Topic: R4 run times

[ghellquist]

I briefly had my hands on one. The pres sounded decent to me, did a symphone orchestra recording with four omni as a test. Like the sound, no obvious problems, but this was only a quick test. (micx where 2x Neumann KM183 + 2x Studio Projects C4 in omni)

Could you however test one little pecularity for me. I tested running the machine on internal batteries, and then connected the external power. And the machine simply stopped dead. Nothing seems destroyed, as it booted up correctly afterwards, but still. Was this only that machine, or is it the common behaviour?

G.

[bhtoque]

I briefly had my hands on one. The pres sounded decent to me, did a symphone orchestra recording with four omni as a test. Like the sound, no obvious problems, but this was only a quick test. (micx where 2x Neumann KM183 + 2x Studio Projects C4 in omni)

Could you however test one little pecularity for me. I tested running the machine on internal batteries, and then connected the external power. And the machine simply stopped dead. Nothing seems destroyed, as it booted up correctly afterwards, but still. Was this only that machine, or is it the common behaviour?

G.

With aa's in it, I started it up on external power, then pulled the plug. It did not switch to the aa's, and died instantly. I'll try to duplicate your scenario tomorrow.

JAson

[ghellquist]

Well. Good they know about it.

A bit of problem though if you ask me. I´m used to equipment that simply "eats" whatever power they find.

Thank you for the trouble in finding it.

Gunnar.

[ghellquist]

Fair enough. They are clear about it in the manual and that is a good thing.

Gunnar

[timP]

anyone want to loan out their r4 this Friday? 
taping a DVD release show for the Bridge and it should be a big night
would love to get a  track with the sbd since the "section" is far LOC


just checking... ah wishing that is

[bhtoque]

Ok, here's the result of my runtime test from tonight.

On 3 2000mha 9.6v rc packs the r4 was able to record 8.5 hours safely.

I ran it w/ the lsd2, gain at max and backlight on at 24/96. It recorded 8 2 gig files (1hr 2min ea) I just put it in front of my stereo and let it go.

Sometime after 8 hours 30 min it died. The 9th file shows 0kb, so you have to save first or you'll lose it if you push it past the 8.5hr mark.

JAson

[Nick's Picks]

safer?
how so?  If you are running till the point of shutdown, then yes.  but since we are talking about recording a show, and maybe an opening act, then the external pack is the way to go.
the walmart LION pack is probaby the best bet for this sucker.

still encouraging that a single 2amp RC pack will run it almost 3 hours.
one of those and internal AAs will run it for a solid 5-6 hours.  that kicks some serious ass.

[Nick's Picks]

nick,

as mentioned, the power is not autoswitching, so the combination of an external pack and internal batteries will NOT run it "solid" for 5-6 hours without a shutdown and disconnect of the battery pack in between there to activate the internal batteriessafer is totally accurate....if you are using the AC pack and it either runs down or gets bumped loose, you are ass out and the unit will stop AND you will likely have a corrupt file as well....on the batteries, the system shuts down gracefully with no loss of data when the power is running out

either way it sucks to run out of juice...at least on internal batteries you still have your partial recording...with an external source you will likely have nothing from the last hours segment but a corrupted file

boogie

Iunderstand its not autoswitching.  I was just saying that you can rely on a solid 5.5 hours.  solid meaning..."hey, thats pretty solid!", and not continuous playtime w/o interruptions.
Still, armed w/those batteries and one RC pack...and some time management, you could run fine and not loose anything.  I've yet to hear anyone play (that I go see any way) more than a 2.5 hour set of music w/o any stop.
YMMV
Sorry for not articulating what I really intended.
a mysterly unplug would suck indeed though. 

[bhtoque]

Well, I did the Jammys on 6ah of 9v. Never stopped and all is well. I know for a fact that I can get 8 hours, then unplug and switch in 1 fresh batt at a time. This way I could run non stop till the HD fills. No power down to switch to AA's or anything.

With the cable anchor built into the side, and a 3 inch strip of gaffer's tape, my cable isn't coming out unless you try to bungee jump the R-4 on it.

I've got to listen to the 5hrs of Jammys and 4hrs of Umphrey's to make sure, but this box seems rock solid even with a half full drive. Same can not be said for the competition.

Yes, it would be a nice safety net if it would auto switch to internals when external power is removed, but it seems like a non-issue now.

JAson

[bhtoque]

Well, since the Jammys amd aftershow were flawless @ 24/96 I decided to push it a little harder.

Last night I did Sam Kininger and Soulive 2 stereo pairs @ 24/96 with 3 hours of 24/96 already on the drive.

I have not had time to listen to all of it, but best I can tell it was problem free.

