Topic: New gear questions: AT853>Naiant Tinybox>Sony PCM-M10

[pwig]

I am pleased to share that Tuesday will be initial run with some new gear. I will be running AT853>Naiant Tinybox>Sony PCM-M10. Anyone else have experience with this rig and could guide me with some settings? I will be recording Wilco.

Thanks!

[acidjack]

Set the tinybox gain setting to low and don't increase it unless you can't get good levels.  Does yours have the "standard" settings, which I think are 10-20-30?

20 will probably work, but again, I'd be conservative.

[pwig]

Set the tinybox gain setting to low and don't increase it unless you can't get good levels.  Does yours have the "standard" settings, which I think are 10-20-30?

20 will probably work, but again, I'd be conservative.

I have three settings on my tiny box, low, medium and high.

would you suggest using the line or mic input on the m10? also, where do you set the recording level on the deck itself?

[noahbickart]

Customer service like this is why I'm so happy with my Naiant product (KCY Littlebox with built-in MS decoding). The fact that it sounds so good is less important to me than the fact that the man who made my gear is willing to help me use it properly. Thanks!

[George]

Set the tinybox gain setting to low and don't increase it unless you can't get good levels.  Does yours have the "standard" settings, which I think are 10-20-30?

20 will probably work, but again, I'd be conservative.

I have three settings on my tiny box, low, medium and high.

would you suggest using the line or mic input on the m10? also, where do you set the recording level on the deck itself?

Line in!   

On the M10 I start at 5 and I use either low or medium on the tinybox, depending on how close I am to the stacks.  I think I've used high once.

[pwig]

Honestly, I get way too many reports of first outings ruined without any testing beforehand.  I would never take anything into the field without getting *very* comfortable in my house.

So, hook everything up, put the mics an inch or so from your hi-fi speakers, and crank them.  Work out levels on tinybox so you don't see the clip LED (which gives you 6dB of headroom above that for v2 and later).  Work out levels on your recorder so you never exceed its input stage headroom and/or 0dBFS.  Everything you do in the field should be no louder than that (my woofer at 1" can hit 132dBSPL at 1kHz at less than 1% THD).

I would do this testing with 100Hz & 1kHz sine waves, which are nice and easy to study distortion/clipping behavior:

analog hard clip:  flat top and bottom, but slightly sloped down from initial peak and perhaps a bit of overshoot (peak slightly above the flat top).
digital hard clip: *very* flat top and bottom, no overshoot.
soft clip in capsule FET: one side of the wave is squished but not flat, other side may look normal.

- tinybox clip LED on, no clipping: you didn't clip tinybox, but you are within 6dB of clipping it.  Be careful!
- tinybox clip LED on, analog hard clip:  you clipped tinybox, lower the gain setting.
- tinybox clip LED not on, analog hard clip:  lower your recorder's input level or tinybox gain if recorder gain is minimum.
- tinybox clip LED not on, digital hard clip:  lower your recorder's input level or tinybox gain if recorder gain is minimum.
- soft clip:  this is nearly always distortion in the microphone's capsule FET--either your source is too loud for your mics, *or* there is a problem with the tinybox/microphone power configuration.  DO NOT take this configuration into the field until you and/or I figure out what the problem is.

I ran a test and have my levels ready to go. Thanks for this information - this is helpful as I run with a new set of gear.

[adrianf74]

Line in.  Somewhere around 4 on the M10 might be fine.  I usually set mine around 4.5 as I remember somebody -- might have been Guy Sonic -- stated unity was around there.

I'd also run the TB on the lowest gain possible.   If you have a chance to go to a "junk show" and roll ahead of time, I'd recommend doing this.  Trying to get good levels at home -- as much as you try -- is a waste of time.  I've always just gone to a bar / club show that was free or dirt cheap to do a trial run and get an idea of what's going on.   Once the show you really want comes around, there is no "TRY" and you might blow that show that was the one in a million.

[F.O.Bean]

I agree with Jon in that you should ALWAYS get used to your gear AT HOME before going to a live show and just "winging it" I run battery runtimes and see how long my batteries will last before they DIE on me And in the process, I get used to the gear so there are no "surprises" at the live show