Topic: Edirol R-44 - 4 Channel Recorder (Part Tres)

[bugg100]

You should run the board feed at far left analog gain as this line in....  Inner knob @ 12:00 as it isn't even there....

[Gutbucket]

Allow no blinking.

[skotdee]

the fact is that if you've set the inner (digital) knob too high, the brickwalling/peak distortion is going to still be there.  The wav flatlines, even though the flatline is at about -20db.  When I brought down the inner (digital) knob, it was after the first set and the last two sets of the night are perfect.

OK wait, if you had the inner (digital) knob set at 12:00, there should have been no digital gain added. From the manual:

Turn the Input level knob [LEVEL] (inner) to the center position. This position is 0 dB.

Are you saying you had to turn the inner knob down below 12:00, thus subtracting gain digitally, to keep from brickwalling?

I'll be running my first SBD patch with this box Friday, and would love to get it right the first time 

[cybergaloot]

I pull soundboard + mics almost every Friday & Saturday night. I set the inner knob to 12:00 for all channels and forget it. Then I set the levels with the outer knob with a little headroom (usually 1 click) and record at 24bit. You have to also consider that the output of the board has a pot and it should be set at unity too. A soundman that doesn't know or doesn't care could alter that setting.

[danlynch]

the fact is that if you've set the inner (digital) knob too high, the brickwalling/peak distortion is going to still be there.  The wav flatlines, even though the flatline is at about -20db.  When I brought down the inner (digital) knob, it was after the first set and the last two sets of the night are perfect.

OK wait, if you had the inner (digital) knob set at 12:00, there should have been no digital gain added. From the manual:

Turn the Input level knob [LEVEL] (inner) to the center position. This position is 0 dB.

Are you saying you had to turn the inner knob down below 12:00, thus subtracting gain digitally, to keep from brickwalling?

I'll be running my first SBD patch with this box Friday, and would love to get it right the first time 

Yes, I had to turn the inner knob down two clicks to 10 o'clock.  I assume that this is a "hot" board feed, but again it was my first time with this deck.   I've had feeds from this board before (maybe 10 times) but that was using the UA-5, which has very low gain to begin with.  Obviously, YMMV.

[edit]

Ok, let me just clarify this a bit.  When I say "inner", the knob is the much shorter knob that is adjusted with "clicks" or interval settings.  The "outer" knob is the longer one with the smooth adjustment. 
The longer "outer" knob could be called inside because it is thinner and longer, but technically further inside of the pot. 
Have I now confused everyone?

[Ozpeter]

Have I now confused everyone?

You have the special honour of being the first person to describe the knob that clicks - the analog gain knob - as being the "inner" knob.  It's always referred to as the outer knob, because it runs round the outside of the knob that does not click, which is the digital gain knob, which should always be at 12 o'clock (or higher but there's no point if editing in a DAW later).  It should never be lower than 12 o'clock as that would result in clipping from the analog stage being recorded at a lower digital level, but still with the analog clipping.

Note that the preamp has clipping indicators to the left of the meters.  That will show clipping requiring you to lower the clickable part of the knob, regardless of what the level meters are showing.

[digifish_music]

...the knob that does not click, which is the digital gain knob...

You know they really should have made both 'clicky'...how many hours have I been double checking all my inner (digital gain) knobs are in the 12 O'Clock position? if they at least had a 0 dB 'detent' would be nice.

digifish

[Ozpeter]

Yup - and/or a on-screen readout of precise setting, like those for the clicky knobs.  Now that could be a firmware addition, in theory - which I think I did email them about.

[danlynch]

Have I now confused everyone?

You have the special honour of being the first person to describe the knob that clicks - the analog gain knob - as being the "inner" knob.  It's always referred to as the outer knob, because it runs round the outside of the knob that does not click, which is the digital gain knob, which should always be at 12 o'clock (or higher but there's no point if editing in a DAW later).  It should never be lower than 12 o'clock as that would result in clipping from the analog stage being recorded at a lower digital level, but still with the analog clipping.

Note that the preamp has clipping indicators to the left of the meters.  That will show clipping requiring you to lower the clickable part of the knob, regardless of what the level meters are showing.

So it is decreed, from this point further, that I shall, with due haste, from hereon out refer to the knobs as "the clicky one" and "the smooth one".

It does seem pretty counter-intuitive that the clicky knob should be the one that adjusts on the fly and the smooth knob is always set at 12 o'clock, if I'm reading things the right way.

[digifish_music]

So it is decreed, from this point further, that I shall, with due haste, from hereon out refer to the knobs as "the clicky one" and "the smooth one".

It does seem pretty counter-intuitive that the clicky knob should be the one that adjusts on the fly and the smooth knob is always set at 12 o'clock, if I'm reading things the right way.

You are now reading things the right way. Clicky = analog, Smooth = digital.

Actually in practice it's a great system, you wind the clicky knob up until it clips (if your source is loud enough), then back it off 1 or 2 clicks depending on how confident you are of the Max volume the source will reach.

digifish

[Ozpeter]

... and if you regularly use the same mics and record broadly the same kind of music, you may well find that you rarely use other than one clicky knob position.  Set and forget.

[kirk97132]

So the Edirol firm ware update is for clicky and smooth

[NOLAfishwater]

Allow no blinking.

best advice to date

[rigpimp]

Allow no blinking.

best advice to date

Even yet I don't push my analog levels too high.  I still back off the R-44 analog inputs a 'click' or two because hot levels have a tendency to sound distorted.  ymmv.

[bugg100]

Seems to me that my R44 is pretty conservative on the level metering....

What would appear to be -12dB on the meters are really -20 in wavelab. But when I fed a test tone at 1k @0dB from a Soundcraft Ghost, meters reported true, same for -3 and -6dB.

Anyone have similiar feelings?