Topic: god. damn. it.

[zhianosatch]

posted in ask the tapers because the problem could be anywhere...
to quote elton john, the bitch is back. actually, it turns out the malignant cunt never left. for some bloody reason, all my tapes have the same "crackling" sound i described here (please read) even after i replaced my modSBM-1 with sparge master's. it's happened with multiple borrowed schoeps rigs and my own dpa 4061 setup and i am past the point of anger, i've just lost all faith in my gear and cringe and apologize to myself whenever i pop in one of my recordings. that is no way to tape. the last tape i made that i am actually mostly happy with is the abloom/soil/static-x from july of last year - and that was using the d8's a/d! i'm so sick of having flawed tapes and i want to get this problem fixed once and for fuckin' all before i move to denmark next year for a study abroad program. i can't very well blow away all the loser european stealthers (sorry guys, i have never heard a decent stealth audience tape come out of your continent besides tool 06-23-01 and that's not without its gaping flaws - you all need to get with the program, ditch your shitty sony ECMs, minidisc recorders, and poor technique and make your german, austrian, and danish mic manufacturers proud) if there's some flawed stage in my setup!
i've spent some time to give everyone a detailed description of my entire setup from mic to ear, including gear origins and powering options. if there are any details i left out or you'd like to know, give me a holler and i'll post them. i'm really at a loss as to what to do now besides buy my own full schoeps rig and a known-good DAT and i don't have the money for that.
the way i see it, the only pieces that could possibly be causing the noise are the MPS-6010 or the D8... and i have no fucking idea how the d8 could cause what sounds like a distinctly analog noise in select frequencies consistently.
i posted three FLAC samples because that's all the room i have. any and all input is more than appreciated. i thank you all from the bottom of my cold, black heart.
armen
p.s. gotta run - i'm late for a birthday bonfire at the beach. time to ditch my bummed-outedness for a few hours.
p.p.s. yes, i just broke the news that i'm going to denmark next year!
p.p.p.s. listen to those samples, especially the SOAD, and you'll understand why i'm itching to fix this problem.


RECORDING COMPONENTS

DPA 4061s

• purchased new from sonic sense in february 2003
• powered by MPS-6010 using the stock microdot connectors

DPA MPS-6010

• purchased new from sonic sense in february 2003
• powered by alkaline 9Vs. the current duracell procell and other 9Vs have been in there since last year
• modified to include a switchable high-pass filter (-6 dB/octave, filter knee at 85 Hz) and second output (a stereo mini jack calibrated for Sony line inputs, particularly the SBM-1) in October 2003. the filter uses DIP switches placed in the battery compartment and is switchable between each channel of each output - four switches used in a bank of 5

interconnect: male RA stereo mini > 2 male RCA

• custom-built using mogami cable by leegeddy in november 2004 after a kindkable took a fat shit on me in september during a ministry show. i'm still pissed about that one

Oade modSBM-1

• purchased used from S_TL-taper in, i believe, august 2004
• powered by alkaline AAs, Powerex 2200 mAH rechargeables, or Lenmar 2450 mAH rechargeables
• identified (somewhat incorrectly? not sure any more) as the culprit of the SAME "crackling" noise i still hear in my tapes
• most tapes i've made with it, including the first (ozzfest 2004 using borrowed MK4s > custom actives > nbox > this new modsbm-1 > my d8), have this guitar "crackling" characteristic. i can't hear it on some tapes

Sony TCD-D8

• purchased used from ian stone in august 2003
• powered by alkaline AAs, Powerex 2200 mAH rechargeables, or Lenmar 2450 mAH rechargeables
• cleaning tape run approximately every 7-10 shows, or around every 20 hours of recording
• wet cleaned once by me sometime last year using the proper materials

TRANSFERRING COMPONENTS

Tascam DA-30

• borrowed, brand new out of box, from do.com

Tascam DA-20

• borrowed, used from eBay, from schwilly

Radio Shack 20' digital coaxial cable

Waveterminal 2496

• purchased used from a ts.com member in nyc named mike, i believe

Wavelab 4.0 and Sound Forge 7.0



PLAYBACK COMPONENTS

Denon AVR-1603

• purchased used from MattD in february 2004

Canare Speaker Cable

• speakers purchased new from an online retailer in february 2004
• attached to posts with bare wire

B&W DM302s

• speakers purchased used from eBay in february 2004
• apparently, i cranked the volume too high on these pups once. http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=16977.0

Sony MDR-7506s

• purchased new in august 2003
• i have been known to crank them up to deafening levels VERY occasionally. i usually care for them and my ears quite well. i fear tinnitus like the plague.

[Simp-Dawg]

without getting too deep into your description, it's pretty clear the problem is with your deck.  probably misaligned heads, send it to paul at prodigital and you'll be set.

