Author Topic: JB3 Stability... (Read 13451 times)

phishn · « **on:** February 21, 2004, 08:39:32 PM »

For all you folks who use these, are they stable? Have you had any issues while taping? I'm considering in getting one of these to replace my d8 dat..its part of the eventual migration to laptop and is the next logical step. Guess the question is...Are these JB3's just as reliable and stable as a DAT?

Lee · « **Reply #1 on:** February 21, 2004, 09:21:08 PM »

phishn · « **Reply #2 on:** February 21, 2004, 10:54:07 PM »

thanks..i have spent hours researching these things..but did not find an answer to that question. would you sacrifice a dat for a jb3?

phishn · « **Reply #3 on:** February 21, 2004, 10:55:23 PM »

a search on jb3 stability only results in this thread....

John R · « **Reply #4 on:** February 21, 2004, 10:57:59 PM »

i'm on my way. never thought i'd say it. the jb3 is as stable as the signal you're sending it. do NOT get a co2.

jr

phishn · « **Reply #5 on:** February 21, 2004, 11:00:18 PM »

reason why i ask this is that i saw a thread on the yahoo jb3 group and someone mentioned that out of 14 shows..theirs shut down/screwed up 4 times out of 14..which doesn't seem to be a very good track record.

John R · « **Reply #6 on:** February 21, 2004, 11:03:15 PM »

that was one user. there are many users, here and there, many the same. for 179. you could do a lot worse. i got it as a test piece. it is well on the way to becoming the primary.

jr

phishn · « **Reply #7 on:** February 21, 2004, 11:35:45 PM »

thanks..think ill do the same. run the dat and jb3 for a while through the ua-5. when and if i get comfortable with the results..sell the d8.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2004, 12:33:07 AM »

Quote from: phishn on February 21, 2004, 11:00:18 PM

reason why i ask this is that i saw a thread on the yahoo jb3 group and someone mentioned that out of 14 shows..theirs shut down/screwed up 4 times out of 14..which doesn't seem to be a very good track record.

what firmware??? etc??? i would seriously like to know these things, im loving the jb3, my ONLY problems were the hosa batts, but those are taken care of since i got my electrical tape

caymanreview · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2004, 03:57:23 AM »

Quote from: John R on February 21, 2004, 10:57:59 PM

the jb3 is as stable as the signal you're sending it. do NOT get a co2.

quite true! definantly feed it an optical output from your gear, or use the hose box for coax/aes > optical

i used one for quite some time, and never had one single problem.

one time in particulor, i used the jb3 (plugged in, not on the internal batts) for a small local festival. i recorded 10 bands that played at least an hour, more of them played 1.5 hrs. this was in july, 100 degree heat, plus high illinois humidity, direct sunlight. and the thing functioned without a glitch one. that is about as much of a test as you can put a piece of gear on i would say!

buy one, you wont be dissapointed!

Humbug · « **Reply #10 on:** February 22, 2004, 10:29:07 AM »

Quote from: phishn on February 21, 2004, 11:00:18 PM

reason why i ask this is that i saw a thread on the yahoo jb3 group and someone mentioned that out of 14 shows..theirs shut down/screwed up 4 times out of 14..which doesn't seem to be a very good track record.

That was me! Actually it was more like 4 recordings out of 30, and for all of those I was stealthing in hot, crowded clubs.

I suspect the shut-downs are due to my being bumped, or overheating, though if anyone knows the cause I'd like to know.

Overall I am very happy with the Nomad. Never used DAT but its a marked improvement over minidisc.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #11 on:** February 22, 2004, 10:33:10 AM »

Quote from: Humbug on February 22, 2004, 10:29:07 AM

Quote from: phishn on February 21, 2004, 11:00:18 PM
reason why i ask this is that i saw a thread on the yahoo jb3 group and someone mentioned that out of 14 shows..theirs shut down/screwed up 4 times out of 14..which doesn't seem to be a very good track record.

That was me! Actually it was more like 4 recordings out of 30, and for all of those I was stealthing in hot, crowded clubs.

I suspect the shut-downs are due to my being bumped, or overheating, though if anyone knows the cause I'd like to know.

