Topic: HD P-2 -VS-R4

[rowjimmytour]

I just thought of one more thing that could make the R4 or HD P-2 a instant sale!!! I use a mac and pc right now for uploading/editing my recordings but my pc has been updated to vista(nothing but problems) and runs WL 5 w/ glitches and my mac only has audacity but is much easier to run. Does either one of these work better or worse w/ mac if ya got a good pull where all you got to do is track? What about a 4 channel matrix w/ r4? Is this possible w/ Audacity?
Peace

Its as easy as plugging in a USB cable to the R4.   As far as mac or pc it all depends on your software.  According to its feature list Audacity does offer four channel editing, although I use WaveLab for my four channel mixing.

I used wavlab 5 for the one time I mixed a four channel recording from easyjim but after updating to vista w/ new tower I can't get it to work right and I have a going back to XP because I only have home version for my ole' tower and no CD OS.
Peace

[kirk97132]

I'm running a P2 w/ADK-A51s's and couldn't be happier.  I am gonna get the Bussman mod when time permits.  Had a good buddy who just sold his R4.  FWIW he had some occasional problems when using it in a LOUD rock environment (hard drive write errors), I've heard of others on this board with the same problem.  He even had Bussman upgrade the harddrive but it still happened.  The P2 has no moving parts so never a problem no matter how loud it is. My .02

Not sure if loud shows would be a problem for me but heat would for sure. Last week at HSMF the heat peaked at 106 and I had problems w/ recordings all week long some worse then others.
Peace

I was there too, no problems whatsoever

[BayTaynt3d]

Heh, I just bought a new PC from Dell, and had to jump through all sorts of hoops to make sure it came with XP and NOT Vista, LOL! I knew better...

Anyway, I'm going to add my opinion and go against the grain here (at the risk of being ridiculed).

For starters, to me, this decision comes down to two factors: 2 vs. 4 channels and more vs. less bulky. So think hard about those two things, and you'll have your answer.

FWIW, I've been running a stock R4 for a year and a half now, and I love it. I've never had the HDD slow error, and I've been completely satisfied with the sound quality. The ability to matrix so easily, and to mix in post, is simply spectacular (I bring 4 XLR cables and a pair of 1' XLR-to-1/4" adapters, and I can patch 95% of SBDs). And, the ability to run an AUD pair plus two more channels can also be very rewarding -- whether you run two stereo pairs or one pair and some spot mics. Your options are many. Also, contrary to what some may say, I actually love the gain staging the way it is, between line/mic-in and my pads on my mics, with experience, I can handle almost any scenario from super quiet acoustic (mic-in with +6 db on my 480s) to extremely loud and bassy (line-in with 10 db pad on the 480s). The thing is an absolute workhorse, and seemingly runs forever on a standard walmart dvd battery (I've done 6+ hours of 4-channel with phantom on all four with the LCD on the whole time with battery to spare).

The two downsides are BULK, the thing is kind of big no doubt, and if you're picky, maybe sound quality. I've got a crapload of MP3 samples readily available on my website (see sig) if you want to quickly listen to some stock R4 action, some with C4s, some with 390s, some with 480s, and a bunch of 4-channel mixes (AUD+SBD, 2xAUD, and AUD + 1 or 2 spots).

Good luck, I don't think you can go wrong either way really...

[rowjimmytour]

Last night while mastering some of HSMF sets I figured out my problem w/ Vista and wavlab5. Just had to right click on wav file and open w/ wl5 not sure why this made suck a huge difference but it worked. I noticed last night when I went to run CDWAV it is trial version now. WTF is up w/ that? Thought it was freeware.

I was there too, no problems whatsoever

Hey Kird not sure if I met ya but what were ya running the HD-p2 or R4 at HSMF?
Peace

[willndmb]

great thread

[rowjimmytour]

I searched here and LMA but did not get the answer I was looking for so I was wondering if the HD-P2 is as easy to matrix w/ on the fly as the UA5? I imagine like the UA5 you use the rca inputs but can you control the gain?
Peace

[OFOTD]

I searched here and LMA but did not get the answer I was looking for so I was wondering if the HD-P2 is as easy to matrix w/ on the fly as the UA5? I imagine like the UA5 you use the rca inputs but can you control the gain?
Peace

Remember that the HDP2 is only two tracks.   Now several people have a HDP2 for the time coding so they can daisy chain a couple of different recorders so that the tracks are all on the same word clock.  That in turn make joining pairs of tracks really simple.

[Brian Skalinder]

Now several people have a HDP2 for the time coding so they can daisy chain a couple of different recorders so that the tracks are all on the same word clock.  That in turn make joining pairs of tracks really simple.

I think timecode is a separate issue / feature set from synced clocks.

[rowjimmytour]

I am talkin' about a matrix on the fly just like I do w/ my UA5 where I change the gain of my SDB>RCA>UA5 and the gain of my mics>UA5 and turn two sources into a two track mix w/ the best of both worlds.
Peace

[AlexG]

Now several people have a HDP2 for the time coding so they can daisy chain a couple of different recorders so that the tracks are all on the same word clock.  That in turn make joining pairs of tracks really simple.

I think timecode is a separate issue / feature set from synced clocks.

You are right, timecode is metadata in the file.  Using the same same word clock will keep the tracks from drifting but the files won't have any extra information.

[AlexG]

I am talkin' about a matrix on the fly just like I do w/ my UA5 where I change the gain of my SDB>RCA>UA5 and the gain of my mics>UA5 and turn two sources into a two track mix w/ the best of both worlds.
Peace

If you have a UA5 just add an iRiver/JB3/(Toslkink In Device) and you can sync the HDP2 to the UA5.

[easy jim]

I am talkin' about a matrix on the fly just like I do w/ my UA5 where I change the gain of my SDB>RCA>UA5 and the gain of my mics>UA5 and turn two sources into a two track mix w/ the best of both worlds.
Peace

I don't think you can do this with the HD-P2.  To do an on-the-fly-matrix, you'd need to run some kind of a mixer in front of it.

[kirk97132]

Last night while mastering some of HSMF sets I figured out my problem w/ Vista and wavlab5. Just had to right click on wav file and open w/ wl5 not sure why this made suck a huge difference but it worked. I noticed last night when I went to run CDWAV it is trial version now. WTF is up w/ that? Thought it was freeware.

I was there too, no problems whatsoever

Hey Kird not sure if I met ya but what were ya running the HD-p2 or R4 at HSMF?
Peace

The P2 baby!

[rowjimmytour]

Sounds like you had no problems at HSMF!!! What size/kind of card did you use? How many for HSMF? What about power?
Peace

[kirk97132]

Sounds like you had no problems at HSMF!!! What size/kind of card did you use? How many for HSMF? What about power?
Peace

I took 4-4gb cards and kept dumping them to a usb HD (which is fucked up right now, working on that).  There are 8gb cf out now for a decent price and 16gigs on the horizon.  If I were buying now I'd just go with 8gig cards or larger.  8gigs @ 24/96 will give you about 4hours recording time.  For me I had access to ac power the whole time so power was never an issue.  But, 5.5 hours on AA alykaline no problem and it's run on Nimh rechargables for 5 hours.  I want to go LIion but haven't spent the money yet. 
( http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,78841.msg1057313.html#msg1057313 )