It also handles vibration like a champ. Both the Slip last Wednesday and last night I was approx 6ft off stage. Even the subs under the stage @ the 'dise were not a problem, and let me tell ya, it was thumping.

JAson

[Nick's Picks]

NICE !
way to work it Jason.

I'll need that puppy back in 2 weeks or so.

[boa]

Last night I did Sam Kininger and Soulive 2 stereo pairs @ 24/96 with 3 hours of 24/96 already on the drive.

I have not had time to listen to all of it, but best I can tell it was problem free.

I have not had the same luck. I recorded one two hour show via Stereo X 01 @ 24/48 and had the files on the drive. This was the first recording made on the unit out of the box. The next night I tried running Stereo X 02 @ 24/48 and tested it during soundcheck. At about 7 minutes into the recording, I got the "HDD SLOW" error message flashing across the screen. I do not believe that the unit records while the message is flashing, but seemingly did not lose anything up to the error message. I was able to shut down the R4, disconnect a stereo pair and then reset the config to Stereo X 01, and all was fine for recording the show at 24/48.

Subsequent conversations with Edirol have not produced any resolution yet. Maybe my expectations are too high; I wanted to be able to keep recordings on the drive until a break in the tour and then offload them. I will need to offload them after every gig in order to maintain system integrity and peace of mind.

I have been following your posts and I appreciate you sharing your experiences. Are you doing anything to the drive (defrag, etc) after each show?

[bhtoque]

Last night I did Sam Kininger and Soulive 2 stereo pairs @ 24/96 with 3 hours of 24/96 already on the drive.

I have not had time to listen to all of it, but best I can tell it was problem free.

I have not had the same luck. I recorded one two hour show via Stereo X 01 @ 24/48 and had the files on the drive. This was the first recording made on the unit out of the box. The next night I tried running Stereo X 02 @ 24/48 and tested it during soundcheck. At about 7 minutes into the recording, I got the "HDD SLOW" error message flashing across the screen. I do not believe that the unit records while the message is flashing, but seemingly did not lose anything up to the error message. I was able to shut down the R4, disconnect a stereo pair and then reset the config to Stereo X 01, and all was fine for recording the show at 24/48.

Subsequent conversations with Edirol have not produced any resolution yet. Maybe my expectations are too high; I wanted to be able to keep recordings on the drive until a break in the tour and then offload them. I will need to offload them after every gig in order to maintain system integrity and peace of mind.

I have been following your posts and I appreciate you sharing your experiences. Are you doing anything to the drive (defrag, etc) after each show?

That's too bad Boa. Things on my end have been fine. I have since listened to the entire Sam and Soulive show and it is free of audible errors, and I have not seen any error messages with it.

I have been doing a drive format after each show, but for the test in question, I intentionally left 6 gigs of files on it to stress the drive a little. My 9 hours(5hrs>1 hr off>4hrs) of 24/96 for the Jammys came out fine too. Last night I was 8ft from the stage for Hairy Apes BMX, and the whole room was shaking. Still no errors. The FR-2 being used back near the sbd locked up a couple times because of the vibrations. I've been hoping to get some kind of error, or useability issue, just to get a feel for the R-4's limits, but nothing so far.

JAson

[boa]

I have been doing a drive format after each show, but for the test in question, I intentionally left 6 gigs of files on it to stress the drive a little. My 9 hours(5hrs>1 hr off>4hrs) of 24/96 for the Jammys came out fine too. Last night I was 8ft from the stage for Hairy Apes BMX, and the whole room was shaking. Still no errors. The FR-2 being used back near the sbd locked up a couple times because of the vibrations. I've been hoping to get some kind of error, or useability issue, just to get a feel for the R-4's limits, but nothing so far.

JAson

Are you doing a Format via your computer operating system or is that some added functionality within the R4 makeup that I have yet to uncover? Thanks again for your feedback.

[bhtoque]

I have been doing a drive format after each show, but for the test in question, I intentionally left 6 gigs of files on it to stress the drive a little. My 9 hours(5hrs>1 hr off>4hrs) of 24/96 for the Jammys came out fine too. Last night I was 8ft from the stage for Hairy Apes BMX, and the whole room was shaking. Still no errors. The FR-2 being used back near the sbd locked up a couple times because of the vibrations. I've been hoping to get some kind of error, or useability issue, just to get a feel for the R-4's limits, but nothing so far.

JAson

Are you doing a Format via your computer operating system or is that some added functionality within the R4 makeup that I have yet to uncover? Thanks again for your feedback.

It is w/ the R4's HDD utility.

Push the System button, scroll down 5 or 6 items to HDD Utility, press enter pick disc check (basically a defrag) or format.

JAson