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Author Topic: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder  (Read 28760 times)

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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #75 on: March 20, 2019, 09:34:16 AM »
as it is now.. it is useless as a bit bucket. Reclocks everything to the sample rate selected in the menu (48 or 96K). i tested it with 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, and 192K inputs and it always writes it at the speed selected in the menu. It appears to be a feature, not a bug, as the resulting files play at correct speed

nice unit, but for the price... bit bucket was a feature i wanted. otherwise its just another handheld for the most part  :tomato:
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 09:43:35 AM by jerryfreak »
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Offline Gutbucket

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #76 on: March 20, 2019, 10:01:22 AM »
Times have changed.  Modern high-quality re-clocking can provide a more robust, less jittery, and less problematic data path between devices without the prior negative repercussions, solving the problems reclocking traditionally imposed.  Look at how most high quality DACs now use asynchronous mode and how that is trickling down to lower cost DACs.

Not saying this particular implementation is better or worse, only that it needn't necessarily be a bad thing and can be advantageous if done correctly, and Lectrosonics is likely to do a pretty good job of it by reputation.
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #77 on: March 20, 2019, 10:34:44 AM »
dont get me wrong, the noise floor is very low on line in. on a test feeding it balanced signals from +13 to +24 dBU and adjusting the SPDR input level to peak within a few dB of FSD, the silent portions were damn near -100 dB RMS

digital input was actually noisier than line in. i was running the AD2K hot, taking advantage of its great meters to make sure it peaks at -1dB to get a good test. the spdr digitally fucked with it, and hard limited it. i was attempting to use AD2K as a reference but it came out worse. need to grab a real bit bucket and retest





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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #78 on: March 20, 2019, 10:47:41 AM »
That's not good.  Is there perhaps some SPDR setting which could have increased digital input gain above unity?
musical volition > vibrations > voltages > numeric values > voltages > vibrations> virtual teleportation time-machine experience
Better recording made easy - >>Improved PAS table<< | Made excellent- >>click here to download the Oddball Microphone Technique illustrated PDF booklet<< (note: This is a 1st draft, now several years old and in need of revision!  Stay tuned)

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #79 on: March 20, 2019, 10:47:57 AM »
so some pros:
rugged
compact
good battery life
easy interface
reasonably foolproof recording
low noise floor
has decent PIP and 3rd wire mic power


cons:
six times the cost of other handhelds of similar function. Has some unique features but perhaps not enough to justify cost
resamples digital input
no way to turn off low cut filter
no way to turn off limiter
non-standard inputs require custom cabling
fair amount of metal for those concerned about that
anemic headphone output
difficult to judge what the signal path actually looks like
like most handhelds, mic power voltage is low. cannot power mics requiring 5V to full spec
Powers schoeps CMRs but at the very lower limit of their spec, reducing output and likely headroom relative to higher voltages
« Last Edit: March 24, 2019, 09:52:40 PM by jerryfreak »
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #80 on: March 20, 2019, 10:49:33 AM »
That's not good.  Is there perhaps some SPDR setting which could have increased digital input gain above unity?

no real settings related to digital input other than sampling rate selection. it locks on the signal and records what i assumed was raw data, but alas, no.
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Offline tim_k

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #81 on: March 21, 2019, 10:49:10 PM »
Not really so applicable to music taping, but one feature that is extremely important for me (and the target audience in general) is timecode input. It is super accurate and I'd say that adds about $500 to the cost of the unit. The headphone output is pretty lame though. I also don't like how it loses time, date, timecode when you shut it down.

Offline noahbickart

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #82 on: March 21, 2019, 11:19:04 PM »
why does it make sense for there to be an aes/ebu input that can't simply write the data from that input?

