kbps setting for iriver + giant squid?

[Andreas Griesmayr]

which are your prefered settings for recording with an iriver giant squid to an iFP iriver 7xx?
Rec volume setting is suggested to be set to 45, but I wonder which bitrate will do for the voice recording?

There are two firmwares which can be used to run the iFP:
UMS firmware allows drag and drop and thus filetransfer can be done without having to install additional software, but it limits the recording bitrate to 96 kbps.
The socalled MTP or MOD firmware does allow recording bitrate until 320 kbps but the iriver music manager software is required for filetransfer.

I certainly would love the drag and drop feature and therefore hope that I get confirmed that 96 kbps should give good enough result for voice recordings used for videoediting.
( my iriver is due to arrive in a few days to experiment myself )

[Peter Jefferson]

well 96kbps is teh DOlby Standard for Dolb Mono, however dolby encoding is far more precise and finite than mp3 ever could be.. if u have a low drolling voice like uncle bob, or a high sweet voice like little niece stacey doing a reading, you might lose some high and low end freq which, with mp3, turns into mush..

for vocal, id recommend no lower then 164kbps
If you must compress, and u can encode to Ogg Vorbis, i d recommend that over MP3 any day..

as for dragging and dropping, i dont see how accessing a file requries ANY additional software.. unless it means convertng that file to something which conforms to windows of course, but you should, theoretically, be able to acess any file from the iriver through windows explorer. It should just come up as an external drive

[Rick Steele]

but you should, theoretically, be able to acess any file from the iriver through windows explorer. It should just come up as an external drive

Have you ever used an iRiver?

Andreas, forego the "drag and drop" feature, install the iRiver transfer software and keep your bitrate high. Your experimentation with 96kbps may yield acceptable results but why take chances especially with all the different recording environments you'll be dealing with?

[Andreas Griesmayr]

thank's Peter and Rick.
I have never used an iriver, my first one will arrive in a few days.
I will follow your advice and use the best bitrate ( I got the iFP 799 with 1 GB ) and do without the drag and drop to ensure the best audio quality mp3 can deliver.

[Uli Mors]

Hi Andreas,

I am located in germany and went also for the 795.

At least , settings (with giant s. mic) around 40-45 are fine.

I thought I could use the iriver also for recording MIXER OUT (for examples at weddings), but the output of mixing boards are so different, that I cant find a good gain setting. This is the only MINUS with the Irivers: You dont have ANY metering (a simple OVERLOAD signal would be enough...).

I prefer mono Recording with 100-200 kbps - thats absolutely ok.

Regards

ULI

info@media-in-work.de

[Andreas Griesmayr]

thank's Uli,

in the meantime I did experiment with the iriver + giant Squid.
I had wondered if the unpowered mics really would be sufficient as I had read metioned in various forums that powerded mics are prefered. The iriver Giant Squids are very sensitive however and with the iFP iriver they really make a very small but decent recording package. For lack of experience I have no way of knowing how it compares to other set ups though, e.g. recordings with other, better mics or to a HI-MD. I read that recordings to HI-MD should be quite superior, if I had known ealier I might have gone for a HI-MD recorder instead the iriver.

I had bought two of the GS mics and had changed the wiring on one of them so that, when both plugged into a Y adaptor ( usually used the other way around to connect two headphones to one musicplayer ) one records to the left, the other to the right channel.
I then made myself a device to fix them on top of my GS400 thinking that they could make my ideal, because small stereo mic for travelling.

Comparative sound recordings between my Panasonic VW-VMS2 mic and my 'stereo' iriver Giant Mic. stunned me because the GS are so much more sensitive than the Panasonic Mic. When recording with the same mic level the GS are much louder, but also have much more hiss when the surroundings are silent. However when turning down the mic level for the GS further, 9db below the Pana to get about the same volume, the hiss of the Pana is even louder. The GS do pick up all kind of sounds though, also from far, the Pana sounds warmer and more natural to me.

I never fond anybody reviewing the Panasonic VW-VMS2, and I had bought it fast before becoming aware that there were better options for not much more money. I do not have any experience with sound recordings and find it difficult to tell what makes a mic better or worse. I wonder how it compares with 'better' mics, and if e.g. even the GS could be a step up.

[Jack Smith]

Andreas,just to clarify, you will NOT be using voice recording as per the iRiver menu.That would select the built in mic which sounds .....well,not good.
You will be using the line in recording with it set to mic level.
If your using the Giant Squid mic for iRivers or an adapter such as the one I designed ,it will correctly feed the iRiver a mono signal and if you set your recording up to mono the maximum bit rate will be 160kbps.In stereo ,it is 2 channels each at 160kbps for a total of (160 x 2) 320kbps.That is what I suggest you use.Always capture the best quality you can.You likely wouldn't shoot VHS anymore.
Uli, I have recorded mixer outputs many times with great success.However you must be sure of the output connection you make to the mixer.Normally,a line level be sure to set the iRiver to line input.Some mixers have a mic level which could cause you grief if it doesn't match the iRiver.You need to pad that in that case.Also the operator of the mixer will sometimes play with output control of the mixer and you can kiss your recording goodbye.So try to get a line level output

[Andreas Griesmayr]

Originally Posted by Jack Smith

Andreas,just to clarify, you will NOT be using voice recording as per the iRiver menu.That would select the built in mic which sounds .....well,not good.
You will be using the line in recording with it set to mic level.
If your using the Giant Squid mic for iRivers or an adapter such as the one I designed ,it will correctly feed the iRiver a mono signal and if you set your recording up to mono the maximum bit rate will be 160kbps.In stereo ,it is 2 channels each at 160kbps for a total of (160 x 2) 320kbps.That is what I suggest you use.Always capture the best quality you can.You likely wouldn't shoot VHS anymore.

