Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: Gutbucket on August 25, 2006, 04:06:51 PM
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New thread on wishes for firmware updates the existing Edirol recorder and feature lists for future recorders. Spurred by joekar's post in the Edirol R-09 Release Information -ptII thread (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=68518.new#new (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=68518.new#new)) that Roland may be listening in here. This is a wish and fix it list thread as opposed to that usage oriented thread.
BTW: how can we contact Roland to ask them for features like the peak-hold?
I spoke to Chris at Sound Proffesionals yesterday regarding some wiring issues ( I screwed up) with my AT943's and he told me that the guys at Roland visit this site to see what we have to say about their stuff.....He asked if I had any issues....I told him to tell them that it would be nice to format a 4 gig card inside the R-09 and not have to worry about a PC to do it.....and add the option to shut off the damn I'M STEALTHIN' OVER HERE, BRIGHT RED LIGHT.......He said he would convey my concerns
So let it rip people.....hopefully one of them will join in with the discussion......but then again they probably have their reasons to keep their distance.....Well at least they will read what we have to say...
Chris also said they are already working on the next R-0?.............Hopefully they can shrink the R-09 down to the size of a jelly bean and of course add a digital in.....I'll buy two of them...
OK, Since Roland/Edirol people may be listening here's my newly revised wish list determined by using the unit extensively. I'll state first-off that I love the machine just as it is, way to go! but progress marches continually on and even this great little recorder can be improved. Some of the items on the list below will not apply to concert taping (like adjusting the reverb ratio), but do apply to using the recorder as a sketch book tool for musicians, which I assume is the majority of Edirol's target market.
Obviously not all items below are firmware upgradeable and some may not be realizable given the cost target of the device. No particular order, but the more important stuff is generally closer to the top of the list.
~ [edit: stronger mounting for input jacks]
~ Format support for 4GB SD cards.
~ Optical digital in.
~ Option to kill the red recording light.
~ Option to turn the display off completely (not just dimmed).
~ Peak hold 'line' on level display.
~ Option in recording setup to unlock level adjust when the hold swich is on.
~ Control over wet/dry ratio for reverb in playback setup (much to wet to be useful at all now!).
~ Balance control in recording setup for input (not necessary to adjust while recording).
~ Ability to mark track points (or any time of interest) while recording.
~ Seamlessly start a new file during recording on demand.
~ Eliminate the 'mute' at level 0 for mic and line inputs.
~ Option to use other mic power standards (5v, 10v, 48v) other than 3v. (O.K. if higher voltage/current options are only available
using external power, but at least 5v - 9v on batt. power)
~ Record/Play FLAC.
~ Record/monitor to computer through USB.
~ Record/monitor from computer through USB.
~ Power via USB (might as well charge batt's too).
~ Battery charging using the external power connection.
~ Record while playing back a previously recorded track for later syncing/multitrack editing on computer.
~ Better battery door.
~ Stronger headphone amp (to drive Etymotic 4S to reasonable levels).
~ R-0x with R4 capabilities in an R-09 size (say with two 1/8" stereo mic/line/optical inputs). ;D
~ [edit added] Number track file names with 'R09+date/timestamp' instead of R09-0001..2..3 etc.
Feel free to add your own comments. Edirol are you out there?
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That should keep a couple of engineers busy. ;D Looks like you already addressed the things I would like to see, and a whole bunch more that I would never have even thought of. Good job!
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COOL ;D
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~ Optical digital in.
s/pdif (coax) i/o would be better IMO, and more compatible w/ other devices
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s/pdif (coax) i/o would be better IMO, and more compatible w/ other devices
I hear you. That'd cetainly be nice, but I want to emphasize the point that since it already has optical out using the 1/8" headphone jack, there's really no good design/engineering reason for not making the line in 1/8" jack optical too. It could be done without any additional jacks on the small unit.
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~ Format support for 4GB SD cards.
~ Option to kill, or dim, the red recording light.
~ Option to turn the display off completely (not just dimmed).
~ Peak hold 'line' on level display.
~ Option in recording setup to unlock level adjust when the hold swich is on.
~ Better battery door.
Excellent thread idea, Gutbucket, and excellent thoughts on improving the R-09. My strongest suggestions are the ones quoted from your post (in bold print).
The battery door is just an accident waiting to happen. I'm gentle with my gear, but I have to admit I'm more nervous opening the R-09 battery door to put in a pair of AA batteries than I am about having an iriver opened up with a ton of tiny pieces that could pop out at any second.
And the RED record light is way too bright. I mean, it's great if you're out in a field under a pitch black sky and you want a friend 6 miles away to be able to spot you, because you have the R-09 in record or record-pause mode. Otherwise, it's way too bright for users not wanting to use it as a light saber.
