Virgin run for me with the R-4 tonight taping Goran Ivanovic Group. Ran a 4 mic mix - 2 x MK4 DIN centerish stage and 2 x 414 omni split left and right. Intent was mostly to pick up monitors and drums directly as the room and PA was
tiny. No monster stacks to cause vibration or any such thing. Had the R-4 resting on DPA UA0896 windscreens in my padded gear bag (SoniCase). All unnecessary BS on the R-4 turned off (no effects, speakers, internal mics, etc.).
R-4 set to record 4 mono channels, 24/48, analog-in, line-in w/ phantom. I startup my recording. Within 2-3 min of starting up my R-4 recording - bang! - HDD Slow message. WTF! Message splashes across the screen blocking the levels for tracks 1 & 2. Counter and meter latency increased significantly. Couldn't find a way to clear the HHD Slow message, so stopped the file and started a new one. 2-3 min in and - bang! - HDD Slow message again. Again, couldn't clear the message, and since I couldn't see my 1&2 channel meters, I just left the levels where they were (set conservatively since I'm not yet familiar with the unit's gain structure).
Between sets, I tinkered a bit and found I could duplicate the HDD Slow message by simply starting another 4 x mono recording and waiting 2-3 minutes. Turned off the pre-record feature and tried again - same problem (as expected). Turned the pre-record back on. Switched to 2 x stereo files and - voila! - problem solved during between set testing. Ran 2 x stereo files for the 2nd set and encountered no problems at all.
I've read about rare instances in which others experienced the same thing, but in searching TS found very little info about anyone testing their unit in a variety of configs. So, a few questions for all you R-4 owners out there:
- How many of you have encountered the HDD Slow message?
- If you have, under what specific circumstances (environment, bag setup, R-4 settings (especially file setup, i.e. 4 x mono, 2 x stereo, etc.), etc.)?
- If you have not, have you run the R-4 in 4 x mono mode?
- And most importantly: anyone willing to test their R-4 in 4 x mono mode at 24/48 to see if they're able to duplicate my testing? Only takes me 2-3 min of recording 4 x mono at 24/48, line-in w/ phantom on to duplicate the HDD Slow message every time (so far, 3-4 tests).
I'm curious if others experience the same problem in 4 x mono mode. If it's common and just the nature of the beast, then okay - I can deal with it, easy enough workaround running 2 x stereo. But if it's
not common, then I want to swap out my R-4 with a replacement from the retailer/manufacturer under the assumption it's faulty (as opposed to a design flaw or some such that all units share).
Thanks in advance for any help...
Edit to add: No idea if the 1st set during which I encountered the HDD Slow message turned out alright or not, despite the message. I'm still transferring over slow-ass USB1 b/c my computer's old and I don't have a slot free for a USB2 card. Once I know, I'll update.
Edit to add again: 1st set is trashed - seemingly continuous waveform visually (when zoomed out), but all sorts of skipping going on. Hmph.