Topic: So ... recording with the iRiver. finally feasable?

[MarkE]

heres a link to a show I recorded this weekend with My iRiver H120 ..Used the optical in, no problems
Havent put rockbox in yet, this is just regular H120....

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=94936

Mark E

[shaggy]

heres a link to a show I recorded this weekend with My iRiver H120 ..Used the optical in, no problems
Havent put rockbox in yet, this is just regular H120....

Well, MarkE, I hate to be the first to inform you but your recording is not bit perfect.  The latest firmware from iriver for the H1XX series (1.66) drops some samples every thirty seconds.  It may not be audible to you but this has been confirmed by many people who have used the optical in with the original iriver firmware.

You may want to load RB on your recorder and give it a go.  It will not harm your player, it is dual bootable to the old firmware.  It also is reversible (meaning you can get rid of it later, without a trace, if you wanna ship it to iriver for warranty issues).  When doing this, just make sure you have a non-patched version of the firmware flashed and all folders and files associated with RB deleted and they will never know you had it on there.

[whatboutbob]

heres a link to a show I recorded this weekend with My iRiver H120 ..Used the optical in, no problems
Havent put rockbox in yet, this is just regular H120....

You may want to load RB on your recorder and give it a go.  It will not harm your player, it is dual bootable to the old firmware.  It also is reversible (meaning you can get rid of it later, without a trace, if you wanna ship it to iriver for warranty issues).  When doing this, just make sure you have a non-patched version of the firmware flashed and all folders and files associated with RB deleted and they will never know you had it on there.

I'd be more cautious giving that advice.  While there has been no history of rockbox harming irivers, you can't rule the possibility out in future.  There have also been instances where the iriver circuitry died (hardware related), so the user couldn't access the hdd to remove the rockbox evidence.  Chances of it happening?  Not high.  But I don't like talking (err...writing) in absolutes.

Having said all that, I recommend installing rockbox...apart from the far superior recording abilities, even if you don't use it (and i don't know why you wouldn't), if your hdd gets corrupted you're far more likely to be able to fix the issue w/ rockbox installed.

[MarkE]

heres a link to a show I recorded this weekend with My iRiver H120 ..Used the optical in, no problems
Havent put rockbox in yet, this is just regular H120....

Well, MarkE, I hate to be the first to inform you but your recording is not bit perfect.  The latest firmware from iriver for the H1XX series (1.66) drops some samples every thirty seconds.  It may not be audible to you but this has been confirmed by many people who have used the optical in with the original iriver firmware.

Well theres a bubble-burster....... I just got it last week. Im gonna put the rockbox on it soon, but had to try it.. I still run DAT for accuracy. So is the unit I have now going to be capable of non-bit-dropping recordings with Rockbox? Revisions? Patches? Or is this unit going to always have this glitch? Thaks for your help.....
Mark E

[whatboutbob]

I've mentioned it in the iriver faq, but i think its exciting enough to mention twice...the newest version of the optical recording patch will likely be committed to cvs in the next couple of days.

Testers are needed for optical recording, particularly for > 44.1kHz sample-rates. Here it is: Preglow's Optical recording build (May 11th)

Please report any bugs here: http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=2575.90

Edit: See post below.

[shaggy]

The SPDIF patch has been committed to the daily build, no need to compile anymore.

http://www.rockbox.org/daily/changes-20060512.html

http://www.rockbox.org/dl.cgi?bin=h120

Thanks to everyone (esp whataboutbob), for their support and patience.  Now, go and record some shows.

[George]

Now, go and record some shows.

Done.  Depeche Mode@PNC last night, sounds great too.  I love my iriver 

[Popmarter]

me too, 2x Springsteen (no optical however),excellent result and with levels on the remote its actually fun to tape. i LOVE iriver! 

[MarkE]

I downloaded Rockbox, checked it all, and am ready to go tape something, I gotta wait till next sunday though
Thanks to all involved with Rockbox!!!
Mark E

[Yahoo! Serious]

Thanks to everyone for a detailed read! Getting my H120 on Tuesday..will imediatelly be loading RB onto it and using
Giant Squid Omnis..Still not so clear if I will need my Bat box or not tho..Usually tapr/film metal and usually in smaller venues.
Again thank yous!
Y!S

[petur]

Thanks to everyone for a detailed read! Getting my H120 on Tuesday..will imediatelly be loading RB onto it and using
Giant Squid Omnis..Still not so clear if I will need my Bat box or not tho..Usually tapr/film metal and usually in smaller venues.
Again thank yous!

Well, I'm also into taping rock concerts, and had quite a bit of troubles with (I think) mic overloading. No idea how much spl the Giant Squid Omnis can handle and what frequency range they handle, but a battery box or pre-amp with bass roll-off may be required.

[rsimms3]

A battery box will be needed for most any set of mics as the >5v power supplied by the iRiver will not be enough to power mics.  I don't even think running 4061s work well as they need at least a full 5v to run correctly.  I ran 4061s twice straight in, it worked  but I seriously suspect they were underpowered.  Battery boxes roll off the bass that most mics can handle, unless of course you are going Phantom.  I am postive the Squids can't naturally handle loud rock concerts, few mics can.  Best solution is to get some mics, battery box, and the iRiver.  Great small combo to run.  I would suggest a step up to some AT83s > 3 wire battery box > iRiver.  Just remember, even if you set the levels to not clip on the iRiver, you still get brickwalling if your mics can't handle the input because of high SPLs.

[whatboutbob]

GSA omnis with their matching battery box actually handle a surprising amount of bass and SPL's. 

That was my first rig, and they did a pretty good job about 1ft in front of a DMB stack.  I didn't try them without the bb though.

Having said that, I didn't run them long...I got sick of background chatter.

[treespine]

I run Giant Squid Omni straigt into my HiMD.  On low sensitivity setting it does great for bar bands and such.  For Metalica im sure you would need a bb.

[MadMaster]

I received my brand new H120 last week from the UK, installed Rockbox on it and I think I got a new little friend... 

I've checked many, many info overhere and on the Rockbox-forum, but can't any info about the gain-settings on a Rockboxed H120 while recording analog line in without any pre-amp.

I do mostly pop-/rockconcerts recordings at all kind of venues (small concerts with an attendance of a couple of hundred persons 'till large stadium-gigs with 60.000 people).
Are there any people who want to share their experiences with the (pre)gain-settings with a rig (see my sig) and circumstances as described?
If possible with venue-specifications, kind of concert and any more worthfull info.

I used a JB3 'till now and mostly had the gain-settings on it at 0dB or a little less and normalized (+ 6-10 dB) afterwards.

Thanks in advance.
Greetings from Amsterdam!