Help!!!

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Re: a-b

dave in toledo said:
Channel B is the right side for recording in stereo, it will only show up on the stereo channels 5/6 or 7/8 . Plug in A as a stereo channel left and both of your meters will show recording in stero on chanel 5/6or 7/8 . I think thats correct . its very hard to describe these problems isnt it.
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It was a little weird in the beginning. I mostly do stereo recording so i'm using both a&b. Or I just use A and layer w/ that input only.

The other thing I realized isthat there is automatic assign to the mixer. the faders never affect the input to one track's level, only the output mix. they do effect the bounce mix tho b/c the levels are thru the mixer section. All my old DAW's and portastuidios, you have to assign the mixer and select where the input to it is coming from, like tape/disk or mic or other channel/track....

so the automatic thing is that you play and faders are the levels of the output from memory/recording (or the bouncing) and if you record, the faders are only the monitor mix. So you gotta work the trim pot(s) a lot. those are the real input faders, if ya wanna call it that....
 
Re: Re: a-b

junplugged said:
It was a little weird in the beginning. I mostly do stereo recording so i'm using both a&b. Or I just use A and layer w/ that input only.

The other thing I realized isthat there is automatic assign to the mixer. the faders never affect the input to one track's level, only the output mix. they do effect the bounce mix tho b/c the levels are thru the mixer section. All my old DAW's and portastuidios, you have to assign the mixer and select where the input to it is coming from, like tape/disk or mic or other channel/track....

so the automatic thing is that you play and faders are the levels of the output from memory/recording (or the bouncing) and if you record, the faders are only the monitor mix. So you gotta work the trim pot(s) a lot. those are the real input faders, if ya wanna call it that....
Click to expand...

I was kind of unsure what you meant when you said "they (faders) do affect the bounce mix tho b/c the levels are thru the mixer section".

Could you please explain?

Thanx.
 
Original Post
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I was kind of unsure what you meant when you said "they (faders) do affect the bounce mix tho b/c the levels are thru the mixer section".

Could you please explain?
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Sure, the faders don't have to be manually assigned like on most mixers. If you hit 'play' they automatically affect the levels of the sound from the recorded tracks coming off the media. Also, when you bounce tracks, same deal, they control the levels coming off the recorded media and go thru the bus to the tracks that you are recording/bouncing to, and in this case, the faders on the tracks you are recording/bouncing onto are controlling the levels going to those tracks. (actually you can only bounce to 5/6 or 7/8 so it's one fader on any bounce.)

The really confusing thing for me was that the faders have no effect on the input levels to the track you are recording! Only the trim pot is the level control to the media. And the monitor mix - or what you hear in the phones is effected by the faders on record. I thought that was odd, but when you can only record 2 tracks at a time, since there's only 2 inputs, then you get to control those 2 tracks from the input trim pots. It's simple but just a little different from other portastudios and DAW's, that i've used before. HTH - J.
 
I'm just talking about the signal path in the machine. There's usually a chart of the signal path on different setups on the units in the manual.

Download the manual if y ou didn't; It's easier sometimes to browse it on your pc. It's a pdf. (acrobat)
 
a bit off the subject...

Do you guys use a mixer to run into your MR8?
If so, do you crank the mixers levels to minimize (or possibly eliminate) the use of the MR8s preamps? I read somewhere on here that this would yield better results.

While I'm off the subject, what kind of music do you guys do?
I've heard some pretty good stuff off the mr8 on here...
 
I am considering an external mixer. I started a thread about phantom power on them. I'm looking for something small with at least 3 xlrs, phantom, and pre-amps.

since i'm limited to 2 tracks at a time recording, I need a mixer to mix stereo guitar and mono vocal together to the 2 tracks.

Not doing that now, but it's something i;m thinking about and there's ojhter stuff i could do w/ it too.

I'm doing solo acoustic w/ vocal currently. It's just a way to get my originals down.

I also practice covers by recording them even tho i wont be playing them for anyone. I find that gettin a tune to where you can go thru it w/out mistakes by recording it really gets it into your head and is really good practice and practice in recording too. it also gets me to develop some interesting way to perform the tune since if i just go thru it w/ out any plan it sounds like crap on the recording even if it's not too bad live....

what's good about the mr8 is no moving parts, i can record constantly erase and redo it 50 times and it's just another button push....
 
mixer

yes i use a mixer, i monitor the output of the mixer to get it as hot as i can with no clipping, then adjust the trim as hot as i can get it with no clipping light, then back off just a touch. My mixer runs through two 31 band eq's a compressor and a digital effect unit. I really get to shape the sound before it gets to the mr 8
 
what kind compressor and effects do you use? I've been seriously considering buying a compressor.

Do you do your mixing on the mr8, or on a computer?
 
When it comes to producing my stuff, I am lazy. I know I'm not a producer and I know that if I wanted to be one, it would take years. But I am a songwriter and decent guitar player, not much of a vocalist, but enough for my style. So That's one reason I look for simplicity and for me, the mr8 is simple. About the simplest thing since my mono, hand-held tape recorder.

I hate to mess with connections and signal paths and stuff when I get the urge to lay a track. So simple, I always have an empty song file waiting. I select it, use whatever mic or the internal, press track one pres record, set a level, and record. I might use phones and monitor it or not. But that's only for ideas, for something I want to be able to listen to, I'll minimally "produce" and i use that term lightly....

I'm still playing with the built-in reverbs, and trying to learn about reverb here on the BBS.

I am about to hook up the Alesis nanocompressor, but from the past I think it was noisy. I have NO noise now w/ the preamp and mics, so I'd hate to introduce any.

The mastering effects on it are weird, there's no info on exactly what they are doing, but I hear a lot of compression, and a LOT of limiting, but it sucks when it releases it, I hear that horrible push-pull effect from whatever that problem is when the compression release happens.

I notice there's EQ in those masterin effects too. I wish there was some info on that stuff, maybe a Fostex engineer could let us know ( in English) what's up w/ that.
 
I only tried using the mastering effects once, and found them very un-master-ful. In retrospect, you are probably right about the release of the compression, as it did seem very "uneven" and "spiky" (sorry for my limited terminology).

As far as EQ goes on the mastering effects, it seems to cut mids significantly, and boost lows, if my memory serves me correctly.

I haven't had a reason to play much with the internal effects of the mr8, I use the plug ins from Ntracks. I have much more control that way, though I have yet to muster the bravery to burn a cd, or allow another breathing soul to hear by any other means (with a few exceptions!).

Are there any songs posted around here that use the internal effects of the mr8 in recording? I would be curious to hear the final product.
 
Look for a post on this board called "Hello Summer." Bigsnake00 uses his MR-8 and has produced amazing songs that have definitely turned my head.
 
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