Edirol R-44 - 4 Channel Recorder (Part Tres)

[leehookem]

So who all here is running a V2 in front of the R44?  What settings do you use so the R44 is at unity?

anybody?

[NOLAfishwater]

So who all here is running a V2 in front of the R44?  What settings do you use so the R44 is at unity?

anybody?

when I ran my sonosax in front of it, I would run the sax as hot as possible. for the R44, I would leave the center knob at 12 and the outer know all the way down then gradually increase the outer knob until the levels looked good. If the channel starts blinking, it means that you are brickwalling, so that can come from your V2 clipping or from adding to much gain on the R44. First check your V2 to make sure you are not clipping and then turn the outer ring down one notch (or until the blinking stops). If you clip, you can turn down the inner knob until you are no longer clipping. Zman runs his V2 hot. Might want to get some input on how hot to run it. I think it is ok to let the OVD led to come on once in a while.

[BayTaynt3d]

If you clip, you can turn down the inner knob until you are no longer clipping.

Not sure about that specific piece of advice. Has that actually worked for you? Thing is, if the inner knob is digital (and I know that's still being debated), turning the inner down when clipping may simply bring the level down so it appears it's not clipping, when in fact the waveform is bricking. I want to say I tested that specific scenario once, which is what convinced me the inner was digital actually, but now I'm a little unsure since it's been a year or so. This is actually worth testing I think. Someone should run a signal into the unit, making sure not to clip the input, then turn up the outer knob until it's clipping the meter, then turn the inner back down enough to stop the meter from clipping, and then examine the waveform. Has anyone else tried this particular test?

[cybergaloot]

From: http://lib.roland.co.jp/manual/en/dl_08-24182/r44_guide_e1.pdf

Note bottom hint.

[bhadella]

If you clip, you can turn down the inner knob until you are no longer clipping.

Not sure about that specific piece of advice. Has that actually worked for you? Thing is, if the inner knob is digital (and I know that's still being debated), turning the inner down when clipping may simply bring the level down so it appears it's not clipping, when in fact the waveform is bricking. I want to say I tested that specific scenario once, which is what convinced me the inner was digital actually, but now I'm a little unsure since it's been a year or so. This is actually worth testing I think. Someone should run a signal into the unit, making sure not to clip the input, then turn up the outer knob until it's clipping the meter, then turn the inner back down enough to stop the meter from clipping, and then examine the waveform. Has anyone else tried this particular test?

I agree.  I've run a Sonosax and Aerco wide open (with the outer ring at +4, and the inner at 12:00) and was unity with those units (ie. analog and digital clipping are the same).  You will brickwall if you try to turn the inner ring down from 12:00 to attempt to attenuate a digitally clipping signal. 

[BayTaynt3d]

From: http://lib.roland.co.jp/manual/en/dl_08-24182/r44_guide_e1.pdf

Note bottom hint.

That image file visually explains perfectly why both the inner knob and the limiter are dead to me, LOL.

[cybergaloot]

There are some errors or maybe somewhat misleading info in Edirol's literature though. At one point in the document I gave the link to they mention adjusting the sensitivity (outer knob) and watching the clip indicator to the right of the display. That seems to be fine if you have the level knob (inner) set to 12:00 but the real clip indicator for the sensitivity setting is the reversing of the channel markers on the left. Its not very intuitive at first. I wish there was a way to switch the "meters" between the digital and the analog sides. But once you get used to it, it works ok.

[sanaka]

Hey I got mine!! WooHoo!!

My Team board post here

Oade Super Mod:





Peace

[Gutbucket]

From: http://lib.roland.co.jp/manual/en/dl_08-24182/r44_guide_e1.pdf

Note bottom hint.

That image file visually explains perfectly why both the inner knob and the limiter are dead to me, LOL.

^^^
After the last round of confusion I'm completely back on board with this view. 

Welcome to 4 channel fun sanaka.

[cybergaloot]

From: http://lib.roland.co.jp/manual/en/dl_08-24182/r44_guide_e1.pdf

Note bottom hint.

That image file visually explains perfectly why both the inner knob and the limiter are dead to me, LOL.

^^^
After the last round of confusion I'm completely back on board with this view. 

Welcome to 4 channel fun sanaka.

It seems that Edirol somewhat murkily says in their literature that the inner knob is all on the digital side and that 12:00 is unity, from what I gather from quotes of Doug Oade, he says he traced some of the circuitry and that the inner knob works at least partially on the analog side. Sorry Doug, I'm going with Edirol until proven wrong. No offense, but they built the thing, not that they couldn't be wrong in their literature but ...

What this effectively does is make the "meter" on the digital side and somewhat meaningless unless the inner knob is set to unity. The only true metering of just the analog side is those channel markers reversing when clipping, and I'm not even sure about that. So I agree about the inner knob, set it and forget it. There may be some situation where it is useful but I can't think of one. Maybe to bring up low levels when running 16 bit.

BTW, the meters seem to work just fine with the inner knob at unity even if they are on the digital side. They are just a bit hard to read.

[Ozpeter]

What this effectively does is make the "meter" on the digital side and somewhat meaningless unless the inner knob is set to unity.

Well, yes, though I'd reword that to say that they are somewhat meaningless unless you have first checked analog levels with the inner knob set to unity.  Having got that right, you can then - if you really want - change the level of the inner knob to add digital gain and monitor the level of that on the meters, which will then be giving you meaninful digital-domain info.

[Ozpeter]

Meanwhile - c'mon Edirol, where's the promised bugfix firmware update??

[cybergaloot]

What this effectively does is make the "meter" on the digital side and somewhat meaningless unless the inner knob is set to unity.

Well, yes, though I'd reword that to say that they are somewhat meaningless unless you have first checked analog levels with the inner knob set to unity.  Having got that right, you can then - if you really want - change the level of the inner knob to add digital gain and monitor the level of that on the meters, which will then be giving you meaninful digital-domain info.

True enough. Thanks for clearing up my words! I need all the clarity I can get.

[Gutbucket]

Meanwhile - c'mon Edirol, where's the promised bugfix firmware update??

Surprised we haven't seen any updates.. are there actual bugs people have had or wish list niceties?

[Ozpeter]

There are some known bugs (Google for "edirol r-44 firmware bugs", not in quotes, and a few should show up) and I was told about three months back that a firmware upgrade would address them in about two months.   I do hope in these troubled economic times that the guys who know how to do what needs to be done are still working for Edirol!

There are of course some wishlists - one has to be realistic in one's expectations, but showing the centre knob level numerically when moving it wouldn't seem to be a big ask (to allow one to be sure that it's bang in the middle for instance).