Overall I am very happy with the Nomad. Never used DAT but its a marked improvement over minidisc.

did you have the "hold"function on???

Humbug · « **Reply #12 on:** February 22, 2004, 10:40:35 AM »

Quote

did you have the "hold"function on???

Yes. A couple of the times this happened I fired the Nomad up again and only lost a few minutes recording.

IR remote off, EAX off, everything else as recommended in the JB3tapers forum FAQ. Running 1.20.06 firmware.

phishn · « **Reply #13 on:** February 22, 2004, 10:47:23 AM »

thanks humbug for the clarification. looks like for non stealth applications, the jb3 is stable enough. bean..i'll most likely be sending you a pm and money today for yours...just need to explain to the wife what i am doing so she doesnt go nuts when new gear suddenly shows up.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #14 on:** February 22, 2004, 10:47:52 AM »

Quote from: Humbug on February 22, 2004, 10:40:35 AM

Quote
did you have the "hold"function on???

Yes. A couple of the times this happened I fired the Nomad up again and only lost a few minutes recording.

IR remote off, EAX off, everything else as recommended in the JB3tapers forum FAQ. Running 1.20.06 firmware.

hmmmmmmmm

caymanreview · « **Reply #15 on:** February 22, 2004, 11:08:53 AM »

i seriously dought it was from overheating, i ran mine in direct sunlight, on a july summer midwest day, it was at least 100+ degrees and 100% humidity... thats about as rough as it gets

seethreepo · « **Reply #16 on:** February 22, 2004, 12:42:00 PM »

Quote from: phishn on February 22, 2004, 10:47:23 AM

just need to explain to the wife what i am doing so she doesnt go nuts when new gear suddenly shows up.

dude never explain the new gear if she asks about the $$ just say you fixed the roof or something

phishn · « **Reply #17 on:** February 22, 2004, 01:38:08 PM »

im just gonna tell her the truth...the jb3 a little more than half the price of the dat, active cable, i have now, and half the hassle...no media needed, and no spending hours transferring stuff. plus..when not taping..makes a great player. my dat just sits..never use it for anything but record and transfer. So, what im gonna do is run it in parallel with the dat until i get comfortable with it, setting levels, etc. Then sell the dat.

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #18 on:** February 22, 2004, 05:20:48 PM »

My JB3 has proven 100% stable in my 100hrs or so of use (field-simulated test + actual field use) to replace DAT outright. I've run ~60 hrs of bit-perfect tests and ~40 hrs additional recording without the bit-perfect tests. The bit-perfect tests showed the JB3 to be 100% perfect¹ in my setup.

Anecdotal experiences I've seen referenced in a few different user forums (primarily here, Yahoo NJB3Tapers group, Oade, and a bit on Nomadness.net) seem to indicate the JB3s digital-in reliability is impacted by the signal feeding it. So...your mileage may vary depending on the specific links in your recording chain.

If you're gonna do it, run your DAT as backup until you're comfortable with the reliability in your specific situation (else you'll kick yourself later for missing something if you run into a problem until you're personally satisfied).

FWIW, I'm running V3 > Hosa ODL-312 > JB3 and I don't run the DAT as a backup anymore.

¹ The first bunch of samples when initiating a recording are not always bit-perfect and may be related to HD spin-up time. All subsequent samples have proven 100% bir-perfect in my ~60 hrs of testing. I still label the JB3 as bit-perfect because this issue is repeatable and easily avoided by simply starting your recording a second or two earlier than you would otherwise.

Lee · « **Reply #19 on:** February 23, 2004, 01:38:03 AM »

Brian,

I'm wondering if you've tested it as bit-perfect coming off of pause... what I've been doing is starting the recording, letting it run for a few seconds, and hitting pause. When I'm ready to go for the long haul, just take it off pause. Seems to get rid of the obvious digital farts, but I've never really gotten down to the nitty-gritty and done "real" tests.

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #20 on:** February 23, 2004, 01:47:13 AM »

Quote from: Lee on February 23, 2004, 01:38:03 AM

I'm wondering if you've tested it as bit-perfect coming off of pause...

