Topic: Tascam DR-07 with CA-9100

[Belexes]

The clip indicator on the 9100 is a lifesaver. I was in a high SPL situation the other night and had the 9100 dialed up too high. Dialed back until the clip light went off and all was well.

[fmaderjr]

It seems like a lot of this advice thus far is all over the map.  I don't own a 9100 anymore, but assuming that it doesn't function radically differently from any other preamp, I don't know why you would turn it up to "max" and then take levels from the DR-07.  The preamp itself can overload, and I would think, would, at high SPL if its gain is turned all the way up. 

As I understand it:
You don't want the DR-07 determining the levels - you don't want the DR-07's internal pres doing any work, because (presumably) they aren't as good as the 9100s - that's after all why you bought it, right?

Therefore, you want the DR-07 at "unity" - at whatever level its preamp is essentially neutral, neither providing nor reducing gain - and then you want to set your levels by varying the gain on the 9100.  On my M10 I leave the level knob at ~5 and adjust the gain off of the littlebox.  When I had a CA9100>R-09HR, I left the R-09HR at "40" and varied the gain on the 9100.

If Chris has a different way of operating his gear, it's of course his gear to comment on, but some of what's being said here just doesn't make sense to me.

I guess I wasn't explaining what I meant clearly. I basically use my ST-9100 the way acidjack recommends.

I did not mean that you should set the ST-9100 to the max and use the recorder to adjust levels. Chris meant that with the recorder set at unity gain, you could generally set the ST-9100 to the max (or 85% if very loud) without causing the meters to go over 0 dB. If they do, or if the ST-9100's clip indicator goes on, you back off the levels on the ST-9100. Actually, you probably want to back off the gain on the ST-9100 so the meters don't peak much higher than -12 dB to give your self head room in case the music suddenly gets louder at some point.
 
As for myself, I set my recorder at unity and at loud concerts do not have my ST-9100 set near the max, even though Chris says you usually can. I don't want to have to constantly be looking for the clipping indicator to go off.

[johnnyrockstar]

a couple of the previous posts mention the low, med, high setting on the dr-07.... to my knowledge these settings are when using the 'mic' input on the dr-07.  when running 'line' in, these settings have no effect.

my rig is ca14 > ca9100 > dr-07, and i typically run thru the line in, full gain on the 9100, and the dr-07 somewhere between 04 to 06 depending on the SPL's in the room.
i've never had a clipping issue recording in this way.

correct me if i'm wrong about the low, med, high thing, but i thought that gain was just if running internal mics or the mic input.

[fmaderjr]

a couple of the previous posts mention the low, med, high setting on the dr-07.... to my knowledge these settings are when using the 'mic' input on the dr-07.  when running 'line' in, these settings have no effect.

Absolutely correct. This hold true for all recorders also. I was so wrapped up in issue of the best way to use the ST-9100 that i didn't even think about that.

[paytoplay]

a couple of the previous posts mention the low, med, high setting on the dr-07.... to my knowledge these settings are when using the 'mic' input on the dr-07.  when running 'line' in, these settings have no effect.

my rig is ca14 > ca9100 > dr-07, and i typically run thru the line in, full gain on the 9100, and the dr-07 somewhere between 04 to 06 depending on the SPL's in the room.
i've never had a clipping issue recording in this way.

correct me if i'm wrong about the low, med, high thing, but i thought that gain was just if running internal mics or the mic input.

Nice, cause this is how I ran my rig the first time around. Might stick with that then cause the result was pleasant.

[fmaderjr]

my rig is ca14 > ca9100 > dr-07, and i typically run thru the line in, full gain on the 9100, and the dr-07 somewhere between 04 to 06 depending on the SPL's in the room.
i've never had a clipping issue recording in this way.

Nice, cause this is how I ran my rig the first time around. Might stick with that then cause the result was pleasant.

It would be even better to run the DR-07 at whatever the unity gain is, start with the ST-9100 at full gain, and back off the ST-9100 enough to give yourself some headroom for unexpected peaks. If running the ST-9100 at full gain at a loud show, be sure to watch for its clip light to light up and back off the gain if it does.

[paytoplay]

my rig is ca14 > ca9100 > dr-07, and i typically run thru the line in, full gain on the 9100, and the dr-07 somewhere between 04 to 06 depending on the SPL's in the room.
i've never had a clipping issue recording in this way.

Nice, cause this is how I ran my rig the first time around. Might stick with that then cause the result was pleasant.

It would be even better to run the DR-07 at whatever the unity gain is, start with the ST-9100 at full gain, and back off the ST-9100 enough to give yourself some headroom for unexpected peaks. If running the ST-9100 at full gain at a loud show, be sure to watch for its clip light to light up and back off the gain if it does.

Great! Gonna try it. Scout Niblett in a week!