[Simp-Dawg]

i could barely hear it in the soad clip (which, by the way, sounds pretty good!)...maybe a playback issue???  have you tried playback on other systems?

[Simp-Dawg]

couldn't hear it in the soil clip either...

[Brian]

i could only hear it on the vocals in the SOAD clip.  what's weird is that I downloaded your previous SOAD show witht eh borrowed schoeps and the guy's vocals were crackling then too. all the music is great fine but the vocals are crackling.

the manson clip was 1 second.  it was pretty much impossible for me to hear anything other than a blip.

i couldn't hear it on the soil clip either.

this would lead me to believe that it could be a bad digi cable or digi in on the deck?  have you tried switching out the digi>7pin?  You did prove it happened with both modsbm1s afterall.  So i'd say test out a different digi cable and if that doesn't fix it, send the deck to paul.

-Brian

BTW.....those clips sound great!

[Teen Age Riot]

Armen, I bet it's the D8.
As far as the quality of european stealth tapes is concerned, send me a PM and I'll prove the opposite.

[zhianosatch]

thanks, everyone! i really do appreciate the input.
as for the soil sample, i forgot to write in the notes that that's the only recent tape that does not have the crackle. it's clean as a whistle - 4061s > modMPS-6010 (HPF on) > D8 line in. i included this sample to show the clean sound. sorry for the omission!
question: if the d8's heads are the culprit, playing the tapes back through the d8 would solve the issue, right?
also, if you can't hear the crackling in the SOAD or manson clips, crank it up to 11 and i think you'll hear what i mean. for me, it's not ok to know that my tapes only rock at low to medium volume, ya know?
moke and alex, thank you both very much for the offers. i just might take you up on them. i'll be in touch...

[Sanjay]

This is a shot in the dark but have you checked to make sure all connections are clean, dust free, maybe wipe them down with some sort of cleaner (I have no idea what would be ok for electronics).   Also if this does not fix it perhaps since the only non-variable is the deck the problem should lie in there.

Good luck in Europe man, you'll love it.

[Evil Taper]

Maybe even just buy a digital recorder, R1/JB3.  There's no tape or pins or anything else that can get messed up...have yet to have any digi noise from my JB3...only real downfall is the low recording levels but that can be remedied in various ways.

[Humbug]

i can't very well blow away all the loser european stealthers (sorry guys, i have never heard a decent stealth audience tape come out of your continent besides tool 06-23-01 and that's not without its gaping flaws - you all need to get with the program, ditch your shitty sony ECMs, minidisc recorders, and poor technique and make your german, austrian, and danish mic manufacturers proud) if there's some flawed stage in my setup!

Hehe...I take offense at that..I've made some killer stealth recordings over the last 2 years..admittedly its harder to do this, but under ideal conditions:

-Good sound / mix in the venue
-Good crowd (nodody walking / standing right in front of my nose)

They come out great. I've posted a few mp3 clips here:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=41069.0

ps good luck identifying your crackling problem.

[Brian Skalinder]

question: if the d8's heads are the culprit, playing the tapes back through the d8 would solve the issue, right?

Not necessarily.  Playing back on the record deck will help if the heads are misaligned, but if they're dirty - not gonna help one bit.  One question I haven't seen posed or answered:  is the crackle present on the master DAT, played back on more than one playback device?  I think it'll help to isolate the problem to either the record or transfer process.

perhaps since the only non-variable is the deck the problem should lie in there.

But the deck is a variable - Judas Priest recorded with a D100 v. D8.  However, Armen seems less than confident the crackling exists on this tape.

There're some good suggestions here!  I'd start with the easiest, first, and then focus on the DAT.

[1]  wet-clean your deck
[2]  clean all cable connections
[3]  borrow a known-good deck
[4]  borrow Moke's 6020 (but not at the same time as [3], that would defeat the purpose of isolating the gear

[zhianosatch]

this would lead me to believe that it could be a bad digi cable or digi in on the deck?  have you tried switching out the digi>7pin?  You did prove it happened with both modsbm1s afterall.  So i'd say test out a different digi cable and if that doesn't fix it, send the deck to paul.

right.
here's what gets me: true, the problem happened with both modSBM-1s, but it was a lot worse (and got progressively so) with mine.
and the other thing is, why does the noise only occur, or especially occur, during electric guitar parts? could a bad digi-in really do that?
both sparge's and my modSBM-1s have the stock pigtail 7-pin connector so i can't switch any cables. if there was a problem in the digital realm, it would then be with the d8's 7-pin jack.
moke, i haven't wet-cleaned the d8 in about a year. perhaps it's time!
i'm now going to play a known-good tape, one of sideshowbob's moe.t00b3z from last year, in:

DA-20 > coax > Denon AVR-1603 > known-good RCAs (made by jason b) >both modSBM-1s, then both modSBM-1s > D8. fuck, i might as well just borrow sparge's D8 as well. i hope i can find them without waking him up.

i can't use the RCAs out of my cd player because one of em's slightly busted and i don't trust them to sound decent anyway.

