Topic: can I feed an FR2-LE a USB audio source?

[andromedanwarmachine]

This repeats from the USB pre2 discussion elsewhere and is asked here as it is more appropriate.

Just sizing up my next rig here and trying to save £850 by NOT buying a Sound Devices 702.

If I got a Sound Devices USB pre2, could I feed an FR2-LE with it through USB?

Will the FR2 accept audio and act as a recorder from the USB I/P...?

JimP

[willndmb]

the fr2le has xlr and 1/4 ins

[andromedanwarmachine]

it's true yes-

so the machine is unable to source from the USB socket...?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Nope.

USB is for file transfer only. I think you can send a file to the CF card, but you can't send it audio in real time.

[rastasean]

sending audio via usb wouldn't be possible but what I would next wonder is if the usb2 can be POWERED by the 2LE.

I doubt that it would be able to but that would be an excellent way for these two used together.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

On the FR2LE you turn on the USB via the menu. When it's on it's not possible to control any other portion of the deck.

[fmaderjr]

Couldn't you feed a Marantz PMD-661 with the USB Pre's digital out?

I think the 661 is a more convenient recorder to use than the FR2-LE anyway and it is smaller and more versatile (with digi-in & much better headphone amp & internal mics). You'd also have the option of using the 661 without the pre if you ever needed to go smaller.  You could do that with the FR2-LE as well, but the 661 is a good bit smaller than the FR2-LE.

Unless you are somewhere where the 661 costs a lot more than it does in the US, I would go with a 661.

[andromedanwarmachine]

Yes (what a fool I am)- the digital out!!

what am I thinking of??!

Thankyou...

[fmaderjr]

No problem.

FWIW, I love the 661, so you should be very happy if you choose to go that route.

[andromedanwarmachine]

Yeah? OK, thanks...

Not a mchine I've really ever taken seriously but I can see the point of it- I looked into it last night after your comments.

How does it do with SD cards? What's the largest capacity it can handle?

It's a bit more expensive than the FR2 admittedly. But then it's SMALLER!!

[fmaderjr]

I know the 661 will take a 16 GB card and there's a good chance it will go higher. Someone else can answer that I'm sure (very large cards aren't important to me personally).

You know the FR2-LE doesn't have a digi-in, so using the USB-Pre's ADC with it is not a possibility.

Many here love the FR2-LE as a 1 box solution (and there are few owners besides me who regret the purchase), but IMO it has some notable deficiencies that the 661 does not share. It has a horrible headphone amp, worthless internal mics (which may not matter at all to many people) and I don't find it as convenient to operate as the 661. The headphone amp adds so much hiss that if you play back a quiet recording, you'll think the recording isn't worth keeping. The FR2-LE will record approximately 8 hours on an optional Tamiya battery as opposed to the 661 which goes about 4 hours on 2 AA MiMh's (but they can be switched out quickly during a set break). The FR2-LE will completely drain any batteries left inside within about 2 weeks, so using low discharge NiMHs wouldn't be much of an option. I can't tell you how much I hated that when I discovered it.

[andromedanwarmachine]

Thanks for the feedback-

The battery issue isn't too serious for me as when I record; I am recording block-days when I'm travelling. So I almost always end up developing external supplies to enable running off D-cells or something like that... So I need a card capacity to allow me to achieve a day (about 8 / 10 hours) on one card.

I don't know who really would consider using the internal mics which are built into some recorders. I think the design intention of such a feature is for use as a dictation machine.

Yeah- now that I realise the FR2-LE doesn't have a digital in (don't know what I was thinking of!!) it does kind of steer me towards the Marantz... You'd defer to the Marntz over the Sony stuff everybody raves about then, fmaderjr??

Alot of gear drains batteries when left in machines.- My wife has a Sony H20 camera and it effectively needs charged every time we take it out...

[wmacky1]

Have you considered the d50? It appears to be the least expensive option for use with the USBPre, and a choice i'm looking at.

[fmaderjr]

That's a great machine as well  if you're OK with an optical digital in.

I do like the fact that the 661 has phantom power, so you can run it without your preamp if you occasionally need a lighter gear bag.

[andromedanwarmachine]

hi wmacky1,

no I hadn't considered the D50 actually- although only having an optical-in, I'd probably rule it out.

I think from a hi-fi perspective the co-ax digital connection type is supposed to have a higher bandwith than the optical.

Over a short distance though; I daresay it won't make any difference.

The phantom issue would sway me too, fmaderjr...

[dogmusic]

I think from a hi-fi perspective the co-ax digital connection type is supposed to have a higher bandwith than the optical.

Would that actually make a difference since it's only digital information that is being transmitted?

Is there a difference in the quality of digital recordings made from different digital inputs?

And is there an advantage in using the digital input on a more expensive recorder?

[fmaderjr]

I do think that the optical is more prone to having things go wrong with it and if you bend an optical cable too much it can go bad.

Probably no advantage to using a high dollar recorder for digi-in, but a cheap one can lead to problems (MT 24/96 and MTII lock up problems, etc.). I would not go with the MT unless you are willing to risk losing a possibly important recording every once in a while. Even once is too often.

[dogmusic]

I do think that the optical is more prone to having things go wrong with it and if you bend an optical cable too much it can go bad.

Probably no advantage to using a high dollar recorder for digi-in, but a cheap one can lead to problems (MT 24/96 and MTII lock up problems, etc.). I would not go with the MT unless you are willing to risk losing a possibly important recording every once in a while. Even once is too often.

So although I'd have to be careful of the optical cable, there would no difference in the quality of recordings made through the digital input of a Sony D50 and that of an SD 702?

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So although I'd have to be careful of the optical cable, there would no difference in the quality of recordings made through the digital input of a Sony D50 and that of an SD 702?

Nope, as long as both machines don't resample the incoming digital signal, you are committing any noise/signal at the A/D stage elsewhere. It was one of the real benefits of the old NJB3 units.