Topic: Sony PCM-A10 (Part 2)

[DavidPuddy]

I used mine tonight for Glass Beams, peaking around -6db, limiter on. Sounds fine but looks like a brick wall - I guess the limiter kicks on at like -12?

[nulldogmas]

I used mine tonight for Glass Beams, peaking around -6db, limiter on. Sounds fine but looks like a brick wall - I guess the limiter kicks on at like -12?

Not in my experience — I always keep the limiter on, and never see what you're describing. Could it have been a hard limiter on the PA itself?

[morst]

With the built in mics into the limiter, set levels at 6, and if it looks like it's brick walling, then you will have to move back if you want less clipping. 6 is the number for internal mics with limiter. Lower or higher doesn't help.
I taped Mudhoney from front row and it was too loud and I did not move back. It's on the LMA, but Archive is under attack, dang'ol hackers.

Were you running line in? Are you SURE the line in was plugged in and active and you were not using the internal mics? Happened to me with a Sony PCM-D50 once 'cause there was a switch I forgot about.

[DavidPuddy]

I was using baby nbox with mic in on level 1. Looking back I should have just ran audio in but it had been a while and I couldn’t remember what settings to use. Also I went up to the pit which I never do. It would be convenient to be able to change from mic in to audio in through the app as I couldn’t really do it without arousing suspicion.

[nulldogmas]

I was using baby nbox with mic in on level 1. Looking back I should have just ran audio in but it had been a while and I couldn’t remember what settings to use. Also I went up to the pit which I never do. It would be convenient to be able to change from mic in to audio in through the app as I couldn’t really do it without arousing suspicion.

Ooh, yeah, mic in could have overloaded the input and led to clipping/limiting.

I thought one could switch between MIC IN and AUDIO IN via the app, but you're right, it appears you can check the setting there, but can't change it, feh.

[meursault]

I recently recorded a concert with my a10 using its internal memory. It had more than enough space. Trying to playback it on the device after the 11th minute it shows unknown data. Trying to copy it to my mac I get unknown error. Trying to copy the data from the internal memory to a microsd on the device I get unknown data. Do you know if I can save the recording somehow and why did this happen?

[guitard]

I recently recorded a concert with my a10 using its internal memory. It had more than enough space. Trying to playback it on the device after the 11th minute it shows unknown data. Trying to copy it to my mac I get unknown error. Trying to copy the data from the internal memory to a microsd on the device I get unknown data. Do you know if I can save the recording somehow and why did this happen?

Maybe a little far fetched ... have you tried connecting the A10 to a PC?

Or maybe you could try connecting the A10 to your Mac and checking with one of the online recovery services.  You can usually get an idea of what they will be able to recover before you have to commit to paying for the service.  IIRC, the last time I did this (a few years back), the cost was based on the size of the file you're trying to recover.  So a 1-2GB audio file shouldn't be to bad.

[dyneq]

Error info from the manual:

Unknown Data
This data is not in a file format that is supported by your linear PCM recorder. The linear PCM recorder supports FLAC (.flac)/LPCM (.wav)/MP3 (.mp3)/WMA (.wma)/AAC-LC (.m4a) files.

(See Technical specifications.)

You cannot play back copyright protected files.

The file you selected is corrupted. You cannot play or edit it.

Use Disk Utility > First Aid to attempt a repair of the corrupted data. Internal memory is FAT32, so if you have a PC there may be other recovery tools to try.

I have gotten in a habit of formatting both internal and external memory every time I head out to a show. Might be overkill, but I've never had a memory issue after many recordings. In addition, I always software 'eject' the device before pulling it out of the port. Hope you can save your recording.

[TheJez]

Error info from the manual:

Unknown Data
This data is not in a file format that is supported by your linear PCM recorder. The linear PCM recorder supports FLAC (.flac)/LPCM (.wav)/MP3 (.mp3)/WMA (.wma)/AAC-LC (.m4a) files.

(See Technical specifications.)

You cannot play back copyright protected files.

The file you selected is corrupted. You cannot play or edit it.

Use Disk Utility > First Aid to attempt a repair of the corrupted data. Internal memory is FAT32, so if you have a PC there may be other recovery tools to try.

I have gotten in a habit of formatting both internal and external memory every time I head out to a show. Might be overkill, but I've never had a memory issue after many recordings. In addition, I always software 'eject' the device before pulling it out of the port. Hope you can save your recording.

Once I was caught recording and was forced after the show to format the sd card on the spot. At home, I created a 1-on-1 disk image using Win32 Disk Imager (free tool) which I then loaded as ‘raw audio file’ into Adobe Audition. As it was 24bit audio I had to try different offsets (0/1/2), but with 2 it was bingo and a restored recording! Only the first few minutes were damaged, but fortunately I started recording quite early.
Maybe a similar method creating a raw disk image may help you too. In that case it doesn’t matter if the fat32 file system on it is corrupted or not. Good luck!

[nulldogmas]

Disk Utility is a fine idea, but I'm still puzzling over "Trying to copy it to my mac I get unknown error." You get an error after selecting the file and trying to drag it over, or when trying to access the card at all? Does it give an error code.

[meursault]

Thank you all for your replies.
I did try most of the recommended solutions with no luck. From what I understand the recording was "broken" after 11 minutes. There is a huge 2gb file but after the 11th minute is somehow unavailable-deleted. Anyways... Colin Stetson recording lost.

[Chilly Brioschi]

There are header editing tools for files that could help.
I believe what is missing is the RIFF header.
ZODAK comes to mind, not especially user-friendly

[TheJez]

There are header editing tools for files that could help.
I believe what is missing is the RIFF header.
ZODAK comes to mind, not especially user-friendly

As he can't seem to copy the file from the device, it seems that the file is corrupt on file system level. So it's unfortunately not simply a valid 2GB file containing a corrupt RIFF header and sample data.
I'd still be curious if it would be possible to create a raw disk image from it, so ignoring whatever valid or corrupt file system is on top of it. I've had success recovering almost all of a recording in that way.
@meursault: If you'd be willing to try to go that way, just let me know and I'll see if I can help you with that process.

[nulldogmas]

One of my A10s went dead, and now after I've charged it, the backlight won't come on even if I set it to "Always ON." Any ideas?

[dyneq]

You could try a factory reset.