Nah, I haven't bothered as for me it's a moot issue either way. I just always make sure I fire it up a few seconds earlier than usual. I actually just started using the record > pause.......un-pause method on the JB3. (You'd think it would be ingrained in my brain after running DAT so much.) If I get around to running a "pause...unpause" test I'll post results, though I'm mostly done with my testing.

Lee · « **Reply #21 on:** February 23, 2004, 02:02:34 AM »

No worries... thanks for confirming what some of us have known for over a year now

+T

And to think, yall all made fun of me for selling my d8 back in january 03

Brian Skalinder · « **Reply #22 on:** February 23, 2004, 02:05:35 AM »

Quote from: Lee on February 23, 2004, 02:02:34 AM

No worries... thanks for confirming what some of us have known for over a year now

+T

And to think, yall all made fun of me for selling my d8 back in january 03

Uhmmmm...I see the wink, but I think I'm missing it. Time for sleep, obviously!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #23 on:** February 23, 2004, 09:14:11 AM »

jb3 YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY

Todd R · « **Reply #24 on:** February 23, 2004, 11:16:12 AM »

I have had a Nomad JB3 since October or November of 2002. I have recorded about 350-400 field hours at shows in all kinds of conditions. I have pretty much never had any problems with it, except:

1) forgetting to clear the drive and having the recording of a show get cut short due to lack of HD space

2) breaking off the mini optical cable end that goes into the jb3 (I have always feed it a digital signal)

Problem (1) is obviously user error, no fault of the JB3. Problem (2) was a bit of an issue, as I went through half a dozen optical cable adapters. Since I've started using right angle adapter for the optical cable and taping it down to the JB3, I've had no problems. All in all, I think it is a very reliable unit.

BTW, I feed it an optical signal from an old Digicon DC2 scms stripper and format converter, which works great. Not of much help to anyone else though since you'll never be able to find one of these. Also, I still run a DAT backup, currently with an M1. The tapes keep piling up everywhere, more often than not I never even get around to labeling them. Still run the DAT though, don't ask me why.

-Todd

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #25 on:** February 23, 2004, 11:26:16 AM »

if my jb3 copies are up to par, id prolly give sideshow all of my backup dats

phishn · « **Reply #26 on:** February 23, 2004, 11:52:47 AM »

could problem 2 be fixed with the dremel tool shaving fix mentioned somewhere on this board?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #27 on:** February 23, 2004, 12:03:16 PM »

FWIW, my hosa toslink>mini that costigan gave me fits perfectly

joemango · « **Reply #28 on:** February 23, 2004, 02:12:16 PM »

get the 1.32.02 firmware!!!

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #29 on:** February 23, 2004, 02:21:51 PM »

Quote from: Lee on February 23, 2004, 01:38:03 AM

Brian,

I'm wondering if you've tested it as bit-perfect coming off of pause... what I've been doing is starting the recording, letting it run for a few seconds, and hitting pause. When I'm ready to go for the long haul, just take it off pause. Seems to get rid of the obvious digital farts, but I've never really gotten down to the nitty-gritty and done "real" tests.

w/ the latest firmawre, i tried this, and its quite audible, so i wouldnt try it w/ 1.40.06

it soundz like the hiccup ya'll are talkin about

Todd R · « **Reply #30 on:** February 24, 2004, 12:31:41 PM »

Quote from: phishn on February 23, 2004, 11:52:47 AM

could problem 2 be fixed with the dremel tool shaving fix mentioned somewhere on this board?

The problem wasn't that the optical wouldn't fit, it was that those little plastic Toslink>mini adapters are fragile and I would often break them when I accidently moved the optical cable. Taping down a right angle adapter so no strain gets put on it works wonders.

phishn · « **Reply #31 on:** February 24, 2004, 01:44:07 PM »

Another question regarding stability...how do these jb3's work for multiple night runs? For example, if i take one to vegas, I will be recording 3 nights in a row, not formatting the drive until i get home to transfer the shows. someone mentioned that they formatted after every show and never had a problem.

phishn · « **Reply #32 on:** February 24, 2004, 01:48:18 PM »

"not formatting the drive until i get home to transfer the shows. " not formatting the drive until AFTER i get home and transfer the shows...lol

