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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: WiFiJeff on March 27, 2007, 11:58:36 AM

Title: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 27, 2007, 11:58:36 AM
Sound Professionals gottem in this morning, I should have mine tomorrow.  Now I can record ultra hf noise at 5.6 million bits/second!

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on March 27, 2007, 01:44:31 PM
Sound Professionals gottem in this morning, I should have mine tomorrow.  Now I can record ultra hf noise at 5.6 million bits/second!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! +T
I just ordered mine for delivery tomorrow also.
Can't wait to play with the new toy.
I hope to do an immediate preamp comparison to the Portico to see how it will work as an all in one box
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on March 28, 2007, 12:21:13 PM
Sweetwater is shipping mine today!  Have it tomorrow.  Hoorah!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 28, 2007, 01:09:44 PM
I have got mine in.  The menus are very similar to the MR-1, except you set levels with a volume knob (R center, L outside) not a menu section.  No hold switch, but maybe when I read the manual I'll find a menu selection for that.  XLR input is mic-in, TRS is line-in, with H/L gain choices that seems to apply to line-in only if you read the manual (can't be).

Oboy projects.  First need: find an external DC 12 supply, this baby needs 7W.  I need to know what tolerance it has voltage wise.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on March 28, 2007, 01:36:24 PM
Sweetwater has one for me too! Yippee! I'm a cheap bastard though and am
not ponying up extra for next day, so I should get mine in 2-3 days. SWEET!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on March 28, 2007, 02:03:44 PM
I have got mine in.  The menus are very similar to the MR-1, except you set levels with a volume knob (R center, L outside) not a menu section.  No hold switch, but maybe when I read the manual I'll find a menu selection for that.  XLR input is mic-in, TRS is line-in, with H/L gain choices that seems to apply to line-in only if you read the manual (can't be).

Oboy projects.  First need: find an external DC 12 supply, this baby needs 7W.  I need to know what tolerance it has voltage wise.

Jeff

Jeff, here's a website with pics and tolerances for the DC12 plug that fits the power jack on the back of the MR-1000.

http://www.smk.co.jp/product_e/pdf/plugjack/ESF311201.pdf (http://www.smk.co.jp/product_e/pdf/plugjack/ESF311201.pdf)

The part number is the -4 version, 10.5 < V <= 13.5 tolerance.  I got this page from the KORG product support people.  The guy, James S., sent me a plug and cable from a bad adapter foc, now that's support.  Looks like I'll get some time on the iron tonight.   

+T,  new gear!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 28, 2007, 03:16:34 PM
Thanks.  One of the plugs that comes with the BatteryGeek 10-14-88 fits the MR-1000, I'm just worried about the 13.5V limit when the BatteryGeek cell puts out from 10 to 14V (it's reported to work well with the Marantz 671, which technically wants 15V but reportedly only needs 9-15V).  Can your friend at Korg tell me if 14V will fry the MR-1000 or am I safe with it?

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on March 28, 2007, 03:36:45 PM
Got mine today and will try it out with the batterygeek 10-14-88 tonight, possibly post some pics of the guts and do a quick and dirty preamp comparison. Wish I didn't have to work 3 more hours today before I crack the box.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 28, 2007, 04:42:23 PM
I got bold/impatient/stupid and tried it out.  The BG 10-14-88 seems to run it just fine.  Should go for 12 hours or so, according to specs.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on March 29, 2007, 12:09:27 AM
Wow! I'm very impressed with this unit so far. From right out of the box to melting my mind later. Nice metal extruded case, solid unit, with buttons that have a lot of spring to them, to finely adjustable levels and very good sounding headphone amp.

I'm even more impressed with WSD than I thought I would be. Utterly captivating sound that takes your breath away. Transporting you to another dimension. Seriously.

But what really blew me away was how good the box sounds standalone. I could hardly tell which one I liked better. With the neve portico or without. Both astounded me with the neve being ever so slightly warmer.

Test was:
Milab VM44 Link -> Neve Portico 5012 -> Korg MR-1000 1Bit/5.6MHz WSD
Milab VM44 Link -> Korg MR-1000 1Bit/5.6MHz WSD

Source Material: Bela Fleck SACD (Drive)
Playback: Denon 1920 -> Meyer Sound Monitors
Headphones for playback on Korg MR-1000: Sony MDR-V600
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 29, 2007, 02:49:15 PM
The manual for the MR-1000 says (p16) to set the gain switch to high for line-in devices whose output is low (consumer level) and to low for devices whose output is high, using the TRS 1/4" inputs.  The mic inputs are the XLRs, and the manual doesn't mentione high or low gain settings having any impact.

But the H setting clearly gives more gain than the L setting.  Phantom seems okay on a Schoeps CCM pair (you have to provide phantom to both R and L or to neither).

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on March 30, 2007, 02:46:27 AM
So many questions.
-How is the Audiogate software? I know people have been using it with the MR-1, but how long does it take to convert a 1-bit/5.6MHz WSD file to redbook PCM? Is it easy to use? Does it perform accurate, clean conversions?
-How large is a 1-bit/5.6MHz file recorded for an hour? What are the auto-split options? Does it split seamlessly? Is it easy to patch everything together with Audiogate later on before/after converting them to PCM?
-One person has already stated that they really like the preamp. What are other peoples opinions?
-Battery life? I know people are currently trying to find a good external DC solution, but what can you expect with just using the AAs?
-How are the controls/menu/screen? I'm a stickler on levels that are responsive and easy to read.
-Do you think this would fare well in other field applications like ambient recording or film/video sound recording? What do you think of the construction of the unit? How well do mic and line cables connect? How are the buttons placed? Would it be hard to start/stop a recording and control levels if the device was in a bag? In or out of a bag, do you think there is much chance of accidentally stopping/startting a recording, altering levels, or changing something else?
-If you have any experience with the modded 671 or P2, can you comment on how the MR-1000 compares?

I know that is a whole lot to ask considering people have only had them for a day or two, but I don't expect immediate answers. I had mostly forgotten about this unit, seeing as how when it was announced in '06, I didn't think I would have enough money for one. Yet here I am with enough to get a modded 671 or P2, and then I am reminded that this is coming out. So I'm on a three-way fence. This things appears to be smaller than either of the other two, which is always a plus. If I can get some good feedback to these questions and get the impression that a stock unit can perform admirably on its own compared to the competition, then by golly, I'm in.

An advanced thank you to all who will give their impressions on the MR-1000.

Now if you will excuse me, I will anxiously check this thread every three minutes for the next week.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on March 30, 2007, 09:02:48 AM
The AudioGate is the same software as for the MR-1 (the 5.6 MHz setting on that was a tipoff that is was meant for the MR-1000 also).  Conversion time is not dreadful, but does require patience, I'll try to time it next week if no one else pipes up.  I am looking forward to the announced upgrade to version 1.0.0, hoping it will do a better job of cleaning out the hf noise when making 24/192 PCM conversions (16/44.1 is okay now), even if that takes a lot longer to run (Minnetonka techs tell me that CHrome II software can convert DSD to PCM either quick-and-dirty, which sounds like the AudioGate method, or cleaner but taking about 15 hours for a DVD-worth of audio).  The file size at 5.6 MHz is 1GB about 11 minutes, so an hour would run about 5.5 GB.  The autosplit is set on the MR-1 at a little over 1 GB, you get 25 minutes (so I suppose 12.5 minutes on the MR-1000 at 5.6 MHz, I'll check this weekend).  It is seamless as far as I can tell.  The MR-1 shuts down after 6 hours (whatever format you use) unless you restart at some point, I'll check this feature in the MR-1000 this weekend as well.  The manual on the MR-1000 gives battery life on internal AAs (8 used) as 4 hours no matter what type you use (Alkaline, Oxyride, or NiMH with no mAh rating given), this seems unlikely to me, but I've been testing with the BatteryGeek 10-14-88 external supply.

As for ergonomics, there is no hold switch and the volume knob has a lot of play, somewhat easily turned.  I would not say the buttons are bump-proof, but they don't strike me as accidents waiting to happen.  The XLR connectors are solid, and the case has a nice flap so you can run the cables right in, the case is just a wee bit too tight to hold the MR-1000 with the BatteryGeek supply squezzed in on top. The flap on top of the case should prevent any accidental switch or volume changes, but I'm too paranoid to trust it. The MR-1, with menu volume settings and a hold switch, is clearly designed for pocket/stealth use, while the MR-1000 is not.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on March 30, 2007, 10:20:29 AM
I'm going to test the MR-1000 this evening in the field.  Chicago Afrobeat Project is playing at a local bar and I hope that they allow taping.  I'll be running TLM170s > V2 > MR-1000.  I'll take some pics and post my experiences (and hopefully a torrent of the show).  TGIF.

JC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on March 31, 2007, 03:11:40 AM
Jeff: Thank you very much. (Christ, Chrome II is like 3 grand!)

newblue: Looking forward to your results. Good luck!

I'm also curious how this thing handles plain PCM recording, since it seems like it can handle up to 24/192 recording. Wondering how clean that is. I just don't have the room to store 5.5 gigs worth of audio every gig :)

And the noise floor in every situation. Everything else sounds fine. If this is good, then my purchase is more or less guaranteed.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on March 31, 2007, 11:00:34 AM
I don't write many reviews but here goes nothing...

At last the moment I have been waiting for for some time, arrived last night.  I had the MR-1000 in my hands and was ready to rock n roll.  Took a little doing but I made a 4-pin XLR power cable from a bad adapter that KORG sent free of charge and ordered my XLRF > TRS cables for running line in to the deck.  I admittedly didn't read the entire manual, only hitting the high points.  The form and feel of the deck is very sufficient, I wouldn't say it's a tank and there are still some parts of the case that are plastic.  I was also expecting something bigger and was suprised at how small it was.  I was hoping that the ol' dynamite in small packages rule would apply here.  I got everything set up in my bag just so and went to the bar for the moment of truth.  Setup was a breeze compared to unpacking and setting up the V2 > MMe > HHb combo and plus my bag was lighter by about 20 lbs (at least that's how it felt).  The TRS connections for the deck are super tight.  Insertion pressure wasn't bad, but pulling 'em out was a little scary.  I hate having to tug that hard on a cable or connection.  They're new so maybe they will loosen up slightly, plus I have no real experience with TRS connections or connectors (other than headphone jacks), so this maybe normal.  The menu is very intuitive, it took no time to have everything setup to roll (pretty much a one-stop-shop, rec > play > and your going), plus the default settings (1bit, 5.6MHz) keep you from recording in multibit unless you tell the deck specifically.  I ran TLM170s (card, din, <20' from stage, 7' stand) > V2.  I had the V2's gain set at 25dB with both trim pots at 0 and adjusted the gain accordingly on the MR-1000.  The left channel ended up at about 5.5 and the right around 6.5 on the dial.  So there was plenty of headroom on the V2 or the MR-1000 for line-in.  The gain adjustment for the MR-1000 met my liking.  There wasn't much play in the knobs and there was enough resistance that it didn't 'spin away'.  The nested configuration of the knobs was at first a little irritating but the taper (not me, the shape of the knob) made it easier to turn both at once or individually.  The gain knobs are a little small (fat fingers beware!) and with a gain adjustment like this I don't see how a hold button would be able to work to make the MR-1000 completely tamper-proof  The gain knobs will still take some getting used to.  The meters on the MR-1000 are great, at least compared to what I'm used to.  The graduations are very fine and they very quick and responsive.  The peak bar hold time can be set at 0s 4s(default) or 8s, I left this at the default and found that it was good enough to make sure I wasn't blowing the top off of it.  The one qualm I have with the display is it is a backlight on or off situation (sure you can set it to go off after a set time) and the back light on setting is bright as hell.  I might have to get some window tinting for the display and see if I can still see the meters through it, doubtful.  The clip lights are nice but not as attention grabbing as the bright ass screen.  Plus they clip at +3 dB, which is alright for DSD but is too hot for PCM, but the gain can be cut in Audiogate (kinda Mickey Mouse, IMO).  On a side note, there is a DSD filter setting in the menu (on or off) which applies a -3dB cut a and above 50kHz, could someone tell me how I'm gonna be able to tell the difference in -3dBs at 50kHz and above???  I had it on for the show, but I think I will disable this in the future (and see if I have ears as good as a dog, I wish).  Listening to the show afterwards (AKG271s) was awesome, but not really the time for critical listening, but from my first impressions the detail and clarity was supurb.  I might like to use a headphone preamp and run analog from the rear panel instead of the monitor and see what difference this would make.  But for monitoring it is sufficient.  I will listen more, and not at 3 in the morning after beer, loud music and a smokey bar, but when my ears are freshly rested.  Transfering the recording to the computer via. Mickey Mouse-Gate was fairly easy once I discovered some of the pitfalls.  First, the transfer via high speed USB was a breeze, however, my computer/hdd won't save a file that is larger than 4GB in size, so I had to keep the file size limited by this constraint.  Had to save the raw data for each set of music as two files instead of one, but not a big deal for just the raw data.  The entire show was about 12GB in size (for about 2hr and 23 min of 1bit 5.6MHz audio). The conversion to 16/44.1 was at about 2X real time.  I won't go into the "how did the wave look after conversion?" right now though.  So that's that.  All in all, I'm very impressed with the form and function of this recorder at present.  Sure it's dosen't have the feature set of some of the other recorders in it's class, but it is DSD bitches!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on March 31, 2007, 12:27:33 PM
So I'm out at my first real show last night with the MR-1000 and get an error message about 5 minutes into the first song. "Disk too busy". I restart recording at the beginning of the second song and no problem for the rest of the 2 hour set. It could have been vibrations as I was taping side stage mixing a stage pair and soundboard. I'm hoping it was some fluke which will never happen again but I am very concerned that it happened at all. I never got the HDD Slow message on my R4 taping in this same spot or anywhere else for that matter.

