Topic: Overwhelming bass or mic overloaded? UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED!

[greppson]

Ran the 671 last night for the first time and love it. Great great stuff. Nice and easy.

So, first part of the show is fine, but then this happens and it just gets worse as the show goes on. Did I run too hot or what?

It's not peaking according to wavelab...

http://www.mediafire.com/?850yn52whbj


edit: switched mics last night and it still happened in the same left channel. so it's either the cables or something with the box.

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Ok, so I recorded one more show in my trip and finally got around to messing with the waveforms in Steinberg Wavelab.

So I ran:

Audix m1290 Cardiods > Mini-quad star 20' mini XLR to standard XLR > ACM Marantz 671 @ 24/48 (on 8 NEW energizer rechargedable 2500 batts in an internal sled)

I had the 671 split automatically every hour since I tried recording at 24/48, just to be safe. For a show that was around 2.5 hours, it was 3 files, the waveforms of which can be seen below. I also did not touch the levels after the first song of the show.

AUDIO SAMPLE: First song of the show -  http://www.mediafire.com/?8jnkyizhxnb (decent balance, sounds pretty good IMO)

The first waveform clearly shows that the left channel drops in volume just shy of the 1 hour mark during the show.

AUDIO SAMPLE: Level drop in left channel - http://www.mediafire.com/?bv9lkvay2z1

Not only that, but then the right channel then appears to sound "overloaded". It's weird.

AUDIO SAMPLE: Right channel overload - http://www.mediafire.com/?ci5jlxm2qdl

But, the weirdest thing is that by the end of the show, the left channel appears to have the problem.

AUDIO SAMPLE: Left channel overload - http://www.mediafire.com/?fcg0c15xzoc

I'm so confused and have no clue what in the chain seems to be having the problems.

Doug Oade suggested switching mics, switching cables, running the RCA ins and the Digi in as well, but I haven't had the time yet. When I do, I plan on trying a few different things.

Anybody got any ideas what the problem could be?


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UPDATE 10/17/2007

So, I got a new battery holder from marantz and it seemed to solve the problem. The only real problem I am having now is with it shutting down. I think some of the contacts are not working all the way.

Any 671 users have this problem before?

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UPDATE 02/13/2008

No problems with shutting down, everything seems to be working fine now.

[jkbyram]

did the batteries begin to run down?

[SonicSound]

Good Call

did the batteries begin to run down?

[greppson]

i was running on 8 powerex 2500s and had a walmart 9v batt external plugged in as backup.

[greppson]

and the batts were all fully charged before the show...

[greppson]

audix m1290 (minis) cards > acm 671

[greppson]

show starts out fine, sounds fine, but then the left channel just goes nuts as the shoe goes on and basically drops out as the show goes on.

doesn't make any sense cause i just had the mics fixed by audix about 2 months ago and i just used them 2 weekends ago to tape the same band with no problems.

and it's the advanced concert mod 671 done by oade.

[greppson]

and blaming the batts just doesn't seem right since the walmart batt wasn't even touched (it was still displaying full charge or VERY close to full charge) when i checked it after the show.

[greppson]

one of the boards had shorted out in the mic apparently. i was getting a 6 db difference between the two...

but i've run the mics at 4-5 shows since then and no problem...

[greppson]

Yeah, the 4 or 5 shows I taped after I got them back were with the UA-5 for a few and a V3 for a few. No problems. Last night was the first time running the 671.

[Wiggler]

If you did not run the -20 mic pad on the ACM671 that might be the problem.
With many mics the pad must be used for loud pa recording with the ACM671.

[greppson]

yeah i realize now i did not use the pad, but why would that matter if i still didn't peak.. according to wavelab?

[Wiggler]

Doug asked me what mics I was running. I told him Schoeps and he told me I would need to run with the pad on.
I think if you check with the other guys on this board with Acm671's you will find they also run with the pad on for loud PA.

[greppson]

well, it wasn't the pad... it did it again tonight.

fine to start for a while, then halfway through the show gets bad and then just worse and worse.

[greppson]

so i switched the mics tonight and it happened in the same channel.

it's either the neutriks interconnects or it is the recorder. something appears to happen in the left channel when it gets hot...

i'm thinking it can't be the interconnects because i used them recently for other shows and they worked fine.

anybody got any ideas?