[zhianosatch]

One question I haven't seen posed or answered: is the crackle present on the master DAT, played back on more than one playback device? I think it'll help to isolate the problem to either the record or transfer process.

word, and that is an obvious one. i'll pop the system of a down tape into the DA-20 right now.

[zhianosatch]

shoot, i woke up sparge master with the DA-20 and he's not happy. i'll be back later.
thanks to all, and many +Ts.

[zhianosatch]

so, kick his ass while hes still groggy.

considering it!
there might have just been something of a breakthrough. not sure yet. i will need to perform three more tests to be sure. i'll post the results as soon as i can perform the tests...
really, guys, thanks a lot for your help!

[F.O.Bean]

hehe, you woke sparge up

anyway, good luck armen, thats another reason i ditched dat man, i was having soo many head problems

[zhianosatch]

fuck me.
after listening (probably for too long) to:

master DAT > headphones   (DA-20 MKII > Sony MDR-7506s)

master DAT > receiver   (DA-20 MKII > 20' Radio Shack coax > Denon AVR-1603 > Sony MDR-7506s and B&W DM302s)

transferred version   (DA-20 MKII > 20' Radio Shack coax > Waveterminal 2496 > Wavelab and Sound Forge > wav > Waveterminal 2496 1/4" outs > Denon AVR-1603 > Sony MDR-7506s and B&W DM302s)

master DAT > sound card > receiver   (DA-20 MKII > 20' Radio Shack coax > Waveterminal 2496 (analog out mixer set to DIGITAL IN only, -10 dBv > Denon AVR-1603 > Sony MDR-7506s and B&W DM302s)

of the same shows, SOAD 04-24-05 (sparge's modSBM-1) and the aforementioned local band (my modSBM-1), i have to say that there is, without a doubt, a serious problem with the digital in of my sound card. no doubt about it. believe it or not, everything sounds flawless (or ALMOST flawless - i might be imagining some crackling still in the SOAD tape, but the local band show - using MY sbm-1 - sounds fine... unbelievable) without the sound card. the difference between the Waveterminal sources and non-Waveterminal was distinctly and immediately audible.
well, blow me down. how fucking retarded do i look now?
while looking at the Waveterminal 2496 mixer, i noticed one more test i need to conduct: changing the clock source from INTERNAL to DIGITAL IN. could this, of all things, be the cause? we'll see in a minute...
there's one flaw in this theory, though. the soil tape i retransferred last week sounds clean. if the sound card is being screwy, then that tape, too, should have demonstrated the crackling noise...

[Brian]

when transferring tapes witha  bit-perfect soundcard you ALWAYS have to set the clock for digi in.

looks like we are getting to the bottom of this!

[sml42]

i can't very well blow away all the loser european stealthers (sorry guys, i have never heard a decent stealth audience tape come out of your continent besides tool 06-23-01 and that's not without its gaping flaws - you all need to get with the program, ditch your shitty sony ECMs, minidisc recorders, and poor technique and make your german, austrian, and danish mic manufacturers proud)

UK-based DPA4060 stealther here. Respectfully disagree with your statement I've made some sweet sweet tapes with these mics... PM me if you'd like samples!

(fluff: I love my DPAs!)

best regards,
stephen

[Brian]

i love how all the europe guys are so nice to just send armen samples of their goods instead of starting a flame war.

nice job guys!

[jhirte]

DEFINETLY use digi clock sync.  Prolly nailed it right there! SOAD sounds pretty good too.
FYI: Rat shack digi cable - might wanna ditch that. I used one for over a year and the end FELL OFF. crazy. Get a HOSA

[zhianosatch]

quick update while i'm re-transferring... the clock source setting seems to have mitigated the problem nicely. that was it. i can't believe how stupid i was. thank you all and i'll have a full update soon
-arm

[Brian]

great to hear!

[deadhoarse]

when transferring tapes witha  bit-perfect soundcard you ALWAYS have to set the clock for digi in.

I transfer with a Zoltrix Nightingale Pro...I never saw an option to set a clock.  Does anyone know how to verify this with this card?

[zhianosatch]

digital in. freakin' a.
well, everyone, thanks very much for the replies and the help. i now need to get to retransferring all those old tapes and killing all the old versions!
again, mucho, mucho obligado. +Ts to all.
armen