Try again tonight.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on March 31, 2007, 01:23:05 PM
I received mine last night. Won't get to test it until next week though.
A few comments:

* Unit feels rugged. Mostly metal, but front and rear panals are plastic.
Pretty small size is a nice bonus. Definately more compact than
an tascam or marantz unit. About the same cubic size as a 722, but much
lighter than a 722 (not nearly as rugged as a 722, now that's a tank!).

* Buttons and knobs feel just ok. Gain knob is a little small and tight, but
not too bad.

* Screen is bright and easy to read.

* Included bag is nice, but the accessory pocket is small and just fits the power supply
and not much else. Access panal on bottom is nice, but is only over
the neutrik inputs, not the whole bottom. So you might need to get
creative routing cables to the power jack.

* NO USB Cable included!!! Come on korg, this is a frickin' $1200 unit!
You penny pinchin' corporate bastards can't include a $5 usb cable? Geez.

* Audiogate installed easy as pie on my mac. Haven't tried it yet though.

* Two sample songs pre-loaded on unit sound great.

* There are several DSD settings, I'm not sure what the difference is
between DFF and WSD, they are both 5.6mhz capable formats.
The default was set to DFF. There's a third DSF format suposably VAIO capable.

That's about it for now. I can't wait to try her out!

Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on March 31, 2007, 02:42:20 PM
From the Manual:

Using the unit in the following locations can result in a malfunction:
-Locations of excessive vibrations
-Close to magnetic fields

Handling of internal hard disk:
-In particular, you must never move this device or apply physical shock while the power is turned on


I would expect a portable field recorder to experience some movement while the power is on. I did plug in headphones while it was recording but tried not to move the unit at all while I made the connection. This action could have caused my previously described error last night.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on March 31, 2007, 03:45:00 PM
And my order has been placed. See you blokes in the team thread soon.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on March 31, 2007, 09:46:25 PM
Another thing that I forgot to mention, heat was not a factor as far as I could tell.  After running for 2 1/2 hours (with a break in the middle) the case was only ever so slightly warm to the touch.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 01, 2007, 12:19:57 AM
Out running today with a Sonosax MiniR82, so the tests on my Korg have all been just letting it run taping room noises at home.  I did get out to buy the damn USB cable, you need one with the fat squarish end not the more common USB that the Korg MR-1 and most other recorders use.

Useful but trivial facts: It does divide files at 1.049 GB just like the MR-1, and also shuts down after six hours (which is 28 1/3 1.049 GB files at 5.2Mb/s.  I am really happy with the BatteryGeek 10-14-88 powering.  I took a fully charged battery and had the machine on standby for a few hours Friday, not recording but playing with the menus, etc.  Then ran the six hours at 5.2 Mb/s with phantom to an AT835ST, then it stood a few hours with the screen showing a stop warning.  The BatteryGeek cell still shows all four green capacity lights lit, this thing will run forever.  Will play a bit with the files after I master the MiniR82 tapes tonight.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on April 01, 2007, 04:10:36 PM
I took another test run last night running 15' from the stage. This time mics straight into the MR-1000. I had to turn the gain way down to not overload the levels. I engaged the -12dB attenuators on the mic body for the second set and could run much more comfortably at about 5 instead of 2 on the gain scale of 1-10. Felt like 2 was very close to overload and had little fine adjustment control. As suspected, this unit is not for mics with high output taping loud shows unless you have external phantom power supplies, in line attenuators, or like to tape from the back of the room.

That being said, I thought it was the best sounding audience recording I have ever made, and by a wide margin. Funny thing though it was a band I normally wouldn't tape as they are a local grateful dead cover band. Damn wish I had this for recent panic shows.

I mounted some little rubber feet on the bottom of the unit since it doesn't sit well on anything, flat or upright. I plan to keep it connected to my playback system when not in the field. I just love how it sounds in native 1-bit/5.6 MHz. I don't really want to listen to anything else now. And it's cool how you can connect this unit directly to powered monitors or your amp and just adjust volume on the unit. I plan to try this soon with my HD-1's via the XLR's.

Does everyone else have an amber battery light showing when connected to external power? No mention of this in the operators manual. Hope mine's ok. I have only run it with the AC adapter so far.





Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on April 01, 2007, 05:43:51 PM
I took another test run last night running 15' from the stage. This time mics straight into the MR-1000. I had to turn the gain way down to not overload the levels. I engaged the -12dB attenuators on the mic body for the second set and could run much more comfortably at about 5 instead of 2 on the gain scale of 1-10. Felt like 2 was very close to overload and had little fine adjustment control. As suspected, this unit is not for mics with high output taping loud shows unless you have external phantom power supplies, in line attenuators, or like to tape from the back of the room.
Well that's a little troubling. Guess I'll have to invest in some attenuators and hurry up on acquiring a Mini MP.

That being said, I thought it was the best sounding audience recording I have ever made, and by a wide margin.
That's a nice pick me up, though :)

I just love how it sounds in native 1-bit/5.6 MHz. I don't really want to listen to anything else now.
Now I'm all excited.

I put an order down with Sweetwater yesterday. Haven't received any shipping e-mails yet because its Sunday. But how soon do you think I can expect them to ship it out?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 01, 2007, 07:04:50 PM
I get the same battery light regardless of power solution.  At first I wasn't sure if that was bad or not, but when I got the same thing using the adapter, I didn't worry.  Maybe it should have said power instead of battery  :P

This lil puppy does sound good.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000 batt cable
Post by: esteyes on April 02, 2007, 02:52:25 AM
yello, if anyone needs a 4 pin xlr batt cable i can make 90deg or straight cables cheap. price of the conn (neutrik gold) + a few bucks. the story is that in pro audio, for 12v, pin1 is neg and pin4 is +12v, if you do 6V, then pin 2 is neg and pin 3 is +6v. no cross-voltaging that way.

neil in san marcos
760-519-6569
esteyes@cox.net

dumping my 671 (from oade) if the 1k works out for you guys... will leave my Sony DMX-P01 lonely tho'. likely to front with my Shure FP33
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 02, 2007, 10:55:13 AM

Does everyone else have an amber battery light showing when connected to external power? No mention of this in the operators manual. Hope mine's ok. I have only run it with the AC adapter so far.


Yes, running it with no internal batteries and a BatteryGeek external cell I had the amber light on all the time.  Running with internal batteries the light is green.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 02, 2007, 11:55:11 AM
Ah ha.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: bl6216@yahoo.com on April 02, 2007, 12:20:22 PM
How is the app that comes with it as far as play back at 1bit go's. I would love to hear some thing taped with one at 1bit but how would I if I don't have that app that came with it  ???

-Brian
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: eric.B on April 02, 2007, 01:00:22 PM
Jeff: Thank you very much. (Christ, Chrome II is like 3 grand!)

newblue: Looking forward to your results. Good luck!

I'm also curious how this thing handles plain PCM recording, since it seems like it can handle up to 24/192 recording. Wondering how clean that is. I just don't have the room to store 5.5 gigs worth of audio every gig :)

And the noise floor in every situation. Everything else sounds fine. If this is good, then my purchase is more or less guaranteed.

maybe look into the fostex fr2le when it surfaces..  line in 24 bit..
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 02, 2007, 03:41:16 PM
More on the battery life: I ran it with 8 AA 2700 mAh PowerX cells, again with an AT 835ST which draws 4 mA phantom.  The green light went red a little after 3 hours, but it didn't shut down until 4 hours 45 minutes, then saved and turned off.  The red low battery light is a different color than the external power indication, which is orange/amber. 

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 02, 2007, 07:30:30 PM
That's cool.  It goes into a save > power-down mode before loosing enough juice to finalize the session.  That's good to know.

+
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: bobbygeeWOW on April 03, 2007, 12:16:16 PM
here's the email exchange I had with Doug:


HI !
Not yet but I am working on it and hope top have one spoon. It may take me a
month or so to decide what , if anything, can be done to improve it but I will
find out !
peace...Doug


Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 03, 2007, 12:40:46 PM
here's the email exchange I had with Doug:


HI !
Not yet but I am working on it and hope top have one spoon. It may take me a
month or so to decide what , if anything, can be done to improve it but I will
find out !
peace...Doug




Disappointing news: the top of mine has no sign of a spoon.  We will have to wait for the ACM (alternate cafeteria mod) to get this feature.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 03, 2007, 01:49:08 PM
Wonder if and when this happens, if he will mod units not purchased from him?  I know that he has done this in the past with other gear.  I would expect it to be an ACM type of mod, but it will be interesting to see what his determination will be.  Thanks Bobby for posting this.

+
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on April 03, 2007, 08:42:57 PM
How nice, Sweetwater sent candy with my order.

And yeah, if Doug does mods, I pray that he'll do ones not purchased from him.

I'll run a test tonight, then I'll use it in the field tomorrow.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Gizby on April 04, 2007, 02:35:18 AM
Alright, ran a small test, so I know it does work. A few questions.

1) I can't figure out how to set the settings for the file formats. I click on WAV or one of the 1-bit options, but I don't know how to access the screens for frequency/bit-depth. The book indicates that once I choose one, that screen will pop up.

2) I've heard talk of the BatteryGeek battery, but are there any other brands that would work?

3) Just how sensitive is this thing going to be to vibrations/being moved? In most cases I think I'd be able to set it down somewhere, but in some places it'll be small and there might be a fair amount of bass accompanied with some shaking. Also, I would hope to use this in field recording, carrying it at my side. Do you think this unit will work at all if moved any or put on its side while recording? The booklet says these things should be avoided, but I'm hoping they're just staying on the safe side.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 04, 2007, 10:09:23 AM
Alright, ran a small test, so I know it does work. A few questions.

1) I can't figure out how to set the settings for the file formats. I click on WAV or one of the 1-bit options, but I don't know how to access the screens for frequency/bit-depth. The book indicates that once I choose one, that screen will pop up.


Just use the "value" wheel to scroll down, it will go to either a kH/bit screen (if you've checked PCM) or a choice between 2.6 and 5.2 Mb/s.

I think any roughly 12 V supply with enough amp output will work.  The BatteryGeek cell is clearly overkill, but it is nice and small.

I have no field experience yet (it doesn't seem terribly delicate), will take it out for a run Friday, I plan to set up a pair of Neumann KM184s XY into a SD722 and a pair of baffled Josephson C617s into the Korg, no external preamps just the two boxes.  I have done a number of piano recitals with the Josephsons directly into the SD722, so even though this will not be  a head-to-head comparison of the two boxes it should give me some sense of how they stack up against each other.

Jeff

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on April 05, 2007, 11:42:32 AM
I am having some serious problems with converting 1bit/5.6 MHz to 16/44 for cd burning. Basically it sounds awful. Could do a whole lot better transfering via analog from the MR-1000 to a standalone cd burner. Something is very wrong with AudioGate and I will be letting Korg know it.

Anyone else having this problem?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 05, 2007, 12:31:29 PM
What is the problem?  Note that Korg DSD records up to +3 dB not 0 dB, and if you hit 3 dB in DSD you still have a good recording, but if you just convert via Audiogate to PCM without adjustment you could get clipping.  This is why AudioGate has a function to let you change gain during PCM conversion.  If what you get sounds like clipping, try running AudiGate cutting the gain by 3 dB.  I did my conversions at 24/96 and the reduction to 16/44.1 in Wavelab, because I am comfortable with Wavelab downsampling and dithering, and I don't know how AudioGate delivers here, but the few short things I did at 16/44.1 directly sound okay.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on April 05, 2007, 01:21:24 PM
What is the problem?  Note that Korg DSD records up to +3 dB not 0 dB, and if you hit 3 dB in DSD you still have a good recording, but if you just convert via Audiogate to PCM without adjustment you could get clipping.  This is why AudioGate has a function to let you change gain during PCM conversion.  If what you get sounds like clipping, try running AudiGate cutting the gain by 3 dB.  I did my conversions at 24/96 and the reduction to 16/44.1 in Wavelab, because I am comfortable with Wavelab downsampling and dithering, and I don't know how AudioGate delivers here, but the few short things I did at 16/44.1 directly sound okay.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I did reduce gain -3dB as the AudioGate suggests and it's not just the occasional clipping which I believe I am avoiding but the whole thing sounds really bad. I will try your method of converting to 24/96 with audiogate and then dither/resample with some other program like wavelab. But 16/44 shouldn't sound bad if it's not clipping. Have you been starting with 5.6MHz recordings?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 05, 2007, 02:15:24 PM
Have you been starting with 5.6MHz recordings?

