Topic: D8 Line-in

[Goldiecob]

Hello Tapers,

[Goldiecob]

Sorry about That hello tapers I am curious for ppl who have ran a D8 Line in say via an rca to mini cable.  When doing this what is the proper leval to have the d8 rec leval set at ?  I am curious because i had it set way down my levals were barely peaking over -6db and upon playback still clip.  Do you have to keep them under -12 db when going Line In (not Mic In cuz I know the d8 presucks.)  Thanks for all the info as it looks like with all the people going 24 bit if you have a dat your going to have to patch analog.  Sorry about the double post

[dmaster]

just a tip: Levels. 

also, I'm really not sure what you're talking about to be perfectly honest. 

All I can say, is that with my D8 I kept the levels peaking for the most part at -6, which gives enough headroom for spikes in volume that frequently happen.   Normal volume while recording I attempt to keep it around wherever the solid black dot is, I'm not sure ATM if that's -10 or -12.  (either way, that's where I kept my levels).   If you're still clipping, I'm going to have to assume that you're doing something horribly wrong or you're not reading your levels right or your DAT is actually broken. 

[dnsacks]

Sounds like your recordings are suffering from analog "brickwalling" and not digital clipping.  If an analog singal being fed to a d7/d8 is strong enough to require you to turn the level knob down to below "4" to keep from getting digital overs, then the signal's too strong/loud for the d7/d8's analog signal path and the overloaded signal is going to distort your recording regardless of what your levels are showing.

You'll need to either get attenuators to drop the signal to a level that allows you to turn the d8's level knob above 4 to get proper levels or have the person feeding your d8 the analog signal drop the source level down to achieve the same result.

[Roving Sign]

What is coming in on the RCA to mini cable? Line Level or mic level...?

Unlikely you could overload the line input feeding it a mic level signal...

[guysonic]

Sounds like your recordings are suffering from analog "brickwalling" and not digital clipping.  If an analog singal being fed to a d7/d8 is strong enough to require you to turn the level knob down to below "4" to keep from getting digital overs, then the signal's too strong/loud for the d7/d8's analog signal path and the overloaded signal is going to distort your recording regardless of what your levels are showing.

You'll need to either get attenuators to drop the signal to a level that allows you to turn the d8's level knob above 4 to get proper levels or have the person feeding your d8 the analog signal drop the source level down to achieve the same result.

Good advice.   D7 and D8 have limited LINE input level handling where 1st stage would clip, then level knob would set to <#4.5 setting so VU level to seem OK but sound is distorted.  ~#4.5 level knob setting is indicator to where this first amp stage clipping starts.  Decrease input signal to deck so REC level knob for good VU (suggest <-4dB VU peak) is set above #4.5 mark.

Sony TCD-D100 and PCM-M1 miniDAT decks did NOT have low level line input limitation and could handle at least +4 dBu inputs without clipping.   

More about this on my www.sonicstudios.com/tips.htm page.

[Roving Sign]

I thought the story on D8s was...the MIC input was prone to clipping and the solution was to run the mics into the LINE input...thus reducing, if not eliminating, the chances of clipping...

Seems kind of hard to give him any advice until we know what kind of signal he is sending to the D8 - A pro-level SBD signal would overload the Line Input easily...