Good recording settings (iRiver h320) for a standard rock concert?

[daveace]

I've recently updating my live taping right from a Sony MD to a Rockboxed iRiver h320. Anyway, the Rockbox settings on the h320 look GREAT, but I've yet to tape something with it yet; so does anyone have any suggestions for levels / settings? I'll be taping moderately loud to loud concerts, mainly of rock and indie rock bands. Venues will typically be small, but there will be a large arena here and there. My mics are Sound Professionals cardioids + Sound Pros battery box w/ optional bass roll-off.

Thanks!  

[petur]

I'll just mention what I'm using:

- encoding: WAV 44.1
- AGC Safety (200ms)
- gain at start of concert at +15dB
- pre-recording 30s

AGC-Safety can help compensate if you don't know how loud the concert will be. It will lower gain on clipping risk, just like you would.

[daveace]

Sounds good, thanks! Btw, does the 'volume' on the recording screen have any effect on the recorind? If so, what should that be at?

[Benway]

The "volume" setting in the recording screen is the monitoring volume. Changing it will not affect the recording itself.

[petur]

The "volume" setting in the recording screen is the monitoring volume. Changing it will not affect the recording itself.

where "monitoring volume" = headphone and line-out volume

(just to make this 100% clear)

[Guru]

Just for some feedback, I used Petur's settings at the O2 Arena the other night, and I'm very happy with the results.

[petur]

good to hear!

[Guru]

Follow up:

How long can I expect the H340's battery to last in recording mode?

In the past I've only ever taped the main act, but I'm going to see Alice Cooper/Motorhead/Joan Jett next week and quite fancy getting all three.

However, if the battery is likely to give out, I'd rather skip JJ than miss the end of AC.

I realise that battery life depends on a number of factors, including the actual sound of the gig, but any advice & experience of others would be extremely welcome.

[petur]

depends on the state of your battery I'd say.

I once did a test and got about 12 hours, but that was with a fairly new stock battery.

Just try it I'd say...

[exxile]

I'll just mention what I'm using:

- encoding: WAV 44.1
- AGC Safety (200ms)
- gain at start of concert at +15dB
- pre-recording 30s

AGC-Safety can help compensate if you don't know how loud the concert will be. It will lower gain on clipping risk, just like you would.

Hi,
I'm new to taping and have been reading through the forum for tips and am puzzled at what the 'acg max. gain' refers to. The settings above seem straightforward, but how do the 'gain' and 'agc max. gain' settings relate to each other?

Cheers

[petur]

I'm new to taping and have been reading through the forum for tips and am puzzled at what the 'acg max. gain' refers to. The settings above seem straightforward, but how do the 'gain' and 'agc max. gain' settings relate to each other?

AGC max gain allows you to set a maximum gain that AGC can set if set in any other mode than safety. In safety mode it can only lower the gain so it doesn't apply.

So, for example, you can set it to +20dB during a lecture recording to prevent AGC upping the gain too much (above 20dB) during a silent moment...

[exxile]

Thanks petur.

Ok, another daft question...in the manual it mentions using the peak meter to set the gain correctly. How do I do this as there are no numbers on the peak meter. Is there a tutorial somewhere perhaps?

Thanks again.

[petur]

Ok, another daft question...in the manual it mentions using the peak meter to set the gain correctly. How do I do this as there are no numbers on the peak meter. Is there a tutorial somewhere perhaps?

I just do this visually... You could use the dots that are drawn inbetween the bars but I can't remember what scale they are showing...

What they mean in the manual that you should set the gain as high as possible but not have it clip the signal, the peakmeters and clip indicators give you a visual clue about that.

And it all depends on the type of recording....

[exxile]

ok, thanks, I will experiment. More often than not it will be loud rock concerts that I will be recording.

Cheers

[exxile]

Well, I recorded my first gig and it has turned out not too bad. I set the gain at 15 to start (with AGC - safety) and by the end of the gig it had dropped to 7. There's some distortion during the loud parts but I was using the std. ext. mic that shipped with the iRiver, so I figure investing in a decent mic/battery box will reduce any distortion, and allow me to set the gain lower at the start.

The band I was taping varied the set between very loud songs and very quiet ones, so what happens if they start loud (resulting in the gain dropping) and then play quiet songs. Should you just leave the gain low and rely on a quality mic to deal with it? I got a recording from a taper recently where the rec. volume was up and down throughout (prob. a result of agc) and it didn't sound great. I just wondered if most tapers use agc or prefer to fix it manually.

Cheers