Topic: Korg MR-1

[SClassical]

Tonight I recorded (stealth) a violin recital... 2nd time on the row with amazing results. Sounded better than open rig setup done tonight.

Someone with an open rig used AKG mics (cardi) > MiniMe > MT, it didn't sound so good. The piano was muffled. Sounded as if the pianist was playing under a pillow.

I stealth among the audience using DPA4052 > MixPre > MR-1 (zero gain) .... What suprised me was it sounded better than setups done on stage! Very clean and clear. Both piano and violin was well balanced and the sound was bright - not dull and muffled like the open rig setup.

Getting really a hang on this recorder with my pramp and mic combination.

[WiFiJeff]

Simon,

   Are you going direct from DSD to 16/44.1 or do you edit at a higher resolution pcm?

Jeff

[SClassical]

I go straight to 16/44.1

Do all my edits in 16/44.1

Should I edit in a different bit/frequency before going to red book? Any benefits in doing that?

Jeff..you should try using your 4052s (and the MixPre or SD MP-2) with your MR-1. It's a really good combination when your settings are set properly...The first few times sounded terrible for me but after playing around with all the settings everything turned out better than expected.

[richardl]

I'm finding my MR-1 to be a nifty piece of gear, but there are some growing pains.

I've found some bugs in operating the MR-1 on several occasions now. I'm not sure how to get this information to Korg.

- While a track is playing or paused you can't successfully rename the file. But it lets you try. Then it fails with and error. It should work or it shouldn't let you try.

- Sometimes letters are displayed incorrectly in the library track names. e.g. "SYNERGY7" displays as "SVNERGV7" and sometimes "SVNERGY7". When I go back into the rename screen the letters are correct.

- Sometimes when the backlight is off scrolling with the thumbwheel does not turn it back on, but a button press does. It seems any button press or scrolling should turn it back on. Also the backlight times out and turns off even when the thumbwheel is being scrolled. This is especially annoying with a short backlight timeout.

- Sometimes the backlight doesn't timeout and turn off when the machine is recording or playing. This may have something to do with the hold function but not always.

- Wishlist: An easier way to enter a space in the track naming screen. (Currently you have to hit INS then >) It would be nice if there was one button.

- Wishlist: A shortcut for toggling from capital letters to lowercase and back in the track naming screen. i.e. a shift key of some sort.

- If the machine dies in mid-recording due to running out of power the track info doesn't get written to the library. Thus the MR-1 doesn't see the recording in its library. But the files are there when viewed from the PC. It seems the individual files that make up a recording can be loaded and concatenated in the AudioGate software from the PC.

- The battery charge indicator sometimes gets very confused. This maybe happened after the recorder's battery ran out and the recorder shutdown.  But I've seen this a couple of times now. The battery runs down. I charge the unit. The battery shows full. Then soon thereafter is shows one tick on the battery indicator yet it will play for hours.
   
- When plugged into the computer using USB it indicates the battery is being charged, but it isn't. (e.g. You connect using USB, then eject but leave the recorder connected.) It seems to be getting enough power to operate from USB, but not enough to charge. This is confusing. There should be a different indication if it's getting external power, but not charging.

- Wishlist: When turned off and plugged into the power adapter the battery seems to be charging, but there's no indication.

[Colin Liston]

One thing I can't figure out is if this thing charges at all.  I plug in the power cord, it appears to charge, then the unit turns itself off, even with the "HOLD" button engaged. 

Does this thing actually charge when the unit is off?

[SClassical]

Yeh....I usually charge it for 12-24 hrs plugged in while turned off. The next morning/day I'll see the battery meter full compared to empty before charging. If you are charging and your MR-1 is on...you're actually sucking power from your internal at the same time charging the internal. So that is why I leave it charging when the MR-1 is off over night. It takes longer to charge when the MR-1 is on because what ever you are putting into the internal will be used to power your MR-1.

[Digital Quality]

Ran mine on Sat night for the first time. I decided at the last minute to make some quickie unbalanced cables. I didn't have the right resistors to build in enough cut but it worked ok with another -11dB on the box. I think unity gain will be better next time.

- Sometimes the backlight doesn't timeout and turn off when the machine is recording or playing. This may have something to do with the hold function but not always.

I noticed you can go back in the menu and re-select your backlight time and it will start working again. Even if you just select the same value.

First impression stuff I liked:

• No wall wart plugin - an actual plug and cable thank you.
• Snappy interface.
• Easy to run, lets you go in and out of menu while still recording. Good for changing gain on the fly for example.
• Nice imaging.

