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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: Kelso on October 20, 2003, 07:05:54 AM
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I consider buying a JB3, I wanted to know if there was metering, and how accurate. Is it a peak meter, is it fast, is there precise dB indications of the level and so.
thanks
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theres metering, but its pretty crappy. there's no precise db indications, just two bars. As for it being accurate, i don't really know. I usually just make sure the levels are bouncing around so i know its getting a signal and use the metering on another device and if another device is unavailable then i usually do adjustments later because i heard that the gain on the jb3 is bad.
that probably didn't help much...
ed
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Yeah, the metering on the NJ3 sucks my butt... I rely on folks patched out of the coax out on my UA5 (like the M1 last night)...
It is accurate enough that you can make sure not too low or too high (aim for the middle). Once you get the tracks onto your computer, you can adjust with SF or Wavelab or something...
A bonus feature I'm really enjoying about my NJ3 is the fact that I dumped about 10 gigs of SHNs onto it weekend and brought them all home from a friends house... It also doubles as a portable HD...
Terry
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once again, il add that they suck
last show that i taped, i ran my levels really hot, just so it barely peaked on the ua5.... which is usually ok, but had several clips on the final product.... and the jb3 levels werent clipping whatsoever, not even when the "over" light would flash on the ua5
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Yeah, the metering on the NJ3 sucks my butt... I rely on folks patched out of the coax out on my UA5 (like the M1 last night)...
It is accurate enough that you can make sure not too low or too high (aim for the middle). Once you get the tracks onto your computer, you can adjust with SF or Wavelab or something...
A bonus feature I'm really enjoying about my NJ3 is the fact that I dumped about 10 gigs of SHNs onto it weekend and brought them all home from a friends house... It also doubles as a portable HD...
Terry
see fixing it later may be too late. you must understand that when recording in 16bit maximizing your levels is *crucial*. if you're levels are hovering around -12 then you are not utilizing all 16 bits. this is one reason why I came down so hard on folks yetserday about normalizing. "fixing it later" has it's place for sure but it is crucial in 16bit (see DAT or JB3) to get good signal down to tape to start with.
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Oh yeah, you're absolutely right. It is WAAAY better to get it right the first time... Trust me I know, its impossible to fix the overloaded tracks on the Tony Furtado I taped last night... Soundman turns up during an acoustic jam, then when they go back electric, it is WAAAAY loud...
Anyways, the UA5>NJ3 metering is too inaccurate for any REAL work. It is good for recording your local club rock show... but if you need accuracy, go with something else...
Terry
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not even when the "over" light would flash on the ua5
fyi - it's not actually an "over" light. It flashes at -3dB so you'd like to see it the odd time.
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Oh yeah, you're absolutely right. It is WAAAY better to get it right the first time... Trust me I know, its impossible to fix the overloaded tracks on the Tony Furtado I taped last night... Soundman turns up during an acoustic jam, then when they go back electric, it is WAAAAY loud...
Anyways, the UA5>NJ3 metering is too inaccurate for any REAL work. It is good for recording your local club rock show... but if you need accuracy, go with something else...
Terry
Sounds like you mics brickwalled / like they cannot handle the SPL's
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for better metering, granted it wont be exact if you run it from RCA's but it should be damn close enough that you can get make sure you are gettin a good signal, or too low. check this out
http://www.signvideo.com/vu150_audio-meter.htm
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for better metering, granted it wont be exact if you run it from RCA's but it should be damn close enough that you can get make sure you are gettin a good signal, or too low. check this out
http://www.signvideo.com/vu150_audio-meter.htm
if that wasnt 129$ i would nab that right up, a little pricey
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too bad...
gonads is right, metering is very important, especially in 16 bits, and an analog meter is not enough, cause it's a digital device, so it should come with digital peak metering, so the external meter is not such a good idea (even if it's better than nothing): Ideally your peak should be around -8 /10dBFS, so you have 8 dB before digital clipping, and you still keep around 90 dB of dynamic (without the analog noise).
Is there at least a clip signal?
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Ok, I'm not flush with experience yet, so I should tell you that I just recorded my sixth show with my NJB3. That said...
It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be to get the levels right. And, I'm using the AD-20, so I'm in worse shape meter-wise than you UA-5 guys!
It's sort of like everything audio -- you look at it for a while and start to get used to what it looks like versus what you're getting. I had some clipping on my first outing, and was a little low on the second. After that it got better.
In my opinion, the meters are a little slow. Many large shows, though, are heavily compressed and aren't that hard to deal with. I'm able to set levels pretty close to the "clip" indicator on the NJB3 without too much trouble.
Chuck
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Ok, I'm not flush with experience yet, so I should tell you that I just recorded my sixth show with my NJB3. That said...
It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be to get the levels right. And, I'm using the AD-20, so I'm in worse shape meter-wise than you UA-5 guys!
It's sort of like everything audio -- you look at it for a while and start to get used to what it looks like versus what you're getting. I had some clipping on my first outing, and was a little low on the second. After that it got better.
In my opinion, the meters are a little slow. Many large shows, though, are heavily compressed and aren't that hard to deal with. I'm able to set levels pretty close to the "clip" indicator on the NJB3 without too much trouble.
Chuck
i agree with everything you said, the level controls are really slow. but i have used mine enough to get it right
ive taped approx 15 shows, some large and some small, and for the most part ive got it down
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what i dont get is, usually the recording device doesnt "overload" unless its running an analog in, or the pre/ad is being overloaded, theyre recprding whjat YOU put in......so, are these pre/ad's overloading???
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the overload here is in the digital domain:
If the A/D overloads, wherever is it in the audio chain, then an overload will be written to the disk.
The overload can be in the pre that's true but it's an analog overload, and an analog overlaod just means distortion so you have a little room, while a digital one means the very high pitched sound you probably heard (samples overloded get back to zero).
But maybe I can deal with that. Now I wonder if I take an ad20 + jb3 or a marantz PMD 670, a little more expensive solution (and you can't put long on a flash card). The MD500 (hhb) would have been the ideal solution but it's really too expensive
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for better metering, granted it wont be exact if you run it from RCA's but it should be damn close enough that you can get make sure you are gettin a good signal, or too low. check this out
http://www.signvideo.com/vu150_audio-meter.htm
Where would this go in your signal chain? Would you hook it up to an analog out of the UA-5?
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Here's that VU150 audio meter for a little cheaper, but not much...
http://www.sfzmediagroup.com/audiovu.htm
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Something everyone here knows, but should pass on to anyone who asks you for advice about the NJB3...
At the Galactic show last night a guy showed up with an NJB3 which he was audio patching off a friend's DAT. After a while he sees mine and comes over to say, "I've been borrowing my friend's jukebox for a while and just bought my own today. I just took it out of the box. Where are the meters?"
1.11.xx. I looked. Doh.
There are a lot of NJB3's floating around in the stores with ANCIENT firmware. It's worth checking before that first show.
(He also had a big-ass adapter plugged into it...)
Chuck