The bars on the level indicator during record may depend on where the level is being
monitored, before or after sample-
rate-conversion. Resampling can lead to slight differences in peak level. Of course,
during playback, the deck is metering
the signal that was resampled during recording. The red 'over' indicator, in many
decks, only operates during record.
Since 'over' literally means that the signal is to large to be expressed digitally,
most over indicators infer an over condition
when there is more than one consecutive sample at the maximum value. Professional
digital level meters allow the
operator to set the number consecutive samples. Sony often recommends 3. The over
indicator is often disabled during
playback.
One side issue: I believe that the sample-rate-converter in most decks is
non-defeatable. That is, even if a digital input
signal at 44.1K is applied, it will be resampled to the deck's (slightly different)
44.1K clock. There seems to be no "lock"
window and/or setup option for allowing the deck's internal clock to lock to an
external signal.
During record, the level indicator on my JE520 monitors the signal after digital gain
adjustment. (This is presumably also
after sample rate conversion.) While the playback indication generally matches the
record fairly well, there is the potential
for a *big* problem when recording from the analog input. If a negative digital gain
adjustment is a applied, it is possible for
the A/D converters to clip severely without generating an 'over'. As a matter of
fact, it's impossible to generate an over or
even to get full recording level, regardless of how high the analog input signal is.
For this reason, I suggest NEVER SET
THE DIGITAL RECORD GAIN TO A NEGATIVE VALUE under normal circumstances.
In summary, the 'over' indicator and the level indicator, during record, generally
show the audio level that's being applied to
the ATRAC encoder to be recorded. Due to other DSP (sample rate conversion, gain
asjustment, etc), earlier parts of the
system may clip without obvious indication! But this should cause the playback
indication to agree well with the record
indication.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word
"unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
