1. there are clicks on the recording when adjusting gain levels manually. is this a known issue with this unit?
Not with either of the two I've owned. Does it happen every time you change the gain on the fly? What about when pressing other buttons while recording?
2. will using AGC resolve this issue?
Doubt it.
3. can anyone explain the 5 AGC presets below? It seems that option 1 is good but at what level will the recorder be aiming at?
Safety (clip).This preset will lower the gain when the levels get too high (-1 dB) and
will never increase gain.
Live (slow).This preset is designed to be used for recording of live shows and has quite
large headroom for loud parts. It heads for a nominal target peak level of -9 dB
and will slowly increase or decrease gain to reach it.
DJ-Set (slow).This preset heads for a nominal target peak level of -5 dB and will slowly
increase or decrease gain to reach it.
Medium.This preset heads for a nominal target peak level of -6 dB and will increase
or decrease gain to reach it.
Voice (fast).This preset is designed to be used for voice recording and heads for a
nominal target peak level of -7 dB and will quickly increase or decrease gain to
reach it.
I always always always used Safety, because it does what I want: prevents clipping by dropping the gain (permanently) if I have it set too high. Then I can look back, see where the gain drops, and correct the volume of the two sections in post.
Gain that slowly creeps toward anything ... brrr. That's some bad news. Safety is your friend.