KORG MR-1 pt.II

[Nick's Picks]

doesn't the new Korg recorder dump files to HDSD ? 
are CF speeds slower ?   
Just wondering if doing a MOD to the MR1 and utilizing a different chip will work.

[H₂O]

Updated Audiogate software too.  Includes FLAC support

The FLAC support is nice as I convert down to 24/88.2 and the files are just at 2GB for the past few shows I have done.  I then just pull them straight into CD-Wave slice and save as FLAC as well.


No FLAC frontend, etc - just Audiogate and CD-WAVE is all you need now.

[H₂O]

I am now testing a CF mod with the MR-1 and it's looking good so far.


Using (Transcend 32GB 400x CF):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208529&cm_re=transcend_32gb_cf-_-20-208-529-_-Product


Recording WSD for about 2hrs now on battery with included mics (screen light on constently, plug in power, line level (as I didn't get the line-mic switch on properly when I opened it)).


Battery down to 2 of 3 -> So it's looking like you double if not more than double battery life with this card from 90 minutes to 180 minutes


Battery dropped from 2 to 1 at 2 hours 56 minutes -> so you can easily get 3 hours on this setup.


Just hit 4 hours still with 1 bar - going to stop at 4:05 if it is still running.

[tedyun]

I'm anxiously waiting the results!

Where I got stuck was when I stopped the recording. I received a "Disk Error" and many of the file parts were truncated.

Good luck, this will be great if it works!

I am now testing a CF mod with the MR-1 and it's looking good so far.


Using (Transcend 32GB 400x CF):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208529&cm_re=transcend_32gb_cf-_-20-208-529-_-Product


Recording WSD for about 2hrs now on battery with included mics (screen light on constently, plug in power, line level (as I didn't get the line-mic switch on properly when I opened it)).


Battery down to 2 of 3 -> So it's looking like you double if not more than double battery life with this card from 90 minutes to 180 minutes


Battery dropped from 2 to 1 at 2 hours 56 minutes -> so you can easily get 3 hours on this setup.

[RTD]

Yea, I´m waiting to dismantle this thing.

[tedyun]

If you haven't yet, the biggest tip I can give you is to take a piece of scotch tape and tape the line/mic and PIP switches to the front half of the case. These switches aren't secured and will fall out when you take the back plate off. It's easy enough to realign them, but taping them saves you the trouble.

Yea, I´m waiting to dismantle this thing.

[RTD]

thank for the tip.  Cheers.

[H₂O]

I never got a disk error but some of the 10 split files have errors in them (truncations) - 4 out of the 10 had errors.


Next step run off wall power and record and then try 24/88.2 and finally 24/48 - will keep you all posted.   Getting over 4hours on the internal battery is promising but the file errors are not.


It's a shame you cannot change the split size to see if that helps out.


Test results:
24bit 88.2Khz -> OK -> Need to run longer and at lower levels
24bit 96Khz -> Fails - Locks up when trying to stop the recording
24bit 176.4Khz -> Fails - Locks up when trying to stop the recording
24bit 192Khz -> Fails - Error after stopping recording
WSD -> Fails - with error after stopping recording and some splits truncated


So it may make a good 24/88.2 recorder with CF installed -> 4 hour record time, etc -> Maybe easier to stick with an M10 though


Maybe a 600x CF card will give better results

[H₂O]

One thing I have noticed is that the 2 SSD drives (Mtron, Samsung) that seem to work with the MR-1 (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/425849/korg-mr-1-can-this-be-used-as-a-portable-player/195 thread) use SLC versus MLC flash memory.


SLC is supposed to be faster but also much more expensive.

[tedyun]

I've had that Mtron SSD drive installed since I reported my progress over there on head-fi, on here, earlier in this thread. I've taped a number of shows with it and no problems whatsoever. I think that is the way to go if you want solid state, however, there is no benefit in terms of battery life.

One thing I have noticed is that the 2 SSD drives (Mtron, Samsung) that seem to work with the MR-1 (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/425849/korg-mr-1-can-this-be-used-as-a-portable-player/195 thread) use SLC versus MLC flash memory.


SLC is supposed to be faster but also much more expensive.

[RTD]

hmmm...I just wondering if something like these SD card to ZIF adapters could work for a mod of the MR-1?
http://cgi.ebay.com/SDHC-SD-MMC-1-8-micro-IDE-ZIF-Hard-Disk-Drive-adapter-/370407073583?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563dfb672f#ht_3483wt_1026

http://www.buyincoins.com/sd-card-to-1-8-ce-zif-50pin-ide-hdd-adapter-converter-product-1721.html

It is supposed to support up to 32 GB SDHC.

[H₂O]

I've had that Mtron SSD drive installed since I reported my progress over there on head-fi, on here, earlier in this thread. I've taped a number of shows with it and no problems whatsoever. I think that is the way to go if you want solid state, however, there is no benefit in terms of battery life.

What is the going rate for these SSDs?  I see the 32GB SSD going for $200 which is a bit expensive IMO - Did you find these cheaper any where else?

[tedyun]

I can't remember how much it was, but I think $200 sounds pretty good. I was doing that bing cashback when it was alive, then ebates on top of that, so I think I got a good deal on the 16 GB.

It uses the ZIF2 interface though. Is this compatible with the interface in the MR1?

I've had that Mtron SSD drive installed since I reported my progress over there on head-fi, on here, earlier in this thread. I've taped a number of shows with it and no problems whatsoever. I think that is the way to go if you want solid state, however, there is no benefit in terms of battery life.

What is the going rate for these SSDs?  I see the 32GB SSD going for $200 which is a bit expensive IMO - Did you find these cheaper any where else?

[tedyun]

I think someone over at head-fi was trying it, but he never reported the result. After I put in the SSD, I kind of gave up trying the mods (too much $$$ invested already!)

hmmm...I just wondering if something like these SD card to ZIF adapters could work for a mod of the MR-1?
http://cgi.ebay.com/SDHC-SD-MMC-1-8-micro-IDE-ZIF-Hard-Disk-Drive-adapter-/370407073583?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563dfb672f#ht_3483wt_1026

http://www.buyincoins.com/sd-card-to-1-8-ce-zif-50pin-ide-hdd-adapter-converter-product-1721.html

It is supposed to support up to 32 GB SDHC.

[H₂O]

hmmm...I just wondering if something like these SD card to ZIF adapters could work for a mod of the MR-1?
http://cgi.ebay.com/SDHC-SD-MMC-1-8-micro-IDE-ZIF-Hard-Disk-Drive-adapter-/370407073583?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563dfb672f#ht_3483wt_1026

http://www.buyincoins.com/sd-card-to-1-8-ce-zif-50pin-ide-hdd-adapter-converter-product-1721.html

It is supposed to support up to 32 GB SDHC.

I don't think SDHC cards will work as they seem to be much slower in general versus CF. 


It looks like to me that the MR-1 writes to it's HDD in somewhat of a random fashion which is not compatible with slower Flash solutions and/or the firmware is very conservative on timeouts on writes.

2 Channel 24/88.2 should run at about = 4234kbit/s ~ 4 Mbps -> seems to work
2 Channel 24/96 should run at about = 4608kbit/s ~ 4.5Mbps -> does not work
2 Channel DSD 1/2.8224Mhz should run about = 5649kbit/s ~ 5.5Mbps -> does not work


So you would think the Transcend CF Flash Memory rated at a max Sequential Write speed of 60MBps would be sufficient to handle this.


According to the other thread to get it to work you need around 100MBps Sequential Write Speeds to make this work.
Such as this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139283&cm_re=32GB_CF-_-20-139-283-_-Product