Topic: Edirol R-09HR New User Questions..

[Maverick33]

I think this would be the correct forum to post up these questions, i've scanned the site and can't see specific info regarding them..

First the basic quesiton:
Used my shiny new Edirol R-09HR for the first time last night, had to use the internal mic whilst awating external's to arrive..
It was quite a smallish venue & recorded in 48khz sample rate & 24nit wav & had the recording levels set to 28 - limiter, low cut & plug in power on the back set to off & mic gain set to lowbut certain parts of the recording seem quite bassy - is this likely to be down to the internal mic ? No sign of the sound affecting the "peak"..
I've read alot on here about "unity gain" but after reading various threads i'm still not sure what it is and how i alter it (if indeed it needs altering)..
I could post a sample ?

Now a couple of weirder things:
When i got home i played back the recording on the unit to see how it sounded and there was (i'm not even sure how to describe it) a kinda clicking sound all the way through the recording - i guess similar to a badly ripped cd.. This is not there once the files have been taken from the sd card and transferred onto the pc, once on the pc the recording sounds fine (apart from the bassy issues above)..

Also, when playing the recording back on the actual unit none of the functions on the unit work - ie when the recording is playing, if you click menu, or stop or even the power button nothing happens - should this be the case ? i've read through the instructions & it doesn't mention anything.. Got to the point of having to remove the batteries to turn the unit off, rather than wait an hour until the recording had finished playing (i might try this though and see if the buttons work after the file has played completely)..

Apologies for being a total novice & thankfully i waited to see how the files sounded after being transferred to the pc rather than re-format the sd card presuming what i heard on the unit was how the files actually were..

Thanks In Advance..

[acidjack]

First the basic quesiton:
Used my shiny new Edirol R-09HR for the first time last night, had to use the internal mic whilst awating external's to arrive..
It was quite a smallish venue & recorded in 48khz sample rate & 24nit wav & had the recording levels set to 28 - limiter, low cut & plug in power on the back set to off & mic gain set to lowbut certain parts of the recording seem quite bassy - is this likely to be down to the internal mic ? No sign of the sound affecting the "peak"..
I've read alot on here about "unity gain" but after reading various threads i'm still not sure what it is and how i alter it (if indeed it needs altering)..
I could post a sample ?

What you're hearing (and since you already bought external mics, I don't feel bad telling you this) is that the internal mics are garbage.  Also, a lot of live recordings tend to be bassy anyway. 

Unity gain is what people talk about when using external preamps- basically the point on the volume control when using line-in where the recorder is not adding or decreasing the gain (i.e., the recorder's role is "neutral" and the gain is controlled by the external preamp).  On the R-09HR it's believed to be at 40, I think.  Unless you're using an external pre on line-in, though, this is irrelevant. 

As to your other issues, I'm not sure.  The clicking could be an issue with the SD card you're using, or it could just be distortion from the mics being overloaded, though the way you describe it, it does not sound like that.  You may want to post a sample and/or a pic of the waveform.

Also, as long as you're using the internals on that unit, you may want to save some card space and just use 16bit.  I don't think sonically it'll make any difference.  Just IMO.

[fmaderjr]

When playing the recording back on the actual unit none of the functions on the unit work - ie when the recording is playing, if you click menu, or stop or even the power button nothing happens - should this be the case ?

No-it sounds like you may have a defective machine. If the hold button was on, you'd get a message telling you that on the screen and I don't know what else could cause that to happen. If nobody else here can solve the problem, you should send the machine back for a replacement. If there is something wrong with the machine, maybe that is also causing the click on playback. It's puzzling why the files play fine in your computer (which is what is most important) but not on the HR.

[rastasean]

download the file at the top of this post and carefully listen:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=138084.0

Does the clicking noise sound like that? if so, its a cell phone.

it is very odd none of the buttons do anything. if you're in playback, I don't think you can access the menu system but you should be able to STOP the recording. like fmaderjr said, check to make sure the hold is OFF/disengaged.

limiter, low cut & plug in power on the back set to off & mic gain set to lowbut certain parts of the recording seem quite bassy - is this likely to be down to the internal mic ? No sign of the sound affecting the "peak"..

I'm no expert on low cut but I think it is used to cut out rumblings you would hear for wind noises and such.
plug in power won't do anything unless you have mics plugged into mic in.
if nothing was peaking, try increasing your input to beyond 28. Usually I run line in with externals around 40-50 so yours was quite low.
if it was bassy, try turning low cut off.

[Maverick33]

Cheers for the answers so far..

With regards to the clicking - definately not cell phone interferance.. it's constant all the way through the recording.. Yes very strange that it's only only playback using the unit & not after the files have been transferred onto the pc.. I was wondering if it was the sd card - i guess i'll reformat and see what happens next time. Or purchase one, the one i'm using (Sandisk 4GB SDHC) came free when i purchased the unit - shame there is no way to get a sample of the clicking as once the files have been transferred they are ok..
Is there a list somewhere of the most compatible cards ?

I've just let one of the files play all the way through and i noticed this time the screen freezes up as well & when the file ended none of the buttons would work - so like it's been mentioned it could be a defective unit as the hold button is definately not on.. A Phone call to Edirol tomorrow is in order i think to see what they say..

I set the input to 28 as the venue was tiny & higher than that looked like it was going to hit the peak.. Maybe when i get my ext mics & start to run from line in i can increase that..

As for recording in 24/48 - this was recommended to me as it would be easier/better to do things in post - in fact i did a 3db cut in Adobe Audition to 1 song & it sounded alot better and alot less bassy..

[acidjack]

^^ Eh, to each his own on the 24/48.  Definitely the right approach when you're really recording for keeps.  As long as you're just 'practicing' with the internals, it just seems like a waste of disk space to me.  But I suppose as long as you're practicing, you may as well leave the settings the way you'll want them later.