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #33 on:** February 24, 2004, 01:50:50 PM »

Quote from: phishn on February 24, 2004, 01:44:07 PM

Another question regarding stability...how do these jb3's work for multiple night runs? For example, if i take one to vegas, I will be recording 3 nights in a row, not formatting the drive until i get home to transfer the shows. someone mentioned that they formatted after every show and never had a problem.

ive been doing those tests too, i taped 18.5 hrs on the jb3 before formatting, i was testing my batt for the hosa and i didnt want to format till it was done,a nd also to hear if anything was audible from not formatting for awhile, like festival, so i saved the last file and gave a big chunk a listen, and i hear no glitches, i would have no worries bro

Nick in Edinboro · « **Reply #34 on:** February 24, 2004, 03:24:30 PM »

Quote from: phishn on February 24, 2004, 01:44:07 PM

Another question regarding stability...how do these jb3's work for multiple night runs? For example, if i take one to vegas, I will be recording 3 nights in a row, not formatting the drive until i get home to transfer the shows. someone mentioned that they formatted after every show and never had a problem.

I've had mine since last June or July, right around when my D7 bit the dust. I've taped somewhere around, oh jeesh I dunno, 45-60 concerts between then and now and have yet to format/defrag the drive. I've had the JB3 fill up on me 3 times--once at a moe. show and had to quickly delete some stuff!

Anyways, through all that filling up, deleting off, filling up again it's been rock solid. I feed mine via a UA-5.

HTH,
Nick (still haven't formatted/defragged mine--probably should)

Todd R · « **Reply #35 on:** February 24, 2004, 03:26:24 PM »

I've never had a problem with the JB3 in a year and a half, and have only reformatted once a few months back. Won't be a problem on that account. Go with a lot of room on the HD and you won't have a problem. You should be able to get about 30 hours of recording on the 20gb model. Plenty of space for 3 nights of phish and 3 latenights of moe, assuming you can go that hard.

Ed. · « **Reply #36 on:** February 25, 2004, 04:05:33 AM »

hmm, you know, now that i think of it the only time i had problems with this is when i was feeding the nomad an analog signal...i picked up the formatting before shows back in my analog days and have just been doing it as habit now that i'm in the digitial age. i wonder if the analog vs. digital makes a difference? Maybe i should try it out and go awhile without formatting it. i might be wrong on the whole formatting issue...however, then again, it still doesn't hurt.

ed

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #37 on:** February 25, 2004, 07:59:26 AM »

i think the most sensible thing to do is disc cleanup tho, that way you still have "your" settings on it and dont have to go back thru and redo anything, plus, once you are moving files around, it coulnt hurt, thats for sure

but from now on, im just defraging before tours or whatnot

Lee · « **Reply #38 on:** February 25, 2004, 04:09:11 PM »

how do you defrag? I should probably do that...

phishn · « **Reply #39 on:** February 25, 2004, 05:56:02 PM »

Quote from: Todd R on February 24, 2004, 03:26:24 PM

I've never had a problem with the JB3 in a year and a half, and have only reformatted once a few months back. Won't be a problem on that account. Go with a lot of room on the HD and you won't have a problem. You should be able to get about 30 hours of recording on the 20gb model. Plenty of space for 3 nights of phish and 3 latenights of moe, assuming you can go that hard.

Thats awesome...don't think I can go that hard to catch the late night moe..especially substance free. Geez..the late night moe would probably end around 3 am..thats 6 am my time.

phishn · « **Reply #40 on:** February 28, 2004, 09:34:27 PM »

Quote from: Lee on February 25, 2004, 04:09:11 PM

how do you defrag? I should probably do that...

Yes, how does one defrag and/or reformat the jb3 drive?

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #41 on:** February 28, 2004, 10:29:56 PM »

Quote from: phishn on February 28, 2004, 09:34:27 PM

Quote from: Lee on February 25, 2004, 04:09:11 PM
how do you defrag? I should probably do that...