I have done only 2.8 MHz, but will run 5.6 MHz tomorrow, will post my impressions over the weekend.  I'll try going directly to 16/44.1 and compare with going to 24/96 and dithering/downsampling in an editor (my early attempts with the MR-1 to go to 24/192 were defeated by the hf noise that Audiogate leaves in, which makes editing at 24/192 almost impossible, unless you go by ear alone and don't look at the waveform).

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Colin Liston on April 05, 2007, 05:50:17 PM
Are you guys reporting any of this to Korg?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 05, 2007, 11:07:03 PM
Not directly, but I understand that the hf issue has been reported to them and a new version of AudioGate has been announced for later this month.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 05, 2007, 11:58:15 PM
Matt,

Is there anyway that you might be able to post an audio clip of the affected audio?  And this occurs only when converting to 16/44.1 using audiogate?  The 1/5.6M files sound ok?  I recorded a band, Chicago Afrobeat Project, last weekend in 1/5.6M and the conversion to 16/44.1k was sounded fine.  Does the 1/5.6M file sound normal on the computer after transfer via USB?  Let us know what you find out.

+T for your troubles.

JC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on April 06, 2007, 09:20:59 AM
Matt,

Is there anyway that you might be able to post an audio clip of the affected audio?  And this occurs only when converting to 16/44.1 using audiogate?  The 1/5.6M files sound ok?  I recorded a band, Chicago Afrobeat Project, last weekend in 1/5.6M and the conversion to 16/44.1k was sounded fine.  Does the 1/5.6M file sound normal on the computer after transfer via USB?  Let us know what you find out.

+T for your troubles.

JC

Upon further analysis, I believe the problem is mainly the mic input brickwalling. And secondly the fact that 16/44 doesn't sound anything like 1-bit/5.6
The brickwalling is not very noticeable at 1-bit/5.6 but looking at the 16/44 waveform appears obvious and sounds much more distorted than at 1-bit. Not sure why. I guess I will be using an external pre most of the time now.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 07, 2007, 12:25:32 AM
Looking at my results today, I have good news and bad news, the latter in two trenches.

The good news is that this machine sounds damn good, playing back the DSD from the headphone jack, definitely great sound from a classical grand piano, in spite of the bad news, which is:

The somewhat bad news is that I can confirm Matt's findings on brickwalling.  I was using a Josephson C617 with LD caps for the grand piano, at about 6 feet away.  With low setting , the preamp overloaded (I now estimate you can't turn the volume below 10 o'clock without risking brickwalling, I had it around 8 o'clock).  The sound on playback from the MR-1000 was not awful, but converting it to wav certainly loused it up.  This may be salvageable with improvements to AudioGate, I'd hate to have to go analogue-out of the Korg to another recorder to fix it.

The really, really bad news is that in transferring the dff files to my computer I got a cyclical redundancy check error, and one file wouldn't transfer.  This is something I've seen on badly burned DVDs, never from the hard drive of a 722 or a MiniR82.  Playing that file portion back on the Korg, it burps at ~4 minutes in and repeats some measures four or five times, then gives me a hard drive busy error message.  This was during the first of three files that recorded a Brahms sonata without any operator intervention, the second and third files are fine (except for brickwalling), so I expect that most of the first file is there too, if there is some way to fix the error at ~ 4 minutes in.  Korg guy here?

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: SClassical on April 08, 2007, 12:26:16 AM
You need to PM Jerry and remind him to read what you stated. Also post it in www.korgforums.com and PM him there, too.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Colin Liston on April 08, 2007, 10:46:08 AM
You need to PM Jerry and remind him to read what you stated. Also post it in www.korgforums.com and PM him there, too.

Well after reading the Korg forums sounds like Korg jumped the gun by releasing this too soon.  How can we find out of they are working on these problems?
Jerry, can you find out if these issues are known to Korg?

For those that are interested, Korg forum link:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23233&highlight=mr1000
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on April 10, 2007, 09:41:28 AM
Looking at my results today, I have good news and bad news, the latter in two trenches.

The good news is that this machine sounds damn good, playing back the DSD from the headphone jack, definitely great sound from a classical grand piano, in spite of the bad news, which is:

The somewhat bad news is that I can confirm Matt's findings on brickwalling.  I was using a Josephson C617 with LD caps for the grand piano, at about 6 feet away.  With low setting , the preamp overloaded (I now estimate you can't turn the volume below 10 o'clock without risking brickwalling, I had it around 8 o'clock).  The sound on playback from the MR-1000 was not awful, but converting it to wav certainly loused it up.  This may be salvageable with improvements to AudioGate, I'd hate to have to go analogue-out of the Korg to another recorder to fix it.

I spoke to the engineers about the potential for brickwalling and got this info:

Quote
It seems like the output voltage of the mic fed into MR-1000 was too high and the signal was clipped in the gain amp in the input stage of MR-1000. The supply voltage of the op-amp is set to +/-6V (12Vp-p), which may have input signals above 120mV clipped.

The sensitivity of Josephson C617 is listed as 66 mV/Pa (-24dB ref 1V/Pa). It is so high compared to other mics out there, and it can exceed the clipping level of MR-1000.

Another "sensitive" mic that may cause such problem would be DPA Type 4041-SP; 65 mV/Pa (-26 dB ref 1V/Pa).

So this is about the matching up of the right gear to the specifications and performance of the recorder. Changing something in AudioGate can't help what has already been recorded with this type of problem.

Quote
The really, really bad news is that in transferring the dff files to my computer I got a cyclical redundancy check error, and one file wouldn't transfer.  This is something I've seen on badly burned DVDs, never from the hard drive of a 722 or a MiniR82.  Playing that file portion back on the Korg, it burps at ~4 minutes in and repeats some measures four or five times, then gives me a hard drive busy error message.  This was during the first of three files that recorded a Brahms sonata without any operator intervention, the second and third files are fine (except for brickwalling), so I expect that most of the first file is there too, if there is some way to fix the error at ~ 4 minutes in.  Korg guy here?

Jeff

This sounds more like a bad sector on the hard drive or some other error of that type. I'll PM you to get more info.

Regards,

Jerry
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 10, 2007, 02:13:07 PM

So this is about the matching up of the right gear to the specifications and performance of the recorder. Changing something in AudioGate can't help what has already been recorded with this type of problem.


The very odd thing is that both Matt and I, who experienced this brickwalling, are convinced that the MR-1000 playback of the DSD file sounds okay, or with only minor issues, while the pcm conversion is really ugly. 

Looking forward to your pm on the hard drive sector issue, hope this is recoverable or at least avoidable in the future with the proper magic words.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on April 10, 2007, 03:28:36 PM

So this is about the matching up of the right gear to the specifications and performance of the recorder. Changing something in AudioGate can't help what has already been recorded with this type of problem.


The very odd thing is that both Matt and I, who experienced this brickwalling, are convinced that the MR-1000 playback of the DSD file sounds okay, or with only minor issues, while the pcm conversion is really ugly. 

Looking forward to your pm on the hard drive sector issue, hope this is recoverable or at least avoidable in the future with the proper magic words.

Jeff

Don't know if this applies in particular, but noticed that working 32bit depth in software with 16/24bit depth recordings, sometimes some processes (like frequency boost, etc) amplify the signal to EXCEED 16/24bit depth if directly converted back to lower original bit depth.  I have seen converted files get clipped using CEP if not NORMALIZING to desired <16/24 bit depth FIRST BEFORE making the bit depth conversion.

In your situation if I understand these posts, the original recording is DSD with potential for VARIOUS rate AND bit depth CONVERSIONS to PCM type files.   AND your original DSD recording sounds OK BEFORE CONVERSION? 

If this is true by the two reports of hearing a good unclipped recording, but then gets clipped upon file conversion, then it seems to me your conversion software may have a bad WORKFLOW scheme or something needs to be added to it for conversions to not get clipped? 
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: MattH on April 10, 2007, 04:12:42 PM
Looking at my results today, I have good news and bad news, the latter in two trenches.

The good news is that this machine sounds damn good, playing back the DSD from the headphone jack, definitely great sound from a classical grand piano, in spite of the bad news, which is:

The somewhat bad news is that I can confirm Matt's findings on brickwalling.  I was using a Josephson C617 with LD caps for the grand piano, at about 6 feet away.  With low setting , the preamp overloaded (I now estimate you can't turn the volume below 10 o'clock without risking brickwalling, I had it around 8 o'clock).  The sound on playback from the MR-1000 was not awful, but converting it to wav certainly loused it up.  This may be salvageable with improvements to AudioGate, I'd hate to have to go analogue-out of the Korg to another recorder to fix it.

I spoke to the engineers about the potential for brickwalling and got this info:

Quote
It seems like the output voltage of the mic fed into MR-1000 was too high and the signal was clipped in the gain amp in the input stage of MR-1000. The supply voltage of the op-amp is set to +/-6V (12Vp-p), which may have input signals above 120mV clipped.

The sensitivity of Josephson C617 is listed as 66 mV/Pa (-24dB ref 1V/Pa). It is so high compared to other mics out there, and it can exceed the clipping level of MR-1000.

Another "sensitive" mic that may cause such problem would be DPA Type 4041-SP; 65 mV/Pa (-26 dB ref 1V/Pa).

So this is about the matching up of the right gear to the specifications and performance of the recorder. Changing something in AudioGate can't help what has already been recorded with this type of problem.

Quote
The really, really bad news is that in transferring the dff files to my computer I got a cyclical redundancy check error, and one file wouldn't transfer.  This is something I've seen on badly burned DVDs, never from the hard drive of a 722 or a MiniR82.  Playing that file portion back on the Korg, it burps at ~4 minutes in and repeats some measures four or five times, then gives me a hard drive busy error message.  This was during the first of three files that recorded a Brahms sonata without any operator intervention, the second and third files are fine (except for brickwalling), so I expect that most of the first file is there too, if there is some way to fix the error at ~ 4 minutes in.  Korg guy here?

Jeff

This sounds more like a bad sector on the hard drive or some other error of that type. I'll PM you to get more info.

Regards,

Jerry

Sure, a few mics are very sensitive and could produce clipping at relatively low SPL's. I think the problem here is most mics may produce MR-1000 clipping at relatively high SPL's which is a big problem for loud PA taping without an external preamp.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 10, 2007, 04:26:41 PM
[

In your situation if I understand these posts, the original recording is DSD with potential for VARIOUS rate AND bit depth CONVERSIONS to PCM type files.   AND your original DSD recording sounds OK BEFORE CONVERSION? 

If this is true by the two reports of hearing a good unclipped recording, but then gets clipped upon file conversion, then it seems to me your conversion software may have a bad WORKFLOW scheme or something needs to be added to it for conversions to not get clipped? 

The preamp overload certainly happened, I could see the meter maxing out at -6 dB, but when I listened to the DSD playback on the MR-1000 with headphones I breathed a sigh of relief as the damage didn't seem too bad, but I wouldn't say it sounded "OK" as in "perfect". I was also taping with a 722 and Neumann mics, and the 722 meters showed that things only went max maybe 3-4 dB higher than the brickwall.  It's only on conversion to pcm (I tried 16/44.1 and 24/96) that it sounded really ugly.  That sounded much like what Matt described.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on April 10, 2007, 10:25:22 PM
[

In your situation if I understand these posts, the original recording is DSD with potential for VARIOUS rate AND bit depth CONVERSIONS to PCM type files.   AND your original DSD recording sounds OK BEFORE CONVERSION? 

If this is true by the two reports of hearing a good unclipped recording, but then gets clipped upon file conversion, then it seems to me your conversion software may have a bad WORKFLOW scheme or something needs to be added to it for conversions to not get clipped? 

The preamp overload certainly happened, I could see the meter maxing out at -6 dB, but when I listened to the DSD playback on the MR-1000 with headphones I breathed a sigh of relief as the damage didn't seem too bad, but I wouldn't say it sounded "OK" as in "perfect". I was also taping with a 722 and Neumann mics, and the 722 meters showed that things only went max maybe 3-4 dB higher than the brickwall.  It's only on conversion to pcm (I tried 16/44.1 and 24/96) that it sounded really ugly.  That sounded much like what Matt described.

