From: <ajf_at_midmaine.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 07:53:16 -0500 (EST)

>
> hello,
>
> really like the rockbox and have been using it for almost a year. Most of
> my questions are about the recording features of the unit. I have
> recently begun recording live concerts with it and it has worked okay but
> I've had a few problems. Perhaps these are addressed elsewhere but I
> coulded find the answers
>
> here goes:
>
> my setup is a battery box with 9v and two electret capsules. All this
> into the line-in.
>
> 1) can I set it so that it starts at the lowest recording level instead of
> the highest? When I accidently stopped and started the recording it
> defaulted back to the highest level and caused lots of clipping till I
> adjusted it back

You can save a config file with your preferred recording settings,
including input gain, quality, source, channels -- all of it. Name it
Live.cfg or something you like. Once saved, it will be the default config
when the recorder boots up.

> 2) can the absolute lowest level of the line in be lowered? On very loud
> passages or with heavy bass there is clipping.

Interesting. My battery box provides 20db of gain control, and sometimes
I wish it would give me higher levels. You can use an attenuator cable
between mic and line-in but that will lower the level at all frequencies.

> 3) is there an easy way to adjust these things that I have overlooked?
Easy: sit further away from the loud speakers.

> Any ideas on the quality of this mpeg3 encoder chip vs a portable minidisc
> recorder? I've made 50+ recordings with several md units and I've always
> felt my location in the crowd and the room acoustics played a bigger role
> than the recorder. However, the two recordings with the rockbox seem to
> be lacking. Will have to try a new 9v next and see if the clipping
> improves. I can always lower the signal before it hits the archos chip I
> guess but a software solution seems simplier right now.

At the higher quality settings, it is not too bad, but for a purist, there
is sometimes noticeable noise on the recording, probably due to poor lead
placement and lack of shielding inside the Archos.

My experience in recording live events outdoors leads me to the same
conclusion. Crowd noise and mic placement are key.

My practice is to try to record at an average level of -6 dB to -9 dB with
occasional peaks hitting -3 or so. I can always add level to quiet
passages in post-processing.

> Hope that all makes sense. I was thinking of making a page on the mics
> I've made. Cost me less than $20 for the mics and battery box and my
> friends are always amazed at the recordings. The battery box is used to
> power the mics and also to allow more louder sounds to be recorded

> thanks for reading
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
Received on 2004-01-26