Topic: PCM-M10 skips in recording

[javichun]

Hi!

I was checking this Springsteen recording I made the other day, this was the first time I was taping in 24bit and ended up with 3 files of 2 Gb (around 1 hour each) and 1 file of 1 Gb.

There are no problems in any of the files for around the first 50 minutes, but then, from minute 50 till the end of the WAV (minute 62) the recording starts skipping, here's a sample:
Springsteen - Be True Sample

I'm using a SanDisk SD 16Gb class 4 card... maybe it's not fast enough? I guess there's no way to fix this.

Is it possible to change the predefined filesize, so instead of 2Gb files I get smaller files and it's less likely to have this issue?

Really frustated right now after discovering this =(

Thanks in advance for your help!

[mr qpl]

just a guess, but--maybe mic cords or power supply?

[JackoRoses]

I'd wager it was your card. Not fast enough for the 24 bit recording.
Changing the filesize won't help you much, recording at lower resolution or using a faster card will though.

[javichun]

just a guess, but--maybe mic cords or power supply?

But it's strange it happens at the same point in the three WAVs, isn't it? If it was only in one file maybe it could be something related to the mic cords or power supply...

[ScoobieKW]

I'd wager it was your card. Not fast enough for the 24 bit recording.
Changing the filesize won't help you much, recording at lower resolution or using a faster card will though.

He mentions an hour of recording per 2GB file. That means he's recording at the M10's max of 24bit 96Khz.

Three suggestions,

1. Reformat card and test
2. Test different media
3. Switch to 24bit 48Khz. This will halve the amount of data being written to the card with little/no audible differences.

[javichun]

I'd wager it was your card. Not fast enough for the 24 bit recording.
Changing the filesize won't help you much, recording at lower resolution or using a faster card will though.

I'll upgrade my card then... and test it whenever I can... I shouldn't have tried and record this show 24 bits  , I should have gone 16 bits and make the test at some other show.

Thanks for your input!

[aaronji]

^^^ Personally, I would stick with the 24-bit.  It has its advantages.  And, in any event, a class 4 card (4 MB/s) should be amply fast enough for 24/96 (~ 0.55 MB/s).  Sound Devices has a calculator for this on their website:  http://www.sounddevices.com/calculator/.  Strange that two people posted with this problem in such a short span of time; the M10 has been on the market for several years and these are the first times I recall seeing this issue. 

Also, going from 96 kHz to 48 kHz, like ScoobieKW suggested, will save you more than going from 24- to 16-bit... 

[ScoobieKW]

The filesize difference between 16 and 24 bit is not nearly as significant as sample rate. The advantages of 24 bit recording. Lower noise floor, more room to be conservative when setting input levels etc, are worth it.

Some numbers for you.

48Khz at 24 bits is 0.989 Gigs per hour
48Khz at 16 bits is 0.659 Gig per hour
96Khz at 24 bits is 1.978 Gig per hour
96Khz at 16 bits is 1.318 Gig per hour.

Make sure you are buying media from a reputable dealer, and stick to Lexar, Sandisk, Kingston. There are a lot of fake media cards on eBay.

[javichun]

The card is a SanDisk 16 Gb I bought at a store, I didn't get it from ebay, I don't think it's a counterfeit... but who knows!

The thing that I don't understand it's why this only happens at the end of the file. If this has something to do with the card write speed maybe there should be skips all over the file, and not only on the final part of it...

I got 7-8 songs ruined because of this 

I'd run some test and see what happens.

Thanks to all of you for your replies!

[earmonger]

This is exactly what happened to me running Sandisk  Class 2 at 24/44.1.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?board=11.0

And it happened to me about 100 minutes into the show. (Twice the time before the glitch, half the sample rate...)

So I suspect there is some mathematical correlation pointing to a limitation of the PCM-M10. But I leave it to more technical minds to explain.

[beatkilla]

I have 2 m10s i bounce between and both are using Kingston 16gb class 4 cards with no errors at 24 96.Going on 2 years with no reformating just delete files. I think you have bogus cards most likely.

[earmonger]

The card came from Amazon and was completely tested before use with h2testw. It's a little too easy to blame the card.

[Ekib]

The card came from Amazon and was completely tested before use with h2testw. It's a little too easy to blame the card.

Maybe . But fact is you used a class 2 card , and the one in this topic a class 4 . It could be ( but offcourse it doesn't have to be ) the cause of the problem .
I don't see why people buy something "less" than the best . It's not like a class 10 card costs hundred's of $$$ , €€€ 's .
My lexar 16gb class 10 did cost me 35 Euro's . And it records flawless . I do nothing but 96 / 24 recordings and I don't have any problems . I simply would change for a new card and see what happens .

[javichun]

I thought a class 4 card would be enough, and some people are using them without problem... I bought it from a reliable seller so I don't think it's fake. Anyway, I'd probably be getting a class 10 card and see what happens. If I had known this before I would have bought a class 10 card from the beggining.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Try using the internal memory FIRST and have it roll over to the card if you run out of room.

I never had an issue with the internal memory. Pretty sure I can get about 4 hours of of it. Plenty long for even the longest of Springsteen shows.