is some hardware restriction (which seems very unlikely), I would bet that the Iriver implementation of recording has at least the same features.

[FlameGrilled]

Well, that's a starting point - add in on-demand instant splitting would finish off the plot

As for the 'size so far', would it not be better maybe to have a 'time remaining' estimate..??

Dunno, maybe that's no interest to anyone, but having had the facility (to know, based on current record settings and remaining space) of how much record time is left, has come in damned handy at times...

Then again, i doubt many H/iHP users have left a machine running for a week or more flat continously recording non-stop and so probably dont have massive record session demands..

[Febs]

I know that there is a file-splitting function that automatically splits the file when it reaches the file size limit imposed by FAT32. I don't know if that same function can split a file on-demand, but it seems that if it can do one, it should be able to do the other.

EDIT: Good news! I checked on IRC, and this functionality will exist:

• Febs: amiconn: you referenced a function that automatically splits files when they hit the FAT32 limit. Does that same function allow a user to split a recording on the fly?
• amiconn: Febs: Yes, you can split after a set time (user selectable, from a list), or on button press