Roll off ?

[ReverbReverse]

Hi,

I've been recording a couple concerts and they turned out quite well - i'm using a Sony MZ RH 1 mcd player and a Core Sound microphone with roll-off bass.

But yesterday, it didn't work proper - i noticed that the recording lights were going up to the "overdrive" mark, while they usually stay around the -12 dB.

I've been using a new battery, and exactly the same settings as usual (mirophone in the microphone plug, AGC set on "music", microphone sensitivity set on "low", and the roll-off in action.)

What i get is a sound which is fairly even in volume, but it saturates a bit, and most of all it's very clear that when the sound gets real high (with drums etc.) the guitar and voice and everything which would be the high-end frequencies actually loses volume, as if it was the drum sound which was setting the reference for the volume.

Can someone help me please to diagnose, and potentially fix what's wrong ? I have something to record tomorrow, and i wouldn't want it screwed :(

Thanks in advance !

[DanielG]

Hi,
I've been using a new battery, and exactly the same settings as usual (mirophone in the microphone plug, AGC set on "music", microphone sensitivity set on "low", and the roll-off in action.)


I suspect that the AGC is causing your problem. You should be setting the levels manually. According to the specs of your MZ RH-1 the levels can be "adjusted on-the-fly, while recording is underway" so during the opening song set the levels so that they peak at between 12 and 4 (you can try to get closer to 0 if you want) and then let it be.

You might also want to use the "Line Input" instead of the Mic Input.

[ReverbReverse]

Thanks :)

I was at guitar practice today, and i've been running a couple tests, and that's what i've been doing - setting the levels manually, that is.

As for the line-in vs. microphone plug; i've tried that too, but it doesn't make any difference.

How am i supposed to do to get the sound louder now ? There's an equalizer kind of thing in SonicStage (which came bundled in with the recorder) but i had never had to use it so far.

Also - do you maybe know if there's any other way to get the files from that stupid .oma format into .wav ? I upload them to the computer into the "library" of Sonic Stage, and then i convert it through SonicStage as well - but i distrust that software a lot. I haven't found any way around it, though :disbelief

[Five]

You have to go through SonicStage. There's another program available online that can do it without opening SonicStage but I tried the recent version out a few months ago and it introduced crackles :thumbsdown

a couple other things about turning off the autogain... each new disc you insert, you have to go in and turn the autogain off (switch to "manual"). Also, the md will remember your previous manual record volume setting, but if it is lower than 13/30 then it just remembers 13.

lots of great info on minidisc.org as well