Thank's Jack, I was aware of these facts. I do use the line in set to mic in with a level of 45, 44,1 kHz., 160 kbps in mono and 320 kbps in stereo.
The socalled 'iriver giant Squids' are wired specially so that they record mono to one channel only doubling recording time, ideal for voice recordings. However I also really was curious how the GS mics plugged into my cam would compare to the Pana mic. and wanted to be able to use them to record stereo as well. Therefore I bought two 'iriver GS mono mics and built myself an adapter to record to both channels simultaniously, which I suppose, equals stereo.

[Patrick Moreau]

Be careful not to set the audio recording level too low which will yield results equally as poor as setting it too high. Recording at 40 with the giant squid mic when somebody is soft sopoken is, in my experience, much too low. I usually run it at 50 and about 3 feet from the speakers mouth taped to the podium. I have been very happy with these results and fooled many people into thinking it came from the much more expensive wireless.

[Sean Seah]

I got the stereo mic giant S but I only managed to get the ifp 795 which is 512Mb. With stereo settings, I can only record a pitiful 15mins at 44.1KHz and 192kps. Can u guys advise what I can do to get 30min?

[Andreas Griesmayr]

only 15 mins? are you sure your iriver is not full with other files?

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...t=67370&page=2

A iRiver 795 will give you about seven hours recording in mono which is more than sufficient for ceremony's.

another good source for iriver questions:
http://www.misticriver.net/forumdisplay.php?f=29

[Sean Seah]

Thanks Andreas. I cleared the files and I got a wopping 5.50min at 44.1KHz Stereo 192Kps!! That a lot more than I would need! The recordings I tested have been great so far. It was worth effort to go all the way to Korea to get the iriver!

[Waldemar Winkler]

INFORMATION I DOWNLOADED MANY MOONS AGO FROM SOMEWHERE:


Upon initial use, hold down the record button (far right of top three buttons) until you get the 4 selections to choose from (Mp3-Radio-Voice-Line in). Select "Line In"

Timer (manual section 5-17)

- Sleep power off - OFF / Beep OFF
- Stop Power off - 60 min

Control - (manual section 5-22)

- Line in recording mode:
Mono
44.1KHz
160 Kbps

Stereo
44.1 KHz
320 Kbps

- Line In Rec Volume: 45 (Giant Squid Mic) 50 (MT830 mic) 50-55 (Azden 503)

- Line In Auto Sync: OFF

- Line In / Ext Mic: EXT MIC

***SETUP***

1. Connect mic to line-in jack
2. Set line in rec mode as above (SETTINGS)
3. Press and HOLD "Mode/Rec" button
4. Select Line-In mode
5. Press "Nav/Menu" button to go to PAUSED record mode
6. Press REC
7. Engage the LOCK!

***STOPPING***

1. Unlock
2. Press "Mode/Rec" button
3. Press and HOLD the STOP button

Expected record times based on 512 Mb model (256 will be half...1Gb will be double the record time below)
In mono:
44hz 32kbps = 35 hours: 31 minutes
" " 40kbps = 28 Hours: 25 minutes
" "" 48kbps = 23 hours: 21 minutes
" " 56kbps = 20 hours: 18 minutes
" " 64kbps = 17 hours: 45 minutes
" " 80kbps = 14 hours: 12 minutes
" " 96kbps = 11 hours: 50 minutes
" " 112kbps = 10 hours: 09 minutes
" " 128kbps = 8 hours: 52 minutes
" " 160kbps = 7 hours: 06 minutes

In Stereo:
44hz 64kbps = 17 hours: 45 minutes
" " 80kbps = 14 Hours: 12 minutes
" "" 96kbps = 11 hours: 50 minutes
" " 112kbps = 10 hours: 09 minutes
" " 128kbps = 8 hours: 52 minutes
" " 160kbps = 7 hours: 06 minutes
" " 192kbps = 5 hours: 55 minutes
" " 224kbps = 5 hours: 05 minutes
" " 256kbps = 4 hours: 26 minutes
" " 320kbps = 3 hours: 33 minutes

Links to external microphones for the iRiver:

Giant Squid
MT830
Azden 503
Sennheiser e604


The Sennheiser e604 has been successfully used by many to capture audio from the DJ's PA stack. This cardoid instrument mic is designed to handle very high sound pressure levels. To connect to the iRiver, you may use a Mono XLR to Dual Mono 1/8 and record in stereo or XLR to 1/8" male with the "+" of the mic connected to the the ring to record in mono

[Sean Seah]

Thanks Waldemar! Those r really nice numbers to look at!