Topic: Line-out interference

[jonohull]

If I wanted to be safe recording shows and have 2 recorders going at the soundboard, would having the line-out of my DAT go to a digital recorder cause interference in any way? I have a D3, and was wondering if the tape hiss or other stuff would transfer over to the other recorder.

[Digital Quality]

It should work ok. The line out of your recorder will probably hiss on account of the quality of the output buffers more than because it's digital. You have some risk of cell phone interference if you run too long of a cable as well. It's an unbalanced output.

[jonohull]

It should work ok. The line out of your recorder will probably hiss on account of the quality of the output buffers more than because it's digital. You have some risk of cell phone interference if you run too long of a cable as well. It's an unbalanced output.

Ok, thanks. I didn't know if the signal went through the tape then the output, or the output was seperate from the tape. I did a show last Friday, and another taper took the line out from mine, but it didn't sound very good. Later he said he had a bad cable, but I didn't know if it could be a combination of the two.

[BayTaynt3d]

Also, depending on the recorder's signal path, you could end up going:

ADC > DAC > ADC

[jonohull]

Also, depending on the recorder's signal path, you could end up going:

ADC > DAC > ADC

I'm fairly new to this. Could you explain why I might do that?

[Digital Quality]

What he's saying is that inside your recorder the signal path may actually be in though the analog input - converted to digital - then converted back to analog, and out through the line-out. Extra conversions induce extra noise, plus extra buffers add extra noise. I don't know what the signal path looks like inside a D3 but in any event, there is probably a better way to get 2 copies.

For example you can get a pair of splitter cables and run the soundboard source directly to the 2 recorders. They have high enough input impedance that it should be ok.

[jonohull]

Oh, I see. Yeah, splitting the cable before going through the DAT is a far better way to go. Thanks for your help you guys.

[BayTaynt3d]

Some decks will pass through the analog signal in which case it's not really a problem, but many will cycle through the AD to DA stages before putting it on the line out. Also, splitting gives you a little more redundancy if somehow the first deck in line freezes up and stops passing a signal out its line out. But there are pros/cons to each.