Topic: problem with r-09

[simon151]

I was taping a show last night with my r-09 and every thing seems fine, ie levels are good.
So i get home and open the files 1st one is fine
the 2nd one looks like this...


First two and a half minutes are fine then noise...
Nothing changed equipment wise...and like i said levels appeared to be working fine...
Any one else experience a similar problem?
Simon

[floete]

so are you saying that, on the 2nd recording, you checked the levels several times during the taping and they looked good; or that you checked the levels at the beginning of the recording and they looked good then?  not that it makes much of a difference, because certainly something went wrong.  and it's not as if the levels were changed by pressing on the button, since there's no ramp up; the change is instantaneous, from the looks of the waveform.

i had the opposite problem: my levels went from normal to a flat line, instantly.  after a discussion here, i sent it back to edirol/roland.  at one point, they told me that it needed a new board, whatever that is; but i didn't get the feeling they knew exactly what the problem was; just that maybe a fresh board would take care of it.  after some minor whining on my part, they said they'd send me a new unit.  i haven't rx'd it yet.  still, i rather like the company for taking care of me that way.

otoh, i sure wish i knew what the problem was w/ my old one.

anyway, that's my story.  i hope yours has a more-or-less happy ending as well.

[guysonic]

This seems a major failure of something. 

Hard to tell if even accidentally switching the mic input to high gain could produce this kind of occurrence, but this seems unlikely to produce just noise.   

Could a low battery cause this?

Does the deck appear to still be working? 

Maybe do an in-house test replicating recording/battery conditions when making this recording to see if the deck or the flash card failed to work as some point.

[divamum]

Please do post back if you find out what it is - I really like my R09, but I want to be able to RELY on it. Ok, two user reports of a problem is hardly a definitive sample, but even so.... since I think I bought mine about the same time as these units (got mine at hte end of October in a batch from bpm music) it makes me a little wary to rely on mine as the only rig I'll run for an important live performance. 

So... I'd be very interested to know what it is. 

btw, I posted this info in Floete's thread the other week, but I WILL throw this out again in case it is relevant (real longshot, I know, but fwiw, especially if you didn't have the hold button locked):

One day I was setting levels on mine while it was in the Treo phone case -  I pushed the level buttons (through the elastic) and even when I stopped pushing the level kept changing until it hit the limit - I assume the elastic was just snug enough to keep the button pressed in even after I had stopped pushing it with my finger.  I took it out of hte case and it stopped immediately and I changed the levels to the ones I needed and it was fine and absolutely stable. 

Anyway, please let us know if you figure out what it was!

[tapeworm48]

i had the same issue in october.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=74817.0

very random.  not a low battery.  i didnt change anything either.  i used the R09 w/ internal mics for 5 mins.  have yet to come to a conclusion on this one.

is there a way to contact roland to inquire about this?

[divamum]

Divamum....

If you take some fine scissors (embroidery type. for me, my fly tying scissors), you can trim away some of the elastic on the sides of your case. This will loosen the grip of it a wee bit.
ex: Cut away enough elastic to reveal the gain switches on one side,.. and the hold button on the other side.

Its not much, but it does loosen things up a touch.

Good tip! Yeah, that's actually what I did after that happened (meant to do it as soon as I got it but ever the procrastinator...). Also means I can use cans without having to take it out of the case.  I need to throw some superglue or that Fray Stop goo you can get at the sewing store on the holes lest they get trashed, but for the time being it's fine.

[simon151]

so are you saying that, on the 2nd recording, you checked the levels several times during the taping and they looked good; or that you checked the levels at the beginning of the recording and they looked good then?  not that it makes much of a difference, because certainly something went wrong.  and it's not as if the levels were changed by pressing on the button, since there's no ramp up; the change is instantaneous, from the looks of the waveform.

Yeah I was checking fairly often, ie every 15 mins or so(a bad habit i know) and everything was fine...and when its played back on the r09 it shows the levels maxed and the peak light on.

This seems a major failure of something. 

Hard to tell if even accidentally switching the mic input to high gain could produce this kind of occurrence, but this seems unlikely to produce just noise.  

Could a low battery cause this?

Does the deck appear to still be working? 

Maybe do an in-house test replicating recording/battery conditions when making this recording to see if the deck or the flash card failed to work as some point.

Well I had my mics running off the Line-IN, which doesnt appear to be affected by the gain switch, which is funny cause I found this out when i toggled it at
the beginging of the first recording (which turned out fine)

Batteries were Energizer NiMH 2500 mAh and were fully charged and was only recording for just under two hours.

It seems fine I've been messing around all morning and cant seem to get it to do it again.
Which is both a good and bad thing...
Simon

[guysonic]

"Yeah I was checking fairly often, ie every 15 mins or so(a bad habit i know) and everything was fine...and when its played back on the r09 it shows the levels maxed and the peak light on."

This would indicate the deck was processing the A/D recording process in OK manner, but maybe the flash memory had a different perspective of the data.  This may be why the problem shows ONLY upon playback, which depends on stored data being written correctly.

What make/model of flash were you using?

[SClassical]

i had the same issue in october.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=74817.0

very random.  not a low battery.  i didnt change anything either.  i used the R09 w/ internal mics for 5 mins.  have yet to come to a conclusion on this one.

is there a way to contact roland to inquire about this?

Same thing happen to me, too!!! It Are you using the current firmware? I was using the old one when it happened.

[tapeworm48]

"Yeah I was checking fairly often, ie every 15 mins or so(a bad habit i know) and everything was fine...and when its played back on the r09 it shows the levels maxed and the peak light on."

same here.  i was open taping w/ the recorder in my hand, so everything looked to be going fine w/ it.  just couldnt play it back properly.  never tried playing it via the R09 itself.  transcend 4gb card, using the 1.03 firmware.  24 bit 44k.

[simon151]

[/quote]

same here.  i was open taping w/ the recorder in my hand, so everything looked to be going fine w/ it.  just couldnt play it back properly.  never tried playing it via the R09 itself.  transcend 4gb card, using the 1.03 firmware.  24 bit 44k.

[/quote]

I was running the exact setup as that aswell...I tried recording another show last night and everything went perfectly...maybe just a freak glitch?

Simon

[tapeworm48]

I was running the exact setup as that aswell...I tried recording another show last night and everything went perfectly...maybe just a freak glitch?

Simon

even if its a freak glitch, i'd like to get to the bottom of it.  while taping i wont know if there is an issue since the levels seem to be recording things justfine...

[simon151]

even if its a freak glitch, i'd like to get to the bottom of it.  while taping i wont know if there is an issue since the levels seem to be recording things justfine...

Yep cause nothing sucks more than all night thinking you made a great recording then getting home to 2 hours of static...
simon

[udovdh]

24-bit recording?
Try the offset thing to see if the remainder of the file can be turned into something listenable.