Yes, how does one defrag and/or reformat the jb3 drive?

didnt you do this yet???i explained how, if not, AIM me

phishn · « **Reply #42 on:** February 28, 2004, 11:08:42 PM »

Yes I did. Thanks bean and +T. I shot this message out so others who were wondering could know too. Anyhows, the format and disk cleanup is done in the reset menu. To get there, take out the DC chord if used, and take out the internal batteries. Put the internal batttery back in while holding down the stop button. Once you see the creative labs logo, press the play button once and you will see the menu.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #43 on:** February 29, 2004, 12:52:34 AM »

Quote from: phishn on February 28, 2004, 11:08:42 PM

Yes I did. Thanks bean and +T. I shot this message out so others who were wondering could know too. Anyhows, the format and disk cleanup is done in the reset menu. To get there, take out the DC chord if used, and take out the internal batteries. Put the internal batttery back in while holding down the stop button. Once you see the creative labs logo, press the play button once and you will see the menu.

or substitute the reset button w/ a paPerclip and do the same thing w/ the stop, play thing

just hold stop, get a paperclip, while holding stop, you press the reset button, and once the creative screen come up, let go of stop and pree play once, this should take you to the reset menu where you can reboot, disc cleanup, reload OS, and reformat the drive

bean

Ed. · « **Reply #44 on:** March 01, 2004, 05:27:47 AM »

avoid the reload OS option, you could be in some trouble if you click this one. i actually did it when i first got mine by mistake, had to reinstall all the firmware and drivers on it from scratch. it was a mess.

F.O.Bean · « **Reply #45 on:** March 01, 2004, 11:06:48 AM »

Quote from: SpeshulEd on March 01, 2004, 05:27:47 AM

avoid the reload OS option, you could be in some trouble if you click this one. i actually did it when i first got mine by mistake, had to reinstall all the firmware and drivers on it from scratch. it was a mess.

thanks for the heads up ed

Albix714 · « **Reply #46 on:** September 13, 2004, 11:28:37 PM »

I have recorded a hand full of shows this year using AKG 393 > UA5 > CO2 > optical >JB3. All recorings went fine except for the last one. I had dropped samples all over the place. Is the Hosa ODL-276 the best replacement for the CO2? (I'm guessing that the CO2 is the problem).

Ed. · « **Reply #47 on:** September 15, 2004, 05:57:16 AM »

i have no experience with the hosa, but from what i remember reading...everyone that uses it, loves it.

Humbug · « **Reply #48 on:** September 16, 2004, 08:29:56 AM »

I had a bad experience stealthing a couple of weeks ago (@ Velvet Revolver).

Hostile (well maybe just overexcited) crowd, knocking into me all the time, yelling shit at me because I wasn't moshing, horribly hot, you get the picture.

Nomad JB3 shut down on me four times, ruining the recording.

Like I said, environmental problems, most of the time the Nomad is fine. Made a sweet recording of The Stills two days ago, which almost makes up for it

Ed. · « **Reply #49 on:** September 16, 2004, 11:52:39 AM »

i taped the yeah yeah yeahs and they had the locust open up fot them - holy shit, wild crowd. all i did was tell the guys bumping into me that i was taping. they stopped immediately and before i knew it i had blockers.

For the record, i'm almost certain the stills are open taping. you could probably even get a board patch if you really wanted one.

Humbug · « **Reply #50 on:** September 16, 2004, 12:48:17 PM »

Bit hard asking people to be quiet when you're stealth taping and your mics are right below your chin! In any case the VR audience were so dumb I think it would have made it worse..

The Stills may be open taping (actually, I'd like to know for sure, and would love to send them a copy), but all venues that I know about in the UK are no-taping, hence almost all my recordings are stealth. To be honest I can't imagine that a board patch would have sounded better than the room acoustics at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, really amazing place.

Ed. · « **Reply #51 on:** September 16, 2004, 01:22:15 PM »

didn't know you were in the uk, yeah from what i hear - its a bit harder to tape over there.

when i taped the locust i just pointed at my mics and at my nomad and people got the hint. however after about 5 minutes into the set i stopped taping cuz i thought the music was crap. then after showing about 20 friends what i was subjected to, i started getting into it. now i really wish i woulda taped. oh well, shoulda woulda coulda.

Author Topic: JB3 Stability... (Read 13451 times)

Albix714