Stuff I dunno about:

• I'm highly suspicious of the software and especially the dither algorithm. It will let you convert wav files too and I have a 24/48 copy from the V3 to compare so we can check out some comparisons. Maybe we should add AudioGate to the dither comparison thread.
  
• I'm happy with the DSP but a little concerned about the front end. Hopefully running 0dB will take care of that.

[richardl]

...
I've found some bugs in operating the MR-1 on several occasions now. I'm not sure how to get this information to Korg.
...
- Sometimes letters are displayed incorrectly in the library track names. e.g. "SYNERGY7" displays as "SVNERGV7" and sometimes "SVNERGY7". When I go back into the rename screen the letters are correct.

Oops. I think I figured out what was causing this. Operator error. The rename screen uses a different font from the library screen (I think they are the old Macintosh classic New York and Chicago fonts). Somehow I was accidentally entering the letter V instead of Y, and they look almost the same in the rename screen but very different on the library screen.

[SClassical]

               (tip)  10.0K   --------------
                                                    } 4.99K
               (ring) 10.0K   --------------

This is only a ratio of 4, 20 log(4) gives 12dB. I'm building this now and the ratio needs to be 7 or higher to get 17dB.

Am I doing bad math or is there another trick?

I don't know...That is what Grace Design told me to build. After making the attenuator cable it seems as if the attenuator cable didn't reduce the MR-1 levels to exactly the same as the V3 levels (MR-1 gain was set at zero). When I did the test I was about 10dB out...so when my V3 was showing 27dBFS my MR-1 was showing ~ -17dB. The people in Grace design is actually helping me out with this problem now...they are very helpful.

[Nick's Picks]

here is something recently figured out.

if you set up the drive how you like it, ie: recording levels, file format..etc., it'll maintain those settings when powered down.
UNTIL...you format the drive.  all the settings go back to default, which is 0db and "WAV" file.
note to self...

[WiFiJeff]

here is something recently figured out.

if you set up the drive how you like it, ie: recording levels, file format..etc., it'll maintain those settings when powered down.
UNTIL...you format the drive.  all the settings go back to default, which is 0db and "WAV" file.
note to self...

Luckily I found this out while I was still playing with the MR-1 and not when I took it out for a spin.  The MR-1000 has the same feature, except it defaults to dff files at 5.6 Mb/s.

Jeff

[Digital Quality]

I tweaked my cables around a little more. The schematic Mike gave us a while back is wrong too. I'll fix it later today.

You need 20dB reduction to match perfectly from the V3. I made an unbalanced cable which gives -6dB right off and then you can build in the extra  14dB with 1.5K in series and 301 in shunt. I only had a 323 ohm resistor so I'm about 1dB off but 301 will work perfectly.

Gotta run off to a meeting right now, I'll be back in a few

==========================================

Edit: I guess Mike's drawing is ok - you just need to connect 3 and 1 together too. Maybe it's ok to leave it floating but I connected it.

If you make the unbalanced version use 301 ohm and 1.5K ohm, that will give another -14dB on top of -6dB for unbalanced.

If you make the balanced version, use 301 ohm and 1.5K ohm on each branch. That will give -20dB.

Making it balanced for line level signal is sorta like a belt and suspenders. You are now talking about a signal in the Volts range instead of micro Volts and there is no more amplification in the chain. The unbalanced version uses one less resistor making it easier to fit and will generate a bit less thermal noise as well.

[richardl]

I've tried driving my MR-1 with an external Zap! Li-Ion D14 battery, but it didn't work to run the recorder once the built-in battery ran down. I think I tried driving the MR-1 through both the USB port and the charger socket.

The stock Korg charger is rated at 5V and 2.4A. The Zap battery is rated at 1.5A at 5V. I suspect the Zap just doesn't have enough amperage to operate or charge the MR-1.

I've noticed that the MR-1 will operate when connected to the computer via USB even if the battery is dead (i.e after ejected from desktop), but it doesn't seem to charge from USB because the MR-1 battery will still be dead when disconnected.

What kind of success have others had operating the MR-1 from an external battery? Any tips?

[Digital Quality]

I think either of the Tekkeon batteries will do the trick. There is a mention of on in the fist post of this thread. I tried out the 3300 for a little while on mine and it seems ok. Don't know about how long it will run but it looks like at least 6 hours.

Listening to some comps I made off my stereo (mic level out of mixer > V3 > pad cables > mr1) and I'm a lot happier about the front end of this box today.

[SClassical]

So your cable pad now gives a 19dB attenuation?