Using I-river 120 as a recorder

frogmugsy wrote on 7/31/2004, 1:01 PM
I posted this at the audio forums, no answer there so I'm trying here.

I've connected a sennheiser MKe300 with a mono to stereo adapter into the line in of the Hp120 and using the External microphone setting. I just can't hear anything while I'm recording either thru the headphones or the line-out. Is this not capable or am I doing something wrong?

Comments

farss wrote on 7/31/2004, 4:21 PM
Unless the MKe300 has a built in mic preamp then the level will be way too low going into a line level input.
You could try feeding the mic through a cheap mic preamp before the HP120.

Bob.
biggles wrote on 7/31/2004, 4:30 PM
Silly/obvious question:

Have you tried using the mic that came with your unit just to check that you have the right settings?
Orcatek wrote on 7/31/2004, 5:23 PM
You can definitely hear or monitor while recording. So I would suspect your input level. Can you hear anything on playback of the recordings?

I've used really cheap mics - ones that come with pc's and good mics. Never had a problem other than having to crank the level way down so I am surprised you are having an issue. Also, maybe your adapter cable is bad.
frogmugsy wrote on 7/31/2004, 6:58 PM
I found and used the mic that came with the unit and yes, when I changed the settingts to line-in, I was able to monitor what I was recording. Changing the source on the unit to Ext. Mic, I was unable to monitor anything at all (just like the mke300) while recording. Playback on either mic was fine (Everything sounded better in Ext mic mode than the Line -in mode). So is it safe to say that while the unit is in ext. mic. mode, I am unable to monitor anything in my headphones? Or is my unit defective? I've even bypased the adapter and plugged my headphones right into the unit.
frogmugsy wrote on 7/31/2004, 7:11 PM
Cripes, never mind. I purchased this model because of the threads in this forum recommending the hp120 (it is an awesome mp3 player too, I love it).
But in the same thread, it mentions you can't monitor when in ext. mic mode. No problem. Well, next question for those who have the hp120 is what preamp do you guys have if any?
Arks wrote on 8/2/2004, 6:28 AM
Maybe the adapter cable you are using is not for microphones, but only for lineout/line in devices? I have been using an iriver ifp 880 and I can monitor the audio while recording with the external mic option selected. I have tested the unit with a few minijack wireless mic recievers and one of the sony ecm minidisk microphones. It works pretty good. In fact, my at my next event, I am going to have one of these units with a PZM microphone hooked up to it for ambience audio; should work great.. .and its very affordable too.