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Support SD/HC (goes up to 32GB), not just 4GB. 8GB Samsung SD cards are available on ebay right now for about $180. If I had an R09, I'd want to use those cards. I agree on all the other stuff. I would also suggest a snap-on 4AA battery pack to triple the recording time. I'd also add Ogg Vorbis recording and playback if we're going to add FLAC.
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I suspect that when using cards over 4GB (assuming they work) you will have to remember to stop recording and start a new file before exceeding the 4GB 32bit memory space limitation of the FAT32 file system to avoid toasting your monster length recording. So larger cards would need a firmware update to stop and save before the 4GB point, ideally.
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In a future Edirol flash recorder, I'd like to see the following:
- Built-in speaker, so that one can easily control the recording without having to use headphones.
- Beep tones to better control the machine in the dark.
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Also, I'm sure this post will garner some flaming, but why are people so eager to have a digital input on the R-09? The reason I ask is because Edirol/Roland has yet to make a device with a bit-accurate digital input... to my knowledge none of their other products (including the popular UA-5) have bit-accurate S/PDIF and/or toslink inputs.
I'm not attacking Edirol/Roland, nor their products. I'm simply wanting clarification from other users as to why they want the digital input despite the fact that it likely would resample the incoming 'data' stream.
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Also, I'm sure this post will garner some flaming, but why are people so eager to have a digital input on the R-09? The reason I ask is because Edirol/Roland has yet to make a device with a bit-accurate digital input... to my knowledge none of their other products (including the popular UA-5) have bit-accurate S/PDIF and/or toslink inputs.
I'm not attacking Edirol/Roland, nor their products. I'm simply wanting clarification from other users as to why they want the digital input despite the fact that it likely would resample the incoming 'data' stream.
I agree.....I don't care about a digi in .....my pre's don't do digital anyway....I just suggested it to make other people happy.......allthough it would be a nice option.........FLAC would be very NICE too...
The battery door appears to be a necessary evil...........SD swapping with my chubby little fingers is a sight to behold....Swapping the CF card on the R-01 was no prize either......
Peace,
jk
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I haven't seen the R09 yet and dunno about its battery door, but the battery door in my Canon A530 digicam covers two AA's and an SD card and works just fine. So there's no good reason for the R09 to screw it up.
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I haven't seen the R09 yet and dunno about its battery door, but the battery door in my Canon A530 digicam covers two AA's and an SD card and works just fine. So there's no good reason for the R09 to screw it up.
The problem with the R-09's battery door is that it's not a more traditional (sturdy) door with a strong hinge... rather, it slides out (after unlocking the lock-switch), and the door itself is a very thin piece of plastic.
Every digital camera I've ever had has a much better battery door. Even the Sony PCM-M1 battery door is much better build quality, IMO.
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I think software fixable issues afe the most reasonable for the short term.
Hardware (the door...) for the R10? ??? ;D
Is it correct that the ADC supports 96 KHz? Could it be supported? Or is the clock the limiting factor?
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More detailed level meters.
I think it gets a little hard to know what the R-09 is peaking at the high end of the meters.
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I just got R-09 and I like it so far (love it actually!), yet to use it in the field :)
However, I was VERY surprised how NOT a big deal the battery/usb port/SD slot door is to use. The way people were complaining & whinning about it in these forums I thought it was this BIIIGGGGG deal or something, and honestly, uh, it was no big deal. In 2 minutes I figured it out and I actually LIKE it this way. Keeps all the ports clearn.
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I'm surprised that no one has mentioned a couple user issues that, while minor, are very inconvenient.
1. Allow the "finder" to wrap round from the last file to the first and vice versa.
2. Allow the "last file played" information to survive a power cycle.
3. Allow the finder to default to the last file recorded when invoked.
Those are most likely easily fixed and a major pain in the rear when using the R-09.
Paul
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1. Allow the "finder" to wrap round from the last file to the first and vice versa.
2. Allow the "last file played" information to survive a power cycle.
3. Allow the finder to default to the last file recorded when invoked.
Good points.
I'll add that it would be helpful to have some way of jumping to a point in a song during playback (like the 'slider' bar in most playback software) instead of holding the FWD button down for ages to move through a large file. For the same reasons, it should be possible to RWD from the beginning of the last entry to get to the near-the-end portions of the previous file.
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More skookum mic input jack.
Is the unit supposed to be used with an external mike or not?
Someone made a conscious decision to put a weak and flimsy input jack there.
Sure, they're going to fix my unit after I mail it halfway around the earth and wait ____ months, but will it be a simple solder that will readily break again?
That battery door doesn't bother me, you just have to learn how to use it.