Jeff

Seems to me by your impressions listening to the raw DSD on the deck there's ADDITIONAL headroom maybe even above 0 dBm where clipping doesn't occur, and who had done tests to verify the accuracy of the VU indication?  No tests of this kind have been done on MR-1 or 1000 as far as I know, even with several here suggesting somebody do this. 

Also, maybe some DSD 'headroom' is LOST when converted to PCM.  Does Audiogate software have a feature to AMPLIFY by -3 to -6 dB?   

Maybe try this if hearing clipping on converted files or maybe you've 'pushed' recording levels using inaccurate VU indications (pushing levels seems NOT so needed with 24bit/DSD recording modes) so DSD to PCM conversions are well inside 'clipped' maximums; then listen to the converted to PCM files for sounding more like DSD original did on the deck.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 10, 2007, 11:08:34 PM
Clipping is another issue, it is indicated that you get 3 dB more headroom in DSD and if you use it you have to take the conversion to pcm down by -3 dB, which is possible in AudioGate.  But I was not clipping, far from it.  The meters never went above -6 dB because they were brickwalled there, even if not by a whole lot.  Taking levels down 3 dB in DSD-to-pcm just produces a brickwalled pcm at -9 dB.  So I don't understand why the brickwalling sounds worse in pcm (all resolutions I've tried) than on the MR-1000 playback.   Maybe it's an illusion from my playback equipment.  What I'll try next is analog-out from the MR-1000 to my SD722, and burn a CD with 1) the Audiogate pcm'ed version of the file and 2) the 722 recording of what I hear on the MR-1000, and play those back on the same setup.  Only if they sound different then will I be sure there's an issue here.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on April 11, 2007, 06:17:57 AM
Clipping is another issue, it is indicated that you get 3 dB more headroom in DSD and if you use it you have to take the conversion to pcm down by -3 dB, which is possible in AudioGate.  But I was not clipping, far from it.  The meters never went above -6 dB because they were brickwalled there, even if not by a whole lot.  Taking levels down 3 dB in DSD-to-pcm just produces a brickwalled pcm at -9 dB.  So I don't understand why the brickwalling sounds worse in pcm (all resolutions I've tried) than on the MR-1000 playback.   Maybe it's an illusion from my playback equipment.  What I'll try next is analog-out from the MR-1000 to my SD722, and burn a CD with 1) the Audiogate pcm'ed version of the file and 2) the 722 recording of what I hear on the MR-1000, and play those back on the same setup.  Only if they sound different then will I be sure there's an issue here.

Jeff

You may be dealing with two clipping problems, one from first stage analog overload during recording, and later with additional clipping from conversion process that made the converted file sound even worse?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 11, 2007, 07:51:11 AM
how about running a pad on the deck ?
does it have one ?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 11, 2007, 08:07:46 AM
The MR-1000 has a limiter switch plus the high and low gain settings.

From reading Jeff and Matt's posts (and Jerrys fwiw),  until someone wants to do a 'ACM' style mod [cough]Doug[/cough] the MR-1000 is not going to be a very reliable 1-box-solution.  I'm happy with the V2 in front of the MR-1000, it sounds excellent, but it'd be even cooler if it was a viable 1-box-soln.

From Jerry's post, 'it's designed the way it's designed and you haven't found the right microphone to use with the deck'. pptttthhhhbbbb.  No problem with the deck, just the mics are too sensitive.  Where do I enroll my MR-1000 for sensitivity traning?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 11, 2007, 09:07:16 AM

From Jerry's post, 'it's designed the way it's designed and you haven't found the right microphone to use with the deck'. pptttthhhhbbbb.  No problem with the deck, just the mics are too sensitive.  Where do I enroll my MR-1000 for sensitivity traning?

Yeah, I had that thought too, but I lived happily with the Sony M1 for many years, first attenuating the signal from DPA4060s, then using the MMA6000, so I can live with the sensitivity issue now that I know it's there.  And I assume there will be mods for the Korg box that will fix the preamp (as mentioned, there is no pad on the Korg input, and the Josephsons don't have one either, my AKG has a 10 dB pad but that may not be enough).  I am waiting for Jerry's pm on the hard drive error issue, that is more of a killer for me, if it can be reliably fixed forever I am hooked on the Korg.

Jeff 
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 11, 2007, 09:09:54 AM
I am waiting for Jerry's pm on the hard drive error issue, that is more of a killer for me, if it can be reliably fixed forever I am hooked on the Korg.

Jeff 

Word!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on April 11, 2007, 02:42:53 PM
The MR-1000 has a limiter switch plus the high and low gain settings.

I think the high/low gain switch is only for the TRS line in, not the mic in. Lack of a -10db pad
for the mic input is a real oversite though.

I'm using primarily an LSD2 mic with the mr-1000 which fortunately has a -10db pad built
in. It's sensitivity is 12mV/Pa=-38dB(0dB=1V/Pa), which doesn't sound as high as the Josephon's
66mV/pa cited as being problematic. Hopefully I'm covered, but only experience in the real world will
tell for sure.

Still haven't had time to give this setup a real workout though. Got a 5.6mhz recording
the other day (sounds awesome!) but haven't had a chance to convert it to PCM to see
if I'm affected by the noise filtering issue. I'll do some more test this week and will hopefully have
a report to give soon.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 11, 2007, 02:58:16 PM

I think the high/low gain switch is only for the TRS line in, not the mic in.


That's what a reading of the manual would suggest, but it seemed too wacky to me so I tried flipping the switch with a mic plugged in (XLR) and the levels jumped.  I ran the Josephsons with the switch at low position and got brickwalling, at the high position it would have really been a mess.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on April 11, 2007, 03:03:58 PM

I think the high/low gain switch is only for the TRS line in, not the mic in.


That's what a reading of the manual would suggest, but it seemed too wacky to me so I tried flipping the switch with a mic plugged in (XLR) and the levels jumped.  I ran the Josephsons with the switch at low position and got brickwalling, at the high position it would have really been a mess.

Jeff

Jeff,

Was it just a momentary glitch when you switched L/H, which could happen since line and mic
probably share the same ground, or were the levels indeed higher with the gain switch set high?
I'll experiment tonight.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 11, 2007, 03:15:26 PM
I just checked, feeding a phantom powered AT835ST mic in XLR and running the same wav through my computer speakers.  The high setting rings the meters on the MR-1000 around 15 dB higher than under the low setting, everything else staying equal.

Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on April 11, 2007, 03:19:24 PM
I just checked, feeding a phantom powered AT835ST mic in XLR and running the same wav through my computer speakers.  The high setting rings the meters on the MR-1000 around 15 dB higher than under the low setting, everything else staying equal.

Jeff

This is good info to know, thanks Jeff. Sounds like they need to update the manual.
Mandoman

PS. Hey, I just realized I crossed the 50 post mark and can now give tickets!
+T for your efforts :-)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on April 13, 2007, 05:45:44 PM
So I've recorded a couple of band rehearsals now on the mr-1000 and played
a bit with the software.

Setup on the unit is easy. I'll bitch about the case again - you have to take it
out of the case to use it with a power supply and to get at the switches on the back.
Minor quibble. Another annoyance is the gain, phantom power, and limiter switches
are super tiny. They feel sort of fragile. Since I try and make sure to turn off the phantom
power before connecting/unconnecting the mics, I'm worried these might go
out prematurely. Wish they put bigger and more heavy duty switches on there.

The unit boots up super quick (unlike the gawd-awful MT I had previously). Hitting
record puts it into record-pause mode where you can set levels before hitting
play. Menus are easy to navigate and intuitive. I like the feel of the buttons.
Display is easy to read and there are bright red clip indicators. The gain and
headphone volume knobs are a little small, but just the right amount of stiffness
in them so it'd be hard to accidentally move them. What I don't get is why those
knobs protrude a little past the metal flanges on the left and right which I assume
are there to protect the front panel as well as to loop a shoulder strap through.

I record with an LSD2 mic that I usually place just in front of the band. I try and
capture the un-mic'd drums, monitors, and back fill amps evenly. I get pretty
good results this way. Stage volume is not too loud, not as loud as a live concert
most on this board are accustomed to recording.

Recording in this manner with the -10db pad on the mic OFF I have to have the gain set
pretty low on the unit, around 9-10o'clock to prevent clipping. The l/h gain switch
is set to low, and I have confirmed this does in fact affect the mic gain.
So I can confirm that an ACM, external attenuators or pre is needed with this unit.
I should be able to squeek by with the -10db attenuator on my LSD2 for most
of my applications. I sometimes run AT4051s that don't have pads,
so I would still very much welcome an OADE mode, and hope Doug will
allow us early adopters to get modded if he does chose to offer one eventually.

I've done two recordings on the unit so far. First was WSD/DFF/5.6Mhz. The results
are pretty amazing. First reactions from my band mates listening to these recordings
were 'warm' and 'clear'. Very detailed, no brittleness at all. No audible noise at all.
I am very happy with the results.

I converted the first recording to 24bit/44.1 with the included audiogate software.
~2x real time to convert. Transfer to my g4 mac was pretty quick. This is a little
better than I thought it would be. The AG software is simple and intuitive with
the basics to combine/split/convert tracks. The resulting conversions still sounds pretty
sweet.

Second recording I recorded straight to 24/44.1 on the unit itself. I had the gain set
just a hair lower since PCM can't handle overs as gracefully as DSD. The sound
is still excellent, but as you'd expect, not quite as good as the DSD recording.
I would say the PCM A/D is very good on this unit, but not quite as good as those
on my 400f (akm converters). Still leagues better than the microtrack and h120
though. I would love to hear others opinions how they compare to 671/hdp2/722,
though. I'm guessing for PCM recording we're in the same ballpark as those
units in terms of A/D.

I imported both recordings into Digital Performer and the waveforms looked ok.
They appeared a little close to brickwalling though, so again, an ACM mod would be nice.
The pre's themselves sounds good though. I would describe them as clean and
transparant, with little to no personality to them - not sure how you'd improve them except to lower their sensitivity a bit. Those folks that like a little more 'character'
in their pre's are probably running grace/apogee anyway.

I've got to say, both recordings came out pretty damn good. The unit seems very
reliable. Absolutely no issues with setup, the recording itself, transfer to computer,
or conversion. We're talking a night and day different experience to that
POS MT I owned previously. Overall I'm a very happy camper.

Next test will be to try the unit with a pre in front of it (onyx mixer). I expect equally
favorable results there, maybe even better since I'll have a little more degree of control
on the gain.

So far (out of 10):
Ease of Use: 10
Reliability: 9
Mic Pre: 7 (ACM mod please!)
PCM A/D: 9
DSD A/D: 10



Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on April 14, 2007, 04:15:13 PM
From Jerry's post, 'it's designed the way it's designed and you haven't found the right microphone to use with the deck'. pptttthhhhbbbb.  No problem with the deck, just the mics are too sensitive.  Where do I enroll my MR-1000 for sensitivity traning?

LOL, are you saying the MR-1000, or me?

:-)

I didn't mean to come off insensitive, but the unit's hardware is already designed, right? So it "is what it is" and by bringing the specs into better focus, which you have all helped us to do, we can use that info the help users to either:

- find the best match

- use/mod other equipment to help it to match better

I'm finding a lot of qualified people here on the board, and they are helping others and myself to learn more about things. Thanks for that.

Regards,

Jerry
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: newblue on April 14, 2007, 08:06:31 PM
Jerry, I don't mean any offense by that.  Forgive me if you read it this way.  The sensitivity statment was in regards to the MR-1000 based on the mic pres being so sensitive, not you.   ;D

The design of the deck is great in my opinion and have had wonderful sucess with it so far.  I never was looking at this as a one box soln, as I have an external mic pre that I would use anyway.

Thanks for all your help and support and keeping an eye out over here for how the reviews are going.

JC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 18, 2007, 01:34:50 PM
What I'll try next is analog-out from the MR-1000 to my SD722, and burn a CD with 1) the Audiogate pcm'ed version of the file and 2) the 722 recording of what I hear on the MR-1000, and play those back on the same setup.  Only if they sound different then will I be sure there's an issue here.

Very curious about the outcome of that test.


I compared the DSD reduced to 44/16 in AudioGate to a recording made via the RCA analog outs on the MR-1000 into an Alesis Masterlink at 44/16.  In both cases you can hear the (not extreme) brickwalling.  The analog-out recording strikes me subjectively as a bit brighter, but both waveforms get hosed above the -6dB where the preamp brickwalled.  So the difference I heard must be just my CD playback system being more "revealing" than the MR-1000 playback.  Anyway THAT overloading won't happen again.  On the other issue, Jerry did pm me with the suggestion that I had a bad hard drive sector, I have now reformatted and am hoping it doesn't occur again.

