Old 01-21-2020, 05:48 PM   #41
karbomusic
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Makes sense. But also sort of infers an idea I thought about mentioning...

I know it may not be proper A/B/X but a form of test I really like is to randomly slice in A or B so that it flows from one to the next and so on. As the person creating it (minus some tool that will do it hint hint), you can't test yourself but I have found it handy for demonstrating things to others.

I have another comment about the files but saving for later.
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Old 01-21-2020, 06:17 PM   #42
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Gotta head out the door, but here are the high gain files:

(note: this "A" and "B" are not necessarily the same as the last comparison)

http://caseyconnor.org/pub/audio/sdz...A-highgain.wav
http://caseyconnor.org/pub/audio/sdz...B-highgain.wav

Alternative links:

http://caseyconnor.org/lg?l=http://c...A-highgain.wav
http://caseyconnor.org/lg?l=http://c...B-highgain.wav

Despite what I say in the recording, the gain on the SD was 62dB, not 60dB. SD's limiters off, as they would obviously make the SD win in a head to head at higher gains. H4n was at "100", which we can probably look up in the spec sheet if we care.

Levels were peaking around -6 to -3 at this high gain setting. I had to engage a -10dB pad on the mic and step back a little, play quieter, etc., but hopefully it's still a fair test.

I have thoughts on these, but will have to write later...
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Old 01-21-2020, 10:15 PM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karbomusic View Post
I know it may not be proper A/B/X but a form of test I really like is to randomly slice in A or B so that it flows from one to the next and so on. As the person creating it (minus some tool that will do it hint hint), you can't test yourself but I have found it handy for demonstrating things to others.
Yeah I'm cool with that for demonstrating stuff, as you say, but even when demonstrating stuff I like to avoid it unless the difference is really strong, i.e. strong enough not to be drowned in the statistical noise from the differences in the recorded performance as it progresses.
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Old 01-22-2020, 01:30 AM   #44
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Last time I did it was YouTube vs WAV - it was a looping repeating guitar strum with random transition points, so progressing wasn't really an issue - the listeners were challenged with identifying the exact moments it switches between one to the other (or not) - no one was able to do that thus far.

I found it interesting since what prompted me was "YT's compression is terrible, you can't use it for comparing A and B and C" yet no one could name the transition points. I did that with your files too FWIW, couldn't tell then either but I figured that would be the case since I didn't hear enough difference in the ABX either to be reliable either.
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Old 01-22-2020, 03:11 AM   #45
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Good stuff Clepsydrae. I'll have to check these out shortly. I have a friend visiting from interstate tomorrow though and I'm in the middle of building a 1073 style preamp for him so I won't have much time until later on.
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Old 01-22-2020, 03:53 PM   #46
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karbomusic View Post
Last time I did it was YouTube vs WAV - it was a looping repeating guitar strum with random transition points, so progressing wasn't really an issue - the listeners were challenged with identifying the exact moments it switches between one to the other (or not) - no one was able to do that thus far.

I found it interesting since what prompted me was "YT's compression is terrible, you can't use it for comparing A and B and C" yet no one could name the transition points. I did that with your files too FWIW, couldn't tell then either but I figured that would be the case since I didn't hear enough difference in the ABX either to be reliable either.
Oh I see what you mean; yeah for detecting transitions it makes sense, as well as for nullifying a claim of easily-detectable differences. I guess in the ideal case you'd have e.g. 8 seconds with the transition at 4s, and you'd have a A->B version and a B->A version over the same audio, as well as A->A and B->B over the same audio, and blind test somehow between them all. But that's obviously not necessary if you're testing a strong claim and just need a negative result, or if you want to see if the switch itself is audible.
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Old 01-22-2020, 06:53 PM   #47
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I have the MixPre3M with an SM58 and I'm happy with it, I thought I'd be using it standalone but I always use it as an interface with my laptop and it works well. It has good limiters so it will never clip, this guy has a nice demonstration. I bought the Zoom H5 but returned it once I saw the MixPre3M, I'd recommend the Sound Devices over the Zooms if you can afford it
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Old 01-23-2020, 12:28 AM   #48
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the mixpre is excellent but the tascam DR100mk3 is also excellent if not quite as good - but if you want to spend more on mics the DR100 mk3 is easily good enough (apparently a big upgrade from the mk2 model). I would probably get the dr100 and spend more on the mics and upgrade the recorder if at any time in the future you need something better. The usual advice is that good mics are much more likely to last in your kit than a recorder. So at $700 left over for mics you could get a secondhand pair of something quite nice or a new matched pair that would also be pretty good eg Rode NT5 which are good for piano
Keep in mind you will need stands and carrying cases etc
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Old 02-01-2020, 10:41 PM   #49
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Default How Portable is Portable?

Hi,
I do not know how you define "portable", especially when you consider the issue of flexibility (e.g., of either built-in or add-on devices to your main recording device).

I am posing this as an issue worth considering and defining because I have a Zoom
R 16, among many other interfaces, some of them portable, and have used the unit to successfully record piano, which is what the OP wants to do.

I should also say that I recorded piano once, but I did not do a bad job considering my inexperience and the difficulties of recording in a regular apartment - mind you, I got help from people on this forum!

So, here are some questions for you to reflect on (for yourself, but it might help us here to help you a little more):

1. Do you have a maximum size and weight in mind for the recording device?
2. Maximum price?
3. Does using an stand alone / self-contained / all-in-one recording unit (like the Zoom R 16 make more sense than carrying a separate recorder, and perhaps an audio interface?
https://www.boss.info/ca/products/micro_br_br-80/


If it is simply audio you want to capture, and you want something small, you might want to consider the Boss Micro BR BR-80 (8 track recorder), which is about 6" X 3 1/2", and fits into one's shirt pocket. (Can record .WAV or .MP3)
https://www.boss.info/ca/products/micro_br_br-80/

Both the Zoom R 16 and the Boss Micro BR BR 80 can function as stand alone recorders, or as audio interfaces.
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