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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: MirjamLCV on December 24, 2009, 12:07:08 PM
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In January, I want to do live recording of a group of musicians in the Thar desert (India). I photograph and film, but am new to this...
I did some testrecordings using My Edirol R-09 and an external microphone (Edirol CS-15) and followed the manual's instructions to set the input levels. But - although pressing the plus - I can never go higher than an input level of 30 (is that normal?). I set these settings: 48,0 Hz, WAV-24bit.
But when I listen to my recording (iTunes, a .wav file), it's way too soft! It's really nothing compared to the great sound samples I found on the internet. Whatever settings I try, the recorded sound is really soft (and the 'real sound' is not!). Any advice would be very much appreciated... I am starting to get pretty nervous about this!
Thank you! Mirjam
Thanks,
Mirjam | www.duniya.org
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Hi Mirjam,
The Edirol R-09 recording levels only go up to a maximum of 30 so that's completely normal. As for your levels being very low, there may be a number of reasons for it. You'll want to make sure that it's not your recorder and this should be done very easily just by unplugging your external mics and making sure it records at acceptable levels. I doubt you'd really ever need to go as high as 30 unless you are recording the quietest of sounds. Try plugging your mics into the line in or mic jack or whichever one you are not using. Finally check with the mic manufacturers that you don't need a pre-amp or battery box of some sort. It is possible that this can be fixed in post too but obviously you'll want to make recordings at normal levels.
Good luck
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Thanks for your reaction. The sonds I was trying to record was not quiet, and I started without the external mic. I bought that one only because I thought that was the solution. So also without the external mic, the levels are extremely low. I mean, the levels in the screem seem normal, but when I play back, when I hear it on my computer (Mac Pro, very good speakers...) it's very low. Maybe it's the Edirol itself?
Thanks,
Mirjam
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At what level does the music peak? -6 dB? lower or higher?
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What kind of mics do you use? They might need "plug-in" power. Go into menu > Input setup and set plug in power to "On" and see if that makes a difference, make sure you turn the levels down to 8 or so though so you don't overload your levels. Some mic's need plug in power, whether that be from a battery box, a pre-amp, or the plug in power supplied by your R-09.
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What kind of mics do you use? They might need "plug-in" power.
Although, if I understand correctly, the OP is stating that the recorded audio is too low even using the the R-09's internals. I would be interested to know what the levels look like on the R-09 while recording. Are they barely moving or are they going all the way up? Using the internals and setting your input level to 30 will easily be able to pick up a very quiet conversation from a couple of feet away.
Mirjam, I know this is kind of silly but you definitely do want to eliminate all possibilities. It may be your recorder but it also may be where you are playing back your file from. Make sure that whatever software you are using for playback has it's volume up and also make sure that your speaker volume is set high enough too.
Failing all that, it may be a defective recorder.
Good luck.