Jeff
Jeff
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000 ~ question for Jerry
Post by: pesciolino on April 18, 2007, 03:00:26 PM
Hi Jerry,

I got my MR-1000 a few weeks ago and have been enjoying it greatly. I've been interested in DSD/SACD since the late 90s when i heard a demonstration by Sony's David Kawakami at an AES show; i also appreciate DSD's 1-bit "elegant zen-like philosophy" of recording.

So I have a question for you...

Wouldn't it be *theoretically* possible to link multiple MR-1000s through the USB port to allow for synched multi-track 1-bit recording and playback??? (firmware)

This would be a very very very good thing!

Thanks!
James
NYC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on April 23, 2007, 09:36:10 AM
So has anyone been able to answer the question of how good this sounds compared to a 671? I realize it sounds great in DSD but once you dither it down to 24 bit how is the sound? Seems like there are still some bugs with this unit & I would be better off buying a 671 while Korg fixes these issues? So the question is since we can't listen to DSD on playback without using the unit. Once dithered down to 24 bit for DVD-A playback is it better to use a typical 24 bit bucket or the MR-1000?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 24, 2007, 07:33:12 AM
Master HIGH
listen LOW

its all good Carl.
listening to the DSD files is a treat, and I like that a lot.  but honestly, the DSD>Redbook files are VERY enjoyable.  shit, you've heard them here, didn't suck did it?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on April 24, 2007, 09:07:43 AM
Master HIGH
listen LOW

its all good Carl.
listening to the DSD files is a treat, and I like that a lot.  but honestly, the DSD>Redbook files are VERY enjoyable.  shit, you've heard them here, didn't suck did it?


Don't worry, I agree, it's also why I am sure I will order a new MR-1000 this week  >:D
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Swanny on April 24, 2007, 11:49:41 AM
Can you link two of these for four track recording? I wonder if there would be drift if not linked.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: baustin on April 24, 2007, 02:08:01 PM
does the mr-1000 have digital inputs?

i see mytek is now now offering DSD firmware on some of their units ( http://www.mytekdigital.com/dsd/index.htm ). theoretically, one DSD converter should 'sound' like the next, correct?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: kskreider on April 24, 2007, 03:12:03 PM
does the mr-1000 have digital inputs?

No.  What we know of as 'digital in/out' is PCM.  The Korg's are DSD.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: muj on April 24, 2007, 04:52:31 PM
Dear Jerry...

can we expect a 8 channel rackmount recorder with DSD digital interface in the near future?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 24, 2007, 05:05:15 PM
does the mr-1000 have digital inputs?

No.  What we know of as 'digital in/out' is PCM.  The Korg's are DSD.

while this is true...there are DSD transports and DSD DACs out there that run proprietary digital cables.
Sony XAC9100 > STR-DA7100 for example.  thats the cheapest way to do it.  (at around $5k new...I think?) the next up are dCS and Meitner, but you're into the 10-20k range for a new rig there.
and then i'm sure there are digital consoles that can take a DSD signal from some outboard DSD ADC.
ohhhh, how I wish there was a way to play DSD "on the cheap".
I've even contemplated snagging one of them tascam rack mount jobies w/a fat HDD in it and using it solely for a jukebox.

I brought up this thread on rec.audio.pro, asking for the best way to listen to DSD masters.  the million responses I got were useless. "convert it to redbook stupid, you can't tell the difference anyway"..was the most common (and polite) response I received.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on April 24, 2007, 05:52:27 PM
Well I am a sucker, I ordered my MR-1000 last night. Let's hope some of these issues get addressed in a timely manner.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on April 24, 2007, 10:58:22 PM
No problem - I was just joking - I didn't take any offense. We can enjoy our time here, not always being so serious, right?

:-)

regards,

Jerry

Jerry, I don't mean any offense by that.  Forgive me if you read it this way.  The sensitivity statment was in regards to the MR-1000 based on the mic pres being so sensitive, not you.   ;D

The design of the deck is great in my opinion and have had wonderful sucess with it so far.  I never was looking at this as a one box soln, as I have an external mic pre that I would use anyway.

Thanks for all your help and support and keeping an eye out over here for how the reviews are going.

JC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000 ~ question for Jerry
Post by: jerrythek on April 24, 2007, 11:00:21 PM
The USB port couldn't do this - it allows te internal hard drive to be mounted as a "class storage device" but it could not be both a master on one device and a slave on another.

Sorry. But having this type of feature in future products would be a good idea, I agree.

Regards,

Jerry

So I have a question for you...

Wouldn't it be *theoretically* possible to link multiple MR-1000s through the USB port to allow for synched multi-track 1-bit recording and playback??? (firmware)

This would be a very very very good thing!

Thanks!
James
NYC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on April 24, 2007, 11:01:45 PM
Dear Jerry...

can we expect a 8 channel rackmount recorder with DSD digital interface in the near future?

You'll learn that I'll never answer these types of questions. I can't talk about future plans etc. But I will always listen and pay attention to your wants/needs/requests.

OK?

regards,

Jerry
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 25, 2007, 07:21:02 AM
ok then.
an SACD authoring software package.
:)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: WiFiJeff on April 25, 2007, 11:37:41 AM
ok then.
an SACD authoring software package.
:)

Yes, and then a burner and some blank disks too if you don't mind.

Jeff (dreaming)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000 ~ question for Jerry
Post by: pesciolino on April 25, 2007, 01:20:59 PM
Hmm.

How about a new accessory device with usb ports that would act as a master control + master clock for multiple units ~ so the usb ports of those multiple units would all be slaves.

Possible???

 ;D


The USB port couldn't do this - it allows te internal hard drive to be mounted as a "class storage device" but it could not be both a master on one device and a slave on another.

Sorry. But having this type of feature in future products would be a good idea, I agree.

Regards,

Jerry

So I have a question for you...

Wouldn't it be *theoretically* possible to link multiple MR-1000s through the USB port to allow for synched multi-track 1-bit recording and playback??? (firmware)

This would be a very very very good thing!

Thanks!
James
NYC
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 25, 2007, 04:36:36 PM
what is it w/you guys and multi-tracking?
the 744 has rotted your brain.

two chan is where its at folks.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: muj on April 25, 2007, 04:59:53 PM
what is it w/you guys and multi-tracking?
the 744 has rotted your brain.

two chan is where its at folks.


multitracking for surround and mixing!hell yeah >:D
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on April 25, 2007, 05:36:06 PM
I personally prefer 2 channel recording, I attribute it to my two channel play back system. I also can see some need for four channels but if you decide to record at four channels ( IMO ) you better have a four channel playback system worthy of reproducing what you captured. It is just like home stereo equipment, I would rather have a high end 2 channel system then spending the same amount of money on a lower budget four channel system.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Stagger on April 25, 2007, 06:51:17 PM
Well I am a sucker, I ordered my MR-1000 last night. Let's hope some of these issues get addressed in a timely manner.


Yes, you are.... I haven't even had a chance to start looking for a PSP2 for you... You are still buying the pre beeotch  >:D
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on April 25, 2007, 07:12:11 PM
Excellent find one for me then it will be in DSD biotch :)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 25, 2007, 10:05:44 PM
something, to flatten that shrill ass high end on the c34
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Colin Liston on April 26, 2007, 12:56:14 AM
what is it w/you guys and multi-tracking?
the 744 has rotted your brain.

two chan is where its at folks.

Exactly, 4 channels for me = bad tape.  I have enough trouble getting a complete tape with 2 channels.  I'd have to quit drinking to run 4 channels, and I'm not ready to give that up yet.

Little Feat tonight...gefell 210 > V3 > 20db atten > Korg MR-1.  I need some critical listeners.  Anyone want to hear this in 1 bit 2.8?  PM me.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on April 26, 2007, 08:14:29 PM
Hi Jerry,

As you are taking suggestions, I would love to see the ability to mount an external USB HDD onto
the MR-1000. This could serve several functions:

1) Direct backup from MR-1000 HDD to external USB HDD w/o a computer.

2) Direct record from MR-1000 to external USB HDD in situations where you need
extra recording time beyond the internal 40gb hdd limit.

3) Direct playback of DSD files from the external USB HDD on the MR-1000.

I see #3 as the most important feature. With no other 'affordable' way to play DSD files
natively except on the unit itself and the fact that these DSD files are so large,
this would be a simple and effective way to play all of your DSD recordings off one huge external HDD
connected directly to the MR-1000.

Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on April 27, 2007, 07:12:14 AM
agreed.
playback is the the part that is needed mostly.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 04, 2007, 07:41:10 AM
So I have my deck, ordered from Sweetwater. This thing is VERY nice, I am very impressed with it. Now all I need is a few shows to get it broken in with. Of course I am so excited & there isn't anything worth recording for a month at least  >:(

I also ordered a set of 2600 mah AA's with a charger, I already have the Battery Geek 10-14-88 for long festivals. As long as the AA's get me through a normal show I am happy as can be. When I get them I will do some testing to be sure but I am sure they will be fine.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 04, 2007, 02:10:22 PM
I also ordered a set of 2600 mah AA's with a charger, I already have the Battery Geek 10-14-88 for long festivals. As long as the AA's get me through a normal show I am happy as can be. When I get them I will do some testing to be sure but I am sure they will be fine.

Congrats on your mr-1000 purchase, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine!

Which charger and batteries did you order? I'm looking for an 8 bay AA charger and batteries for my mr1000.
For the charger, on the cheap I'm looking at the Rayovac universal charger. It's a 'slow' charger,
nothing special. On the high-end, I'm considering a Maha MH-C801D or MH-C808M.
On the batteries I was thinking powerex 2700mah's.

Thanks,
Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 04, 2007, 02:25:07 PM
I also ordered a set of 2600 mah AA's with a charger, I already have the Battery Geek 10-14-88 for long festivals. As long as the AA's get me through a normal show I am happy as can be. When I get them I will do some testing to be sure but I am sure they will be fine.

Congrats on your mr-1000 purchase, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine!

Which charger and batteries did you order? I'm looking for an 8 bay AA charger and batteries for my mr1000.
For the charger, on the cheap I'm looking at the Rayovac universal charger. It's a 'slow' charger,
nothing special. On the high-end, I'm considering a Maha MH-C801D or MH-C808M.
On the batteries I was thinking powerex 2700mah's.

Thanks,
Mandoman


I did a web search & found the company with the deal listed below. No idea on the quality yet but I will have them by early next week.

http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=847
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 04, 2007, 02:38:15 PM

[/quote]

I did a web search & found the company with the deal listed below. No idea on the quality yet but I will have them by early next week.

http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=847
[/quote]

Thanks for the pointer, I will consider this one...

+T
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: bobbygeeWOW on May 04, 2007, 03:42:26 PM
I bought a PowerEx MH-C801D that I'm pretty satisfied with.
Does conditioning, slow and fast charging for one to eight AA batteries.
Its not a LaCrosse but suits me well enuff.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 04, 2007, 04:30:15 PM
I bought a PowerEx MH-C801D that I'm pretty satisfied with.
Does conditioning, slow and fast charging for one to eight AA batteries.
Its not a LaCrosse but suits me well enuff.

Thanks. That one is at the top of my list. $70 though so I still might go cheap...

+T
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on May 05, 2007, 07:52:06 AM
i've got the 4 cell lacross...
best charger i've ever owned.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 08, 2007, 02:49:04 PM
i've got the 4 cell lacross...
best charger i've ever owned.

The 4 cell lacross is sweet and would have been my first choice if I didn't want an
8-cell since the mr-1000 takes 8 AA's. Since I won't be running the mr-1000 on batteries too often,
I decided to go cheap and went with Carl's recommendation instead of the Maha (>2x price diff). Ordered, should
get it this week.

Thanks for the recommendations!
Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 08, 2007, 10:14:49 PM
I am pleased with the quality of everything I received, I don't know the long term but I did two reconditioning cycles & tested them for 4 hours with the backlight & phantom on.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 14, 2007, 08:49:16 PM
So I'm out at my first real show last night with the MR-1000 and get an error message about 5 minutes into the first song. "Disk too busy". I restart recording at the beginning of the second song and no problem for the rest of the 2 hour set. It could have been vibrations as I was taping side stage mixing a stage pair and soundboard. I'm hoping it was some fluke which will never happen again but I am very concerned that it happened at all. I never got the HDD Slow message on my R4 taping in this same spot or anywhere else for that matter.

Try again tonight.


Dang, my first issue with the mr-1000. I too got 'Disk too busy'. I restarted the recording and seemed to run ok.
After a song or two I placed a folded up jacket underneath the unit assuming vibrations was the cause.

Listening back, I've got skipping until I placed the jacket underneath. Mostly ok the rest of the show until
near the end when I got more skipping in the recording...

