Sound quality of the nano headphones output

[Piotr Wozniacki]

This is a very good news indeed, Mike (I'm sure you mean -12/+12 dB).

[Jeff Silverman]

Ummmm, +/-12db isn't much. Let's hope Mike was correct about the greater range.

Jeff

[Bob Grant]

Can't one simply plug the headphones into the camera's headphone output, that has plenty of level control. Alternatively inline headphone volume controls are pretty cheap and more convenient than using something on a recording device like the NF. The less button pushing one has to do on a recorder such as the NF while it's recording the better in my opinion.

[Jeff Silverman]

Bob,

Fair enough, external controls are available. But did you remember to bring it? Did the client forget to send it back?

Monitoring the loop through on the recorder is also essential. Doing it on the camera verifies nothing.

Headphone volume control is a normal function of a record and playback deck. There is functionality built into the Nano for that. We are just waiting for CD to get it done and hope that their priorities for bug fixes and normal useful controls take the priority that they deserve (as they seem to have lately).

Jeff

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by Bob Grant

Can't one simply plug the headphones into the camera's headphone output, that has plenty of level control. Alternatively inline headphone volume controls are pretty cheap and more convenient than using something on a recording device like the NF. The less button pushing one has to do on a recorder such as the NF while it's recording the better in my opinion.

Bob, I beg to disagree. I may be wrong, but not many professional headsets have inline volume control. But what's most important is that - when with the future firmware, the nanoFlash effectively becomes a sort of mixer for the SDI-embedded channels and the analogue one(s) - the ability to precisely monitor the audio directly from the nF will become indispensable.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

I am building on Bob's thoughts.

We are committed to providing a greater range of headphone level output.

But, as Bob, said, a simple 3.5mm mini-Plug to level control to 3.5 mm mini-Jack are available and very convenient.

In fact, much more convenient than a headphone level control will ever be on the nanoFlash using push buttons.

Bob's comment about pushing less buttons, while recording, makes perfect sense to me, especially if the nanoFlash is mounted on the camera. We are already using the arrow buttons to control the input levels, for analog audio inputs, which are there if the levels are too high or low during a recording.

[Mike Schell]

I double checked the audio chip spec and it certainly appears that we can add +12 to -120 dB gain to the headphone output. We have the demo board and should be able to confirm next week (after we get the next beta release checked out).

Best-

[Adam Stanislav]

Originally Posted by Mike Schell

certainly appears that we can add +12 to -120 dB gain

Very well, then. Sounds good.

So, how many bits are we recording the sound at? Just wondering because of these little facts. That would equate -120 dB with hitting the mute button. But then going from there up in 0.5 dB increments?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Adam,

Audio in the nanoFlash is recorded in the 24-bit 48,000 samples per second format.

The embedded audio, from the source, may be in 16-bit or 24-bit format, depending on the camera.

Analog audio is always encoded using 24-Bit hardware.

[Adam Stanislav]

Thanks, Dan. So, theoretically, there is room for more than 120 dB, though that would be quite a roar. :)

Personally, I have always wished the digital standard was to record the sound in a logarithmic way, so that soft sounds could record more subtle differences. Alas, the accepted standard is linear, even though deciBels are indeed logarithmic.