Topic: Sony PCM-A10 (Part 2)

[ace5gt]

I just got an A10.  Can anybody recommend the equivalent M10 settings for the A10?

I found out through trial and error that I consistently get good results with the following:

CA CAFS > CA 9200 Pre (+10db) > M10 (Gain: 3.5 - 4) > boost in Post.

From reading earlier in the thread, it seems like 10-15 seems to be the ideal spot for safe levels?

[shadowfax1007]

I've been riding around 11 most gigs. Thats with AT831s into a Battery Box.
12 was getting too high for comfort with louder shows.

[robgronotte]

If you still have access to the M10, just try recording something with both units at home and see where the levels match up. It may be different in the loud environment of a show, but would at least give you an idea if the setting should be a few numbers higher or lower, then figure out more precisely at the show.

[nulldogmas]

I don't know how much this will mean to anyone else since setups differ, but: With AT853s (low-sensitivity mod) going line in to an A10, for loud shows I typically run at around 10 for omni caps and 14 for cards.

With the Bluetooth phone control, though, I always check levels when I get to a show and adjust accordingly.

[Falconidave]

What are some current Micro SD cards that people have good experience using with an A10? I'm heading to a festival soon, and need to stock up on storage.

I just loaded up a Samsung 512GB SDXC and it fired right up with no issues! WOW 247 hours of recording at 24b/96k!! Heaven... I had a SanDisk 128GB that never gave a lick of trouble. Happy Taping!!

[nulldogmas]

What are some current Micro SD cards that people have good experience using with an A10? I'm heading to a festival soon, and need to stock up on storage.

I just loaded up a Samsung 512GB SDXC and it fired right up with no issues! WOW 247 hours of recording at 24b/96k!! Heaven... I had a SanDisk 128GB that never gave a lick of trouble. Happy Taping!!

I ended up going with a SanDisk 32GB card, and it's been working fine.

[RobBain]

If you record for long enough, one of your cards will eventually fail.  It's just a matter of time.

Imagine having hundreds of hours of recordings on a single card!!  No thanks.  That's why many folks use multiple smaller-capacity cards.

[nulldogmas]

If you record for long enough, one of your cards will eventually fail.  It's just a matter of time.

Imagine having hundreds of hours of recordings on a single card!!  No thanks.  That's why many folks use multiple smaller-capacity cards.

I back up everything from the card (or internal memory) ASAP to a computer with Backblaze and Time Machine regardless.

[Falconidave]

If you record for long enough, one of your cards will eventually fail.  It's just a matter of time.

Imagine having hundreds of hours of recordings on a single card!!  No thanks.  That's why many folks use multiple smaller-capacity cards.

I back up everything from the card (or internal memory) ASAP to a computer with Backblaze and Time Machine regardless.

Yes, that's wise. Been filling up External HD's for years with archives of the master recordings.

[Powerage5]

I’ve had an issue on two different recordings over the last ten days where the file splits on its own while recording. There’s no pattern when it happens - the first time it happened it was after it had been recording for about five minutes, the rest of the evening went fine. The second time it happened twice - once after about two minutes, then it ran for about 58 minutes and split again. There is a small loss of audio when it splits, it’s not seamless. I’d guess from the more recent instance it’s less than a second. Luckily in all cases here it’s been between songs (Or between intro tapes and a first song) so it’s an easy fix but puzzling that it keeps happening.

My normal setup is once the A10 is powered on, I immediately lock it and control everything from the REC Remote iOS app. I occasionally monitor the app throughout recording. I don’t think it’s possible I accidentally hit any buttons in the app while monitoring it, and the most recent instance of this problem I’m positive my phone was locked at the time the split happened. I’ve never had any Bluetooth connectivity issues that’s I’m aware of, despite the info on iPhone 13 connectivity problems in this thread and the fact that I’m on a 13 Pro.

Anybody have any ideas on this one? Can’t find any similar reports in this thread.

[morst]

Are you using the internal memory or a micro SD card? Could be the card speed lagging so the recorder ends the file and tries again.
Try a different card?

[Powerage5]

Are you using the internal memory or a micro SD card? Could be the card speed lagging so the recorder ends the file and tries again.
Try a different card?

Internal, forgot to mention that. Plenty of space available on the drive also.

[dyneq]

Have you verified that 'Scene select' is set to Off?

If nothing else works, I'd recommend formatting the built-in memory and resetting all menu settings back to defaults. After you go through and change your settings again, do a test recording exactly how you would do it when you roll to see if you can reproduce.

[TheJez]

I’ve had an issue on two different recordings over the last ten days where the file splits on its own while recording.
Anybody have any ideas on this one? Can’t find any similar reports in this thread.

First I need to say that I don't have any experience with the Sony PCM-A10, so I may be completely wrong here. However, I did work on software engineering for consumer electronics.
My thought is that this is the kind of behavior I'd expect in case of writing errors to the medium. If 'the software' is confronted with such an error, it needs to do something. Closing the current file and starting a new one would seem to me like a reasonable and expected response to write errors. Getting a small gap between the files can an unfortunate consequence, that likely could have been prevented by some smart buffering and writing the data that wasn't correctly written in the first place to the new file, but apparently they didn't bother to make the device that smart for this (hopefully) rare situation.
I assume you can mount the internal disk to a PC as a USB-disk, right? If so, you might want to check the disk using one of the many options to do so. Please be aware that such errors may be hard to detect, may occur intermittent and may depend on writing speed by the application. E.g.it may occur during recording but not during USB file transfer. If this indeed happens while recording on the internal memory, I'd try to use a micro sd-card instead and see if it still occurs.
Good luck!

[ol' dirty taper]

I’ve had an issue on two different recordings over the last ten days where the file splits on its own while recording. There’s no pattern when it happens - the first time it happened it was after it had been recording for about five minutes, the rest of the evening went fine. The second time it happened twice - once after about two minutes, then it ran for about 58 minutes and split again. There is a small loss of audio when it splits, it’s not seamless. I’d guess from the more recent instance it’s less than a second. Luckily in all cases here it’s been between songs (Or between intro tapes and a first song) so it’s an easy fix but puzzling that it keeps happening.

My normal setup is once the A10 is powered on, I immediately lock it and control everything from the REC Remote iOS app. I occasionally monitor the app throughout recording. I don’t think it’s possible I accidentally hit any buttons in the app while monitoring it, and the most recent instance of this problem I’m positive my phone was locked at the time the split happened. I’ve never had any Bluetooth connectivity issues that’s I’m aware of, despite the info on iPhone 13 connectivity problems in this thread and the fact that I’m on a 13 Pro.

Anybody have any ideas on this one? Can’t find any similar reports in this thread.

Are you using a fast enough microsd card?