The unit was positioned on stage fairly close to the drummer and a stage monitor, although we
are not that loud a band at all and I've done multi-tracking in a similar position with no such HDD issues...

So I believe the mr-1000 HDD is overly sensitive to vibrations. Dang-nabbit!

So we need better shock absorbing for the HDD... Jerry, are you listening? Someone else reported this
issue as well.

Anyone else have this issue with a solution? Seems like a shock absorbing case is going to be needed here
and/or better gromits inside.

Thanks,
Mandoman

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: e.heman on May 15, 2007, 09:05:25 AM
So I'm out at my first real show last night with the MR-1000 and get an error message about 5 minutes into the first song. "Disk too busy". I restart recording at the beginning of the second song and no problem for the rest of the 2 hour set. It could have been vibrations as I was taping side stage mixing a stage pair and soundboard. I'm hoping it was some fluke which will never happen again but I am very concerned that it happened at all. I never got the HDD Slow message on my R4 taping in this same spot or anywhere else for that matter.

Try again tonight.


Dang, my first issue with the mr-1000. I too got 'Disk too busy'. I restarted the recording and seemed to run ok.
After a song or two I placed a folded up jacket underneath the unit assuming vibrations was the cause.

Listening back, I've got skipping until I placed the jacket underneath. Mostly ok the rest of the show until
near the end when I got more skipping in the recording...

The unit was positioned on stage fairly close to the drummer and a stage monitor, although we
are not that loud a band at all and I've done multi-tracking in a similar position with no such HDD issues...

So I believe the mr-1000 HDD is overly sensitive to vibrations. Dang-nabbit!

So we need better shock absorbing for the HDD... Jerry, are you listening? Someone else reported this
issue as well.

Anyone else have this issue with a solution? Seems like a shock absorbing case is going to be needed here
and/or better gromits inside.

Thanks,
Mandoman


I had the same issue. I went back to the shop we put on the new fimware 1.5.0 and formatted afterwards the HDD. I have been testing now 2 times for 7 hours (radio over line in) Found no problems until now.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on May 15, 2007, 11:52:33 AM
Wonder if the MR-1 has similar over sensitivity to vibration issues.  If not, then wonder what's right about the MR-1, and not so right about the MR-1000?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 15, 2007, 12:12:24 PM
I think anything with a HDD will have this problem. My thoughts are to keep the deck in a suspension bag & away from stage monitors. 
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 15, 2007, 12:42:54 PM
I honestly feel the 722 does an exceptional job as a hard drive recorder but that is not the norm. Most any drive should be isolated to prevent errors IMO. I just bought a MR-1000 but honestly I wouldn't be super surprised if I get a disc error. I had them in the past & they suck. The only way to fix it was to switch to CF cards. Unfortunately witg the file size of DSD that is out of the question at the moment. Hopefully Korg will take a page out of sound devices page & address the short comings of this box.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on May 15, 2007, 12:45:52 PM
I wonder if maybe the 1.8" HDDs are more susceptible to vibration problems?

Doesn't Sound Devices use standard 2.5" HDDs?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 15, 2007, 12:53:24 PM
Maybe but my i-pod seems to do a great job against shock.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 15, 2007, 01:11:16 PM
Exactly! Reading vs writing.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on May 16, 2007, 06:33:11 AM
I think anything with a HDD will have this problem. My thoughts are to keep the deck in a suspension bag & away from stage monitors. 

Sure there's a liability for HD being susceptible at least while writing, but seems the MR-1000 is showing to be way too susceptible. 

I'd guess either there is a hard drive being used inside that is not the best for this application, and/or the drive is mounted in the center of a flexible board with too little support (the trampoline effect) that amplifies vibrations of all kinds. 

If the board IS found to be not suspended, suspect there's a support connection to the outer case cover, and it's this cover not having stiffeners molded in that's way too flexible acting like a sounding board that again amplifies vibrations. 

In short, there's maybe the wrong HD make of HD inside, AND likely poor mechanical support for the board and/or the outer case. 

Putting a jacket under the deck IS NOT normally needed for hard drive decks having good HD and adequate mechanical design.

Making up excuses for Korg is not going to help sort out this shortcoming with a fix in future models..
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 16, 2007, 07:31:59 AM
Nope, I am not making up excuses for Korg. I think this needs to be addressed & I will be disapointed if Jerry does not chime in on this one. With all that being said, it is the nature of the beast with hard drives in that environment. I of course want the Korg to be bulletproof, especially since I own one but I have a wait & see attitude. Trust me as soon as I have one failure I am going to be bullshit & probably sell the thing but right now I am trying to be reasonable  8)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on May 16, 2007, 07:55:42 AM
Carl...remember the time spent w/the R4, in all the various environments....not one drive error at any resolution.
the PCMCIA HDDs used in the FR2 don't count.  they are total POS's.  My MR1 seems to be holding up fine..and i've run that right at the foot of the PA at the church at least twice that I can think of. 

I bet your deck will be fine in the settings we normally find ourselves in.  Plus...the suspended gear bag will help.

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on May 16, 2007, 06:05:44 PM
I'm about to pick one of these up and found them at a VERY nice price.  Anyone here on the fence who might be looking for one?

PM me if so.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: flintstone on May 16, 2007, 09:42:16 PM
At the recent NAB show, staff at the Korg booth said
the MR-1000 is selling for less than $1000, even close
to $900, from Korg's retailers.  I haven't found any
that low, but don't accept the advertised price of
$1200 as the final word.  Ask for a discount!

Flintstone
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 16, 2007, 09:51:32 PM
So glad to hear I paid full retail for mine  ::)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Colin Liston on May 16, 2007, 09:55:09 PM
At the recent NAB show, staff at the Korg booth said
the MR-1000 is selling for less than $1000, even close
to $900, from Korg's retailers.  I haven't found any
that low, but don't accept the advertised price of
$1200 as the final word.  Ask for a discount!

Flintstone

Could this possibly mean a new model is coming out soon?  Maybe one with a hold button? ::)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on May 17, 2007, 07:05:33 AM
i know what you mean.  my mr1 has depreciated well over 100 due to price drops.
:(
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: rokpunk on May 17, 2007, 07:35:43 AM
i predict the price on these will drop even further due to the low dealer cost on these.
neat lookin' unit, though.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on May 17, 2007, 09:02:16 AM
My wish list includes a deck with BOTH hard drive AND flash card RECORDING ability. 

This is where recording can be selected to ONLY write to flash card for additional reliability/battery run time, AND then have ability to BACKUP the lower capacity flash card to the huge capacity hard drive LATER when adequate power and vibration free mechanical stability is more assured.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on May 17, 2007, 09:12:39 AM
At the recent NAB show, staff at the Korg booth said
the MR-1000 is selling for less than $1000, even close
to $900, from Korg's retailers.  I haven't found any
that low, but don't accept the advertised price of
$1200 as the final word.  Ask for a discount!

Flintstone

I'm not sure where you got that impression, I was one of the two staff members at the NAB show.

The list price/full retail for the MR-1000 is $1,499. I see it regularly advertised for around $1,199. No dealer is going to be selling it as low as $900, there must have been some confusion/misunderstanding.

Regards,

Jerry
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: jerrythek on May 17, 2007, 09:28:13 AM

Dang, my first issue with the mr-1000. I too got 'Disk too busy'. I restarted the recording and seemed to run ok.
After a song or two I placed a folded up jacket underneath the unit assuming vibrations was the cause.

Listening back, I've got skipping until I placed the jacket underneath. Mostly ok the rest of the show until
near the end when I got more skipping in the recording...

The unit was positioned on stage fairly close to the drummer and a stage monitor, although we
are not that loud a band at all and I've done multi-tracking in a similar position with no such HDD issues...

So I believe the mr-1000 HDD is overly sensitive to vibrations. Dang-nabbit!

So we need better shock absorbing for the HDD... Jerry, are you listening? Someone else reported this
issue as well.

Anyone else have this issue with a solution? Seems like a shock absorbing case is going to be needed here
and/or better gromits inside.

Thanks,
Mandoman



OK, I've here - I don't chekc in every day so I'm sorry you were waiting for me.

I see a lot of assumptions going on here, let's try to cut to what we actually know. I checked with the engineers and this "Disk Too Busy" may actually be part of a pre-1.50 bug, and not related to vibration. It seems we had received some reports about this and it was fixed in 1.50. I just heard back from them and the people who reported the problem have now reported that it has gone away with the new OS. So I'd ask you to first update and then check things out and report back here.

We chose the 1.8" drives specifically because they are more resistant to vibration as compared to 2.5" and other drive formats. And we mounted the HDD with anti-shock material called Sorbothane to enhance the tolerance. So while we cannot guarantee no shock/vibration issues with a device that uses a moving drive, we feel that this software fix is actually the issue, and not a mechanical one. Let's all confirm together, OK?

regards,

Jerry

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on May 17, 2007, 11:26:23 AM

OK, I've here - I don't chekc in every day so I'm sorry you were waiting for me.

I see a lot of assumptions going on here, let's try to cut to what we actually know. I checked with the engineers and this "Disk Too Busy" may actually be part of a pre-1.50 bug, and not related to vibration. It seems we had received some reports about this and it was fixed in 1.50. I just heard back from them and the people who reported the problem have now reported that it has gone away with the new OS. So I'd ask you to first update and then check things out and report back here.

We chose the 1.8" drives specifically because they are more resistant to vibration as compared to 2.5" and other drive formats. And we mounted the HDD with anti-shock material called Sorbothane to enhance the tolerance. So while we cannot guarantee no shock/vibration issues with a device that uses a moving drive, we feel that this software fix is actually the issue, and not a mechanical one. Let's all confirm together, OK?

regards,

Jerry



Thanks for chiming in Jerry. I was running firmware 1.50 when I had my issue...
I ran the unit with the same firmware 1.50 two nights before in a quiet environment
with no issues. So I'm pretty sure vibration was the cause in my case.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 17, 2007, 07:17:20 PM
I have to agree, vibration will cause this exact issue. It's obvious the Hdd is insulated well but maybe not well enough? I think this issue needs to be addressed as there are a few people who will be using it for onstage taping, I generally do not but I know plenty of folks who do. I can assure you if people end up with errors on a regular basis it will certainly affect your sales, the perception will be that the unit is not well suited for field use, just something you might want to pass on to the higher ups. Also, Jerry thanks for participating in this forum, I certainly appreciate having someones ear at Korg.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: flintstone on May 17, 2007, 07:28:21 PM
Hi Jerry,

When I visited the Korg booth, you were being interviewed by some
press representatives.  So I spoke with the other Korg employee, a
young man.  If I got bad information, I'm glad you corrected me.

My feeling is that Korg's retailers have agreed not to advertise
prices lower than $1195.  But it doesn't hurt to ask for a price
break.

Flintstone
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: rokpunk on May 17, 2007, 08:12:54 PM


My feeling is that Korg's retailers have agreed not to advertise
prices lower than $1195.  But it doesn't hurt to ask for a price
break.


Not only do the retailers agree not to advertise them for lower than MAP, but they can loose their contract if they do. Just because a MAP is set, that doesn't mean the item can't be sold for less than that price....it just means they can't advertise it for less.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: simplicisimus on May 18, 2007, 01:13:57 PM
Dear Jerry,

Thanks for bein' here, and givin' support to final users of this great sounding product.

I was wondering, will there be a software update solution to the problem of monitoring routing matrix inside mr1000. There has to be a monitoring routing matrix in a portable hdd recorder, eg. to choise what you are listening (mono L, mono R, or Stereo L+R (default), & meybe some MS decoding matrix?). Also, there should be a option if a user want to record only one (mono) channel, instead of wasting precious hdd space on stereo file.

This is the options that every professional field sound recorder have, so i don't see the reason not to include these functions on next firmware updates, unless it's not possible ?

many thanks, and hope we'll together make this product - S h i n e !

 :)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 28, 2007, 07:07:05 PM
I wanted to bump this topic to see how people were feeling about the internal pre's vs. external now that the decks have been in use for a little while longer? I am really curious how the internal compares to the Portico & if it is still as good?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 29, 2007, 02:26:19 PM
Another question, does the TRS 1/4 phone jack input on the MR1000 reduce the signal or not? I tested with some adapters & I could see a DB drop with my XLR>1/4 TRS adapter vs. just straight up XLR in the high & low gain settings. I am wondering if maybe my adapters also attenuate? I have no real way to test this unless I make a pair of TRS/XLR cables.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on May 29, 2007, 03:17:59 PM
Another question, does the TRS 1/4 phone jack input on the MR1000 reduce the signal or not? I tested with some adapters & I could see a DB drop with my XLR>1/4 TRS adapter vs. just straight up XLR in the high & low gain settings. I am wondering if maybe my adapters also attenuate? I have no real way to test this unless I make a pair of TRS/XLR cables.

