middleaudio.com

My $60 Sandisk "sansa" 2GB player, plugged straight into the balanced inputs of my Fireface, and there zero signal on the right channel. I don't knwo if there's a better way i should be testing it though...

What meters are you looking at? On the shuffle, there was no meter movement on the right channel of the Aurora, but if you put it into a track and crank up the gain a little bit, it was very clear. Also Malcolms file is a little quiet(-22dBFS I think), so you might have to juice it to really see what's going on. Using a metering plug with high resolution can help too.

Drumwaiter wrote:My $60 Sandisk "sansa" 2GB player, plugged straight into the balanced inputs of my Fireface, and there zero signal on the right channel. I don't knwo if there's a better way i should be testing it though...

Metering is one thing, but most importantly, when you listen to the "blank" channel you shouldn't be able to hear the tone clearly over the noise floor. If you do, you have crosstalk.

Rather than concentrating on measuring the levels, try connecting just the "silent" channel, and listen to what you get.

macrae11 wrote:Also Malcolms file is a little quiet(-22dBFS I think), so you might have to juice it to really see what's going on.

Actually, on my test files, the channel with the tone is around -6dbfs. You should have no trouble with level.

Malcolm Boyce wrote:Metering is one thing, but most importantly, when you listen to the "blank" channel you shouldn't be able to hear the tone clearly over the noise floor. If you do, you have crosstalk.

Rather than concentrating on measuring the levels, try connecting just the "silent" channel, and listen to what you get.

I was doing that and I couldn't hear anything even with everything cranked dangerously high on my nearfields. I unplugged my left nearfield and cranked the level and I got nothing.

Drumwaiter wrote:... I couldn't hear anything even with everything cranked dangerously high on my nearfields. I unplugged my left nearfield and cranked the level and I got nothing.

Then you are good to go.

Not all players will pass that test as yours did. That is the point that I think has been made. If everyone did this little test before showing up on a stage, we wouldn't have some of the flails we're hearing.

There what separates a professional show, and professional musicians, from everyone else.

I said it at the beginning of this thread, it boils down to having your shit together. All of these things could have been avoid with PROPER rehearsals, followed by a proper dress rehearsal the night before. By dress rehearsal I mean going through the set exactly as you intend to perform it. If you want to start out with a bang, you have to work for it. Most of these problems could have been caught in rehearsal. That's my 3 cents.

Malcolm Boyce wrote:Actually, on my test files, the channel with the tone is around -6dbfs. You should have no trouble with level.

I just checked the file in PT, and realized you're absolutely correct on this one. I must have done something stupid on my home computer by accident that changed the level.

I have a chance to buy a 2nd Generation Nano 8 gig IPod. Regretfully I'm buying it under the guise that it's for my son but it's really to play our 1 backing track on stage. Does the Nano 2nd fit the required audio criteria listed above? Also, it seems like $60 used is a good price, your thoughts?

I have a 2nd gen nano, but unfortunately it kicked the bucket so I can't test it for you. My wife has a 4th gen, but it's significantly different. I'm almost postive it would work if you used the port outputs, but I don't know what it would do if you were using the headphone out.

My guess is that it would work, but I have nothing to back that up. $60 seems like a reasonable price.

Thanks Andrew

Bumping an old thread but a goody... Someone's has been downloading my little test mp3 in great quantity lately. Out yourself!!!

I just downloaded it now- I had to see what all the fuss is about. Now I know.