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Author Topic: Roland RO5 + CAFS  (Read 3603 times)

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Offline clucking

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Roland RO5 + CAFS
« on: June 04, 2017, 01:29:47 AM »
Total noob so apologies.  Recorded my first show today - small club, acoustic blues singer/guitarist plugged in, and somewhat loud.  I ran CAFS (mounted on glasses) into a CA Ugly Battery Box (fresh battery), into Roland R-05 via Mic-In port.  I had input set to about 55 for the first half of the show, cranked it up to 65 for the second half.

Problem:  The recording came out INCREDIBLY quiet, like barely audible at full volume.  I used Audacity to amplify the second half (which was recorded at 65) to listen to it, and there is lots of hiss, and distortion when the levels peak. 

Not really sure what the problem is.  I've been messing around with the inputs and settings for a couple of hours now and am getting nowhere.  Any advice is very appreciated.

-Charlie

Offline dallman

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2017, 12:10:50 PM »
I often run R05>CA Ugly (preamp) > CAFS, so a similar setup. That said, I always run it into my Line In jack, not my mic jack. You mention loud and acoustic. In my experience, Acoustic is rarely loud, when looking at the ability of these types of recorders especially when compared to other types of music. Did you have Plug in power off? Where were your meters? They must have been barely moving if you had that quiet of a recording. What were your switches on the back of the deck set at, primarily gain. It is difficult to say without knowing all your settings, because those could affect the outcome. I know that if I am recording an acoustic show through line in, my gain is on low (sometimes I could raise it to high, but I don't) and my levels could be anywhere from 45 to 80 depending on the volume. I keep the low cut and limiter switch off. My CA Ugly is the original type, so there is no gain switch on that, it remains constant.

More information could help, I will confess though that having never used the mic input, I would guess that would be more sensitive, but again without knowing your settings, it is tough to say.
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Offline clucking

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2017, 06:12:29 PM »
Thanks for your reply Dallman.  He was playing acoustic guitar plugged into the house speakers in a very small club, and so it was what I could call quite loud.
 
Meters weren't moving at all.
Plug-in power was off.
Gain was set to low. 
I had the input recording level at 55 at the beginning, but seeing nothing happening with the meters I cranked it up to 65.

At one point, as he was tuning up before he began playing, I unplugged the microphones, and the R-05 switched to the built-in mics for about 2 seconds.  That moment of recording came out up-front and crystal-clear at a good volume, until I plugged the mics back in.  This leads me to believe that perhaps there's a problem with the mics. 

After the show I tested out all sorts of combos of settings at my desk, mic input/line-in input, gain at low and high, cranking the record input level all the way up to 80, and really got very little difference in what was ultimately extremely quiet recordings of me speaking directly into the mics.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2017, 06:14:14 PM by clucking »

Offline Thierry

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2017, 01:10:42 AM »
Total noob so apologies.  Recorded my first show today - small club, acoustic blues singer/guitarist plugged in, and somewhat loud.  I ran CAFS (mounted on glasses) into a CA Ugly Battery Box (fresh battery), into Roland R-05 via Mic-In port.  I had input set to about 55 for the first half of the show, cranked it up to 65 for the second half.

Problem:  The recording came out INCREDIBLY quiet, like barely audible at full volume.  I used Audacity to amplify the second half (which was recorded at 65) to listen to it, and there is lots of hiss, and distortion when the levels peak. 

Not really sure what the problem is.  I've been messing around with the inputs and settings for a couple of hours now and am getting nowhere.  Any advice is very appreciated.

-Charlie

Yup line in would be the right option. Only use the mic in without pre amp or battery box.

Offline aaronji

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2017, 06:47:18 AM »
^ Mic-in with a battery box is a good option for quieter shows...

Offline dallman

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2017, 02:21:00 PM »
Thanks for supplying the details clucking. The meters not moving at all certainly supports that there was a problem. It has to be the battery box or the mics, as you learned from the internals working fine. It is easy to test the mics, just turn on PIP, plug the mics into "mic in" and test. You should get reasonable or greater levels. If so it is the battery box, although it is possible it could be the cable between the battery box and deck, but much more likely is the battery or the battery box itself. I know you said the battery was fresh, but stranger things have happened.

As far as loud goes, I have no doubt it was, but in general, the capacity of these units and with a decent mic preamp or mic battery box is such that they can handle ear piercing shows, so that was my point that in general it wasn't a loud show, but it obviously was loud enough that you should have gotten decent levels or better, especially with the R-05 which is fairly sensitive.

Keep us posted and keep recording!! I have been recording since 1970, and after about 20 years I got pretty good at it. 8)
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Offline clucking

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Re: Roland RO5 + CAFS
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2017, 07:52:11 PM »
Thanks Everybody and especially Dallman - I'll test the mics as recommended, very much appreciate the advice!

 

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