The XLR is mic only.  So going in XLR will add a certain amount of fixed gain at it's lowest setting, won't it?  I doubt that your adapters have built in attenuation. 

More likely the fixed gain of the mic input at its lowest setting is greater than the line level signal, which is why you're perceiving a drop in level going in TRS.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 29, 2007, 10:31:49 PM
OK, I made the cables tonight & the 1/4 TRS does in fact have a lower gain setting. I ran one XLR (mic in) & one 1/4 TRS (line in) to find the line in is lower in either high or low gain settings. So it now looks like I need to make a nice right angle TRS cable to female XLR.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: kskreider on May 30, 2007, 12:58:05 AM
OK, I made the cables tonight & the 1/4 TRS does in fact have a lower gain setting. I ran one XLR (mic in) & one 1/4 TRS (line in) to find the line in is lower in either high or low gain settings. So it now looks like I need to make a nice right angle TRS cable to female XLR.

Carl, out of curiosity, what kind of dB difference are you see between the two?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 30, 2007, 07:07:52 AM
It was hard to tell exactly but one channel was into the "over" while the other was peaking at -12 db so there is quite a difference between the Mic in & Line in.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on May 30, 2007, 08:19:50 AM
i've got a bunch of RA TRS jacks...
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on May 30, 2007, 08:32:19 AM
Doh!!!!!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on June 03, 2007, 02:36:34 PM
Got mine yesterday and ran it last night with a pair of Nevaton MK49.

Sample here:  http://www.yousendit.com/download/UVJqYUlsSWg0b0EwTVE9PQ (http://www.yousendit.com/download/UVJqYUlsSWg0b0EwTVE9PQ)

Recorded to 5.6mhz DFF.  Downsampled to 24/44.1 with Audiogate and then dithered with UV22HR in Wavelab.

Sounds pretty decent to me...
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on June 03, 2007, 03:07:51 PM
Yep, I ran a comp last night as well that Nick will be posting sometime today hopefully. Glad to hear you like yours, I am enjoying mine.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on June 03, 2007, 05:37:48 PM
tracks are uploading now...and i'll create the poll when completed.
4 tracks.  one nice CD to burn and listen to.
all of it sounds freakin' great.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on June 04, 2007, 10:04:12 PM
OK, here is the thread for the comp we just did, I was very surprised with the outcome personally.

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,85563.0.html
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on June 09, 2007, 09:54:45 AM
Just posted my thoughts on the comp we did, overall I am very impressed with the MR-1000.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on June 22, 2007, 11:53:13 AM
Hi Guys,

A couple of quick questions.

1) Does the time/date on your mr-1000 reset/stop when you remove the batteries
or power? I would think korg would have included a small battery on the board
to maintain the time/date? Mine resets. Any idea what the current drain is to maintain the clock?
I hate leaving batteries in the unit in case of leakage but it's a pain setting the clock
every time I use the unit...

2) I've got a gig coming up and am recording on stage. I want to avoid HDD issues.
Any recommendations how to absorb the shock of high SPLs? I was thinking of
just sitting it on a folded up towel or something?

Thanks!
Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: simplicisimus on June 24, 2007, 12:04:19 PM
Hi Guys,

A couple of quick questions.

1) Does the time/date on your mr-1000 reset/stop when you remove the batteries
or power? I would think korg would have included a small battery on the board
to maintain the time/date? Mine resets. Any idea what the current drain is to maintain the clock?
I hate leaving batteries in the unit in case of leakage but it's a pain setting the clock
every time I use the unit...


yes, unfortunely the clock resets when you leave the unit out of power.
:(
bad korg, bad!

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Chuck on June 24, 2007, 03:23:45 PM
Is this going to be the all-in-one box that folks are going to be ditching their V3's > MT or iRivers for?
A great sounding all-in-one is certainly appealing.
I thought I was going to regret selling my ACM PMD671. But I haven't looked back once, and regreted it.

I haven't listened to any V3 or ACM671 comparisons yet. Can someone give me a heads up on where to start?


Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on June 25, 2007, 10:12:59 PM

2) I've got a gig coming up and am recording on stage. I want to avoid HDD issues.
Any recommendations how to absorb the shock of high SPLs? I was thinking of
just sitting it on a folded up towel or something?

So the folded up towel worked ok for recording onstage for the mr1000.
Chris (csheperd) has recommended trying some vibrapods: http://www.vibrapod.com/
Has anyone else tried these? Other recommendations welcome.

Thanks!
Mandoman
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on June 25, 2007, 10:55:19 PM
I use them on my Oppo DVD player.
IMO, build yourself a giant custom "shock mount" out of bungee or elastics.
be creative!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: cshepherd on June 25, 2007, 11:42:12 PM
I use them on my Oppo DVD player.
IMO, build yourself a giant custom "shock mount" out of bungee or elastics.
be creative!

Nick, why do you use Vibrapods on your Oppo?

 :yack:
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on June 26, 2007, 07:30:02 AM
because I have them...and the dont hold up the TV ?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: mandoman on June 26, 2007, 11:01:32 AM
I use them on my Oppo DVD player.
IMO, build yourself a giant custom "shock mount" out of bungee or elastics.
be creative!

Thanks for the tip. What I'd really like is a new custom case that doubles to hold
the unit and provide shock absorption while allowing cables/power to be routed.
The stock korg case does not allow the power cable to be routed to the unit and
I don't think is sufficient for shock absorption.

+T Nick and Chris
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: VA_TAPER on July 01, 2007, 01:04:11 PM
I've used the 1k a bunch at home and only once now at a show, but the 1k was a few feet away from a huge subwoofer with good amounts of LF vibration and no issues.  I just ran it in it's case and it was fine.  YMMV, this was with the updated firmware. 

peace, chris
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: simplicisimus on July 04, 2007, 04:56:22 PM
O.K.
I just got home from a small trip around the country, and saw that a local official korg dealer are sellin' the mr-1000s for a 650e ... ?
I'm very wondered why the price is droped to this rediciolus amount of money .. ???
is it possible that they decide to drop the project devolopment & investment, or plan something new to release ?
Just some odd toughts...

Nevertheless, this baby still grooves  8)

cheers!




Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on July 31, 2007, 10:07:09 AM
OK, had my first experience with the issue last night.  The recorder stopped twice during the show with a "Disk Too Busy" error, and I heard at least one series of brief skips in a song a few minutes later.  There was some vibration, but the Korg was tucked into a Sonicase and had foam on the sides to keep it in place.  Bag was on the floor though (concrete).  Maybe vibrations through the back of the machine?  It wasn't THAT loud in there, although the bag was about 6-7 feet from the back of one of the guitar amps.

Jerry, what's the deal?  I'm running 1.5.1 and I thought this was fixed?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Busman Audio on July 31, 2007, 02:49:11 PM
These hard drives are not very well protected from vibrations and they are not your typical notebook drive. Just a heads up since I have one open for modification purposes.

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on July 31, 2007, 03:19:57 PM
Thinking about yanking the POS and putting in a regular 2.5 drive, 5400rpm.  Maybe surrounding it with foam like the Sound Devices.  Who knows?

Got any thoughts on possible mods to allow for the use of a 2.5 drive?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on July 31, 2007, 03:53:13 PM
Any chance of using something like a Sandisk 32 GIG flash hard drive replacement.  I've heard there's now a 2.5 inch IDE flash drive available.  If so, then many mechanical issues of disk drives in some portable decks might be avoided, and battery life should almost double.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Busman Audio on July 31, 2007, 04:21:27 PM
I will look further into the replacement options and get back to you all.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on July 31, 2007, 05:31:21 PM
I've had it open..., I think that there is a solid chance of an HDD upgrade, at least.
there is lots of room in there.
(and pics of one open someplace in the recorder threads..)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: flintstone on July 31, 2007, 05:58:55 PM
The SandisK SSD (solid state disc, basically a bunch of flash memory with an ATA disc interface) is pricey, but it should be a plug and play swap.  Sandisk provides versions in the 2.5 inch format for SATA, Ultra ATA and SCSI interface.

Flintstone
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: H₂O on July 31, 2007, 06:22:52 PM
FWIW - Sandisk also makes a 1.8" SSD drive.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on August 02, 2007, 07:06:52 AM
OK, had my first experience with the issue last night.  The recorder stopped twice during the show with a "Disk Too Busy" error, and I heard at least one series of brief skips in a song a few minutes later.  There was some vibration, but the Korg was tucked into a Sonicase and had foam on the sides to keep it in place.  Bag was on the floor though (concrete).  Maybe vibrations through the back of the machine?  It wasn't THAT loud in there, although the bag was about 6-7 feet from the back of one of the guitar amps.

Jerry, what's the deal?  I'm running 1.5.1 and I thought this was fixed?

Honestly I don't feel a firmware revision could fix this issue, it is usually caused by vibration in the floor from my experience. I just got back from a four show run without any issues what so ever. I ran on the floor from one show but we were about 50 feet away in typical FOB fashion. I think until we are writing to flash media or running SD series 7XX recorders this will be an issue.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on August 02, 2007, 07:28:46 AM
honestly...i'm quite surprised (or...impressed?) that my MR1 hasn't had one burp yet.  that sucker gets HOT though...
I run it in its pleather case, which doesn't' help.  and in a gear bag...w/a rain fly over it.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: macr0w on August 12, 2007, 03:27:42 PM
The disk errors have got me scared to buy this unit.  ???

Is this thing worth the errors?  ???
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on August 12, 2007, 03:38:15 PM
The disk errors have got me scared to buy this unit.  ???

Is this thing worth the errors?  ???

Depends.

For the sound quality, absolutely.  For mission critical recording, I guess it would depend on if you are running a backup.  None of my field uses have been mission critical, so for me it's not a problem.  My unit is still going back to Korg for replacement (or whatever) as soon as I get around to it.  The 32gb SSD drive is something I'll definitely be doing in the near future as well.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on August 13, 2007, 12:54:00 AM
It seems Sandisk has also produced a whopping 64GIG flash hard drive found at http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1320)-SanDisk_SSD_UATA_5000_18.aspx (http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1320)-SanDisk_SSD_UATA_5000_18.aspx).  Likely costs nearly as much as the deck?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on August 13, 2007, 07:25:40 AM
sheesh...thats flashy!
fwiw..., never a glitch w/my MR1
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on August 13, 2007, 07:58:28 AM
Not a glitch yet on my MR-1000 either
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: boyacrobat on August 13, 2007, 08:18:20 AM
had my first glitch with the mr1 last night.
sharp pitch sound from hell overtook the music 15 after playing dsd file.
could not power down or access menu, disconnected from mains & let unit drain .
6 hrs later power unit  up , checked to see i had 188 mb free only, transfered data to free hard drive
all appears normal, no data loss, menu access the lot.
running current firmware & no drops or bangs to unit,
was in case when happened, not hot

i hope it was due to near full hard drive, dont know.
i will not be leaving it that full ever again.
i was not impressed at all with me leaving fuck all room on the drive.
what else could it be  ?

g
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on August 13, 2007, 08:53:21 AM
I always clear & reformat my drive before every show, it helps for sure.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: boyacrobat on August 13, 2007, 10:21:05 AM
will be doing same from now on also.
thanks

g
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: SClassical on August 13, 2007, 01:53:50 PM
It seems Sandisk has also produced a whopping 64GIG flash hard drive found at http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1320)-SanDisk_SSD_UATA_5000_18.aspx (http://www.sandisk.com/OEM/ProductCatalog(1320)-SanDisk_SSD_UATA_5000_18.aspx).  Likely costs nearly as much as the deck?

A-DATA has an even more whopping SSD (128GB)...

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: macr0w on August 16, 2007, 10:13:05 AM
I hate to buy a new box and then need to change out the hard drive right away.

I mainly record in my basement studio but I have recently had the need/urge to go out and do a little mobile recording. I could just get a cheap bucket with s/pdif or AES and then I could just take my Rosetta 200 and my lunchbox with me.

Let me know if you think this would be a better solution for me.  ;D
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on August 16, 2007, 10:20:26 AM
Clearing and reformatting didn't help for me, carl.

Well, here's an update on my issue.  I Emailed Korg on Monday morning and explained the problem.  Before the end of the day I got a reply from an actual person via Email indicating they would call me the next day.  Lo and behold, Tuesday early afternoon I received a direct phone call from the person in question who explained what needed to be done and that Korg would be exchanging my unit for a new one so they could investigate further.  They had not heard of anyone having the "disk too busy" error on firmware 1.50 or higher, and they told me that it was likely due to a hardware problem they hadn't encountered before.  I just needed to provide a copy of the sales receipt so they could issue me the RMA.