What digital auto gain + limiting is done? Can you measure?
Recording:
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #83 on: March 22, 2019, 03:26:43 AM »
The waveform is visibly different than parallel digital signal going to known good bit bucket. I have no idea how to measure distortion. It appears it’s not compressing the material the digital input is actually somewhat similar to the source material which is heavily compressed. Definitely adding gain tho, I trust the ad2k meters with my life
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Offline dogmusic

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #84 on: March 23, 2019, 10:46:52 AM »
so some pros:
rugged
compact
good battery life
easy interface
reasonably foolproof recording
low noise floor
has decent PIP and 3rd wire mic power


cons:
six times the cost of other handhelds of similar function. Has some unique features but perhaps not enough to justify cost
resamples digital input
no way to turn off low cut filter
no way to turn off limiter
non-standard inputs require custom cabling
fair amount of metal for those concerned about that
anemic headphone output
difficult to judge what the signal path actually looks like
like most handhelds, mic power voltage is low. cannot power mics requiring 5V to full spec
Powers schoeps CMRs but at the very lower limit of their spec, reducing output and likely headroom relative to higher voltages

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2019, 10:16:42 PM by dogmusic »
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Offline dactylus

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #85 on: March 23, 2019, 12:15:23 PM »

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.
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Offline dogmusic

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #86 on: March 23, 2019, 06:25:26 PM »

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.

I think it was jwsoundgroup.
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #87 on: March 27, 2019, 12:43:45 AM »
ok it took me a while to process these but see if you can pick them out. ill give it a few days before i upload the key to which samples are which

link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=11H8CDOgwZxvyIi-BZRsp-Gb42qDyQ4sx

notes:
sample 1 = OG wav before being played digitally thru benchmark dac1. 4 tracks of different sound. all were 16/44 flac releases other than the steely dan track which was originally played thru the DAC at 24/96. i resampled it to fit it into a single wav after the fact for comp purposes

samples 2 thru 9 are all analog into one of the following recorded at 24/48, try to guess:
-balanced out of DAC1(~+24 dBU)>SPDR analog in
-balanced out of DAC1(~+24 dBU)>AD2K>spdif> known good bit bucket
-balanced out of DAC1(~+24 dBU)>AD2K>AES>SPDR (resampling AES input)
-unbalanced out of DAC1(~+13 dBU)>Edirol R07
-balanced out of DAC1 > SPDR at highest level i could (minimum gain on recorder). I ran the SPDR input level as low as i could and cranked the output level of the DAC1 as high as i could to get it the hottest signal i could with decent levels peaking above -10 dBFS
-simultaneous to the SPDR high level test above, I ran unbalanced out of DAC1 > sony PCM-A10 at what would be a level about -11 dBU below the balanced levels  to SPDR above. (low gain on recorder, decent levels peaking above -10 dBFS).
-balanced out of DAC1 > SPDR at low level (max gain on recorder). I ran the SPDR input level at its max (max gain on recorder) and turned the output level of the DAC1 as low as i could to get it the lowest signal i could that the SPDR could still record at decent levels peaking above -10 dBFS)
-simultaneous to the SPDR low level test above, I ran unbalanced out of DAC1 > sony PCM-A10 at what would be a level about -11 dBU below the balanced levels  to SPDR above. (high gain on recorder, decent levels peaking above -10 dBFS)


original recorded files are provided as well as files normalized in soundforge to match OG wav input (as close as possible without hitting FSD, as original wav was <0.5 dB peaks, and some of the ADCs took liberties). i bookended the 4 songs with 10 second silent tracks, and so 5-10 seconds of silence from DAC are included at the beginning and end of each sample so you can check out the noise floor if you desire. maybe save that for last after you pick a favorite
« Last Edit: March 27, 2019, 01:39:47 AM by jerryfreak »
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Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #88 on: April 28, 2019, 02:51:21 PM »

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.

I think it was jwsoundgroup.

i posted my finding over there, there is a lectro rep over there. didnt personally take issue with any of his posts, but it was basically crickets when i brought up its limitations

great device i guess for film/eng. not so much for our purposes
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Offline dogmusic

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Re: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder
« Reply #89 on: April 29, 2019, 06:11:12 AM »

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.

I think it was jwsoundgroup.

i posted my finding over there, there is a lectro rep over there. didnt personally take issue with any of his posts, but it was basically crickets when i brought up its limitations

great device i guess for film/eng. not so much for our purposes

Yeah, he was not a helpful guy.

Are you returning it?
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

 

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