I received a copy of the sales invoice last night from my dealer and have forwarded it to Korg.  I expect I will have some sort of response today and that a new unit will be in my hands in fairly short order.  (Until then I suppose I'll have to make do with the Sound Devices... :P)

While I'm not happy with the problem I'm having, I am more than pleased with the prompt attention I've received and the friendly service via Email and phone.  Well done, Korg!
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: macr0w on August 16, 2007, 10:59:56 AM
Maybe there's hope.  ;D
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on August 16, 2007, 11:50:10 AM
Update:  The rep verified he'd received the sales receipt and would be forwarding it on to Customer/Product Support.  Barely an hour later I get a call from a CSR who proceeds to verify my information and has promised me a call back later today with an RA number for my old unit.

Continued props for the service so far, BUT I do have a small complaint:  the CSR informed me that they cannot do exchanges without having the original unit back first, and the speed of the exchange will depend on the stock availability at the time the unit is returned.

So basically I have to send my unit back and wait for it to be received by Korg.  They will then ship me a replacement, presumably the same day they receive it.  This is not quite as appealing, as I will be without the unit for probably a week or so.  If anyone from Korg is reading this, CHANGE YOUR POLICY!  You should send a replacement out immediately without waiting for a defective unit to be returned.  This is a bit of an inconvenience for me of course.  Not the end of the world, but not exactly top notch either.

Add to that the issue of stock availability.  So if there are no "replacement" MR-1000 units at the factory when mine is received back, I will have to wait longer for my replacement until one becomes available?  CHANGE YOUR POLICY!  You should IMMEDIATELY place a stock unit on hold for me so that I am not further inconvenienced.  That's my feeling.

Still, it's been a fairly decent "ordeal" so far...we'll see what happens in the next few days.  I'll keep updating in this thread if folks are interested.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on August 16, 2007, 12:13:12 PM
still WAY better than any CS i've come across from a large company.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: sleepypedro on August 16, 2007, 12:19:27 PM
So basically I have to send my unit back and wait for it to be received by Korg.  They will then ship me a replacement, presumably the same day they receive it.  This is not quite as appealing, as I will be without the unit for probably a week or so.  If anyone from Korg is reading this, CHANGE YOUR POLICY!  You should send a replacement out immediately without waiting for a defective unit to be returned.  This is a bit of an inconvenience for me of course.  Not the end of the world, but not exactly top notch either.

this is totally standard.

think of it as a business owner:  you're going to advance ship a ~ $1000 product to a stranger?  right.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: TNJazz on August 16, 2007, 12:36:30 PM
So basically I have to send my unit back and wait for it to be received by Korg.  They will then ship me a replacement, presumably the same day they receive it.  This is not quite as appealing, as I will be without the unit for probably a week or so.  If anyone from Korg is reading this, CHANGE YOUR POLICY!  You should send a replacement out immediately without waiting for a defective unit to be returned.  This is a bit of an inconvenience for me of course.  Not the end of the world, but not exactly top notch either.

this is totally standard.

think of it as a business owner:  you're going to advance ship a ~ $1000 product to a stranger?  right.

There are actually a number of pro audio/gear companies that will do this for their customers.  Or Like Freelunch says, a credit card authorization would be all they'd need if they weren't trusting enough to do it.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: esteyes on September 19, 2007, 01:11:36 AM
so i have my MR1k now and wondered if there were any comments on which file format made the most sense for dsd recording and subsequent movement to pcm/cd?

neil in san marcos
also, has anyone found a right angle version of the power plug used on this unit??
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: carlbeck on September 19, 2007, 06:43:00 AM
I have been using the WSD format & I got a right angle plug from Radio Shack that I used for my cable.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: richardl on September 19, 2007, 12:33:44 PM
so i have my MR1k now and wondered if there were any comments on which file format made the most sense for dsd recording and subsequent movement to pcm/cd?

There doesn't seem to be any advantage to distinguish any of the formats when it comes to importing them into Korg's Audiogate. They all behave the same.

But there is a codec from Sony that supports direct playback of DSF and DFF files in Windows Media Player and probably some other players. It transcodes in realtime to PCM to drive your audio card. But it's quite handy, and it sounds just fine. Unfortunately it doesn't support WSD which I had been using with my MR-1. I don't know if the codec supports the MR-1K's 5.6MHz files.

You can find a link to the codec installer in this thread:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,85760.0.html (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,85760.0.html)

On the other hand WSD is a publicly defined file format and has a consortium of companies behind it. But as far as I'm aware there's nothing out there that uses this format besides the Korgs.
Their website (in Japanese) is here:
http://www.acoust.rise.waseda.ac.jp/1bitcons/ (http://www.acoust.rise.waseda.ac.jp/1bitcons/)
Google Translated:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acoust.rise.waseda.ac.jp%2F1bitcons%2F&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acoust.rise.waseda.ac.jp%2F1bitcons%2F&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: dmccabe on September 29, 2007, 01:37:38 AM
I posted 2 Gov't Mule shows recorded with KM184 > V3 analog out > Korg MR-1000
if you want to check out the sound of DSD converted to PCM


Gov't Mule 2007-09-15 Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, VT DSD>PCM (16-bit) (FLAC)
http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46120


Gov't Mule 2007-09-06 Central Park, NYC DSD>PCM (16-bit) (FLAC)
http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46121


There is also a soundboard show that was recorded directly off the board analog out > Korg MR-1000:
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals 2007-09-06 Central Park, NYC DSD>PCM (16-bit) (FLAC)
http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=46124


These shows are also posted on other trackers. PM me if you have trouble getting these shows.

Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: esteyes on September 29, 2007, 03:18:15 PM
kind of you to post these :)

i taped phil at the greek last sunday. have to get a suitable computer up and running this weekend to run audiogate for the non-dsd'ers. but what about trading the original files? seems like a long download even via ftp. and what is the best form of storage? seems like i have more HD failures now than ever...

neil in san marcos
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: esteyes on October 18, 2007, 01:49:32 AM
bump
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on October 18, 2007, 07:06:50 AM
i archive mine on DVD (data) and seal them up in cases.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Rick on October 19, 2007, 08:56:43 AM
So if my mics have a -15db pad I should be ok running mics > MR-1000 ??

I'm thinking about getting one, but I'm a little worried about the brickwalling issue.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: darktrain on December 03, 2007, 12:43:15 PM
So if my mics have a -15db pad I should be ok running mics > MR-1000 ??

I'm thinking about getting one, but I'm a little worried about the brickwalling issue.

I was also looking at maybe getting one of these, and wondered will it be ok to just run the mics right into it? I see some people run other pre's in front of it but do you really need to?
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Colin Liston on December 03, 2007, 02:05:53 PM
kind of you to post these :)

i taped phil at the greek last sunday. have to get a suitable computer up and running this weekend to run audiogate for the non-dsd'ers. but what about trading the original files? seems like a long download even via ftp. and what is the best form of storage? seems like i have more HD failures now than ever...

neil in san marcos


I've got a few DSD masters to trade.  Be happy to send you a few Neil.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: busterr on December 03, 2007, 03:05:19 PM
So if my mics have a -15db pad I should be ok running mics > MR-1000 ??

I'm thinking about getting one, but I'm a little worried about the brickwalling issue.

I was also looking at maybe getting one of these, and wondered will it be ok to just run the mics right into it? I see some people run other pre's in front of it but do you really need to?

Depending on the mics yes, you can run straight into the mr-1000, I've done it on many occasions, but I've always used the 10db pad on my mics. Even with the pad I can't use much gain on the unit though, pretty much the 9 o'clock position is the most I can give it(no gain is at 7 o'clock), so if you don't have a pad on your mics an external pre can be and probably is needed. I believe Busman's mod helps out with this issue and improves the sound of the stock pres as well, probably well worth the extra $175 to make it a true "all in one".
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: BL on January 16, 2008, 07:25:02 PM
Please forgive my first post if this question has been answered:

Is anyone doing modifications to the analog stage ? ... these DSD units sound great, but a bit more fidelity could be had.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: busterr on January 16, 2008, 09:35:35 PM
Please forgive my first post if this question has been answered:

Is anyone doing modifications to the analog stage ? ... these DSD units sound great, but a bit more fidelity could be had.

Yes, I believe board member Busman is still doing a transparency mod to the pre's. And yeah, I agree they could use some cleaning up, they're not terrible, but not great either. I've been meaning to get mine out to him, but haven't found the time yet :P.
Here's a link to a post in the retail section thread: http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,94050.msg1252753.html#msg1252753
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: BL on January 17, 2008, 03:09:12 PM
Thanks much, I'll have a look at the link ...
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: animuselanvital on February 13, 2008, 09:57:48 PM
Hey everyone.  Just started on this thing and am interested in buying a recorder.  My decision has come down to 2:  Korg mr-1000 and Sound devices 702.  I know the 702 has the reputation of being a solid well built piece of equipment and is supposed to have some decent pre's in them.  The korg however is almost half the price and records in 1 bit audio.  I could get two of these!  I am worried though about how reliable it is and am not sure how the sound quality stacks up between the two when it is just the box alone w/o external pre's.  My plan is to use one of these devices alot in some adverse conditions (hot, cold, dry and moist air, and some rugged terrain).  I need it to be able to hang at my side from a bag and it must have the ability to be mobile with me. I wont be dropping the damn thing if I can help it (and I can do a good job when it comes to protecting my baby:) But its got to be able to handle some bumps here and there.  Last but not least, it has to sound excellent on its own (with the exception of the Korg because of the price I could afford a pre that costs about as much as the korg unit itself if need be . . . not so for the SD 702)  I've heard good and bad things about the pre's on the Korg and have not heard anything on the SD's except that they are very good. . . and I think that was from sound devices themselves.  I'm gonna go crazy here if I don't make a decision soon! 

PS -  if anyone has any input on the possibility of using two of these together to create a surround sound field let me know. . . I do remember hearing that they are not linkable like the more pricey sound devices 700 series recorders. 
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on February 13, 2008, 10:02:13 PM
you can't link the two together.
the Korg, being a DSD recorder...has no time snyching abilities w/a PCM recorder like the SD boxes.  Although, the Korg *can* record in regular PCM too. 

out of the box, the SD is probably nicer.
but...that is a matter of opinion.
the Korg is really nice too.  I love its sound.  and running "line in" (with an external preamp)...then it really sounds amazing.

the SD ...it ain't no slouch.  they are popular for a reason.  as you know, built like a tank.  You can drive over one w/a truck and it will still work.
the Korg is not nearly as rugged.  but, it is what it is.
the audiogate software is pretty sweet.  Lets you combine the files and export the raw DSD into any PCM resolution you want. 

If it were my money...I'd go korg.  and then maybe spend the "extra" that you saved on a preamp to put in front of it.  Apogee MMP, V2..etc etc.
that would be hard to top, at any price point.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Nick's Picks on February 13, 2008, 10:02:52 PM
Or...
have a MR1000 modified by our very own "busman" here on the board.
he upgrades the preamp section.  I have not heard it...but any improvement is welcome..and i'm sure it smokes.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: animuselanvital on February 13, 2008, 10:20:13 PM
Haha.  Thanks. . .I have heard about the mod.  Does he have a website up yet?  Nevermind. . . just found it  ::) 
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: Busman Audio on February 13, 2008, 10:35:17 PM
The mod costs $175 and I upgrade to the best quality parts to clean up the signal path for very pure sound quality.

Op amps and capacitors are changed in the input signal path. Works for line or mic in. I also offer a gain reduction with the mod so you do not need attenuators to run at loud shows.

It really does make this box great.

I will put up a few shows on my site and post some links here. Probably tomorrow they will be up.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: animuselanvital on February 15, 2008, 12:05:28 AM
Ok, thanks. . . I will look forward to hearing them.  I hope that this is the "diamond in the rough" :)
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000 and Battery Geek 10-14-88
Post by: LMaudio on April 29, 2008, 05:14:29 PM
I am about to order a 10-14-88 from Battery Geek for my Korg MR-1000.
Can anyone please tell me if I will get the correct power connector automatically with the 10-14-88; or, do I have to order the connector separately (and if so, from where?).

Lou
LMaudio
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: bobbygeeWOW on April 29, 2008, 07:22:08 PM
Confirmed. I have a battery made by those guys that has the appropriate adapter (I think its a "P" adapter when ordering from batterygeek)

But I found the overall plug too long once attached to the power cable so I went for a right angle Radioshack Type "D" Adaptaplug and made a little cable for a coupla bucks so the whole thing sits lower in my bag. The plug for the battery end is some standard size easily sourced from ratshack.
Title: Re: Korg MR-1000
Post by: guysonic on April 29, 2008, 07:57:35 PM
Same size locking type power plug as was used in Sony DAT and MR-1 as mentioned in the www.sonicstudios.com/mr-1revw.htm (http://www.sonicstudios.com/mr-1revw.htm)