Cheap SD recorder from CPC

[Alec]

Hmmm, I'll resist the temptation to outpour my thoughts on whoever designed that product then... Should be a short & disappointing unwrapping tonight, followed by a call to CPC to return goods unfit for purpose! What a shame, as the Pulse own brand stuff is normally fantastic value.

 

OK, so after a quick, depressing play tonight:

 

Good points:

• Appears solidly built - that's about all I can say for it!
  

 

Bad points:

• When you turn it on, you can't just stick in a SD card/USB stick & press record. As the default record source is the USB key. You have to press "Func" (yes, "Func", not "Source"!) to select AUX as the record source. And, worse still, the record source reverts back to being the USB key when you power the unit up!
  
• When you press "Record", it appears to go into record pause mode, but then, a few seconds later starts recording. However, as there are no flashing lights, no metering, and no red record indicator (it simply displays "REC AUX"), you'd be hard pressed to know it's doing anything.
  
• No metering!!!
  
• The interface & manual are so poor that it took me a while to realise that it can only record to MP3 format (with a choice of 192, 128 and 96 kb/s. That's right - no WAV recording!!! And hardly the highest of MP3 bitrates at that.
  
• Only XLRs for input & output. While it's great to have these, I suspect most users at this price point would probably prefer jacks, and would certainly prefer both.
  

 

So, the verdict? Billing this as a professional recorder verges on the scandalous. My recommendation is not to buy it, and that CPC ditch the line, as I suspect it'll cause more customer hassle than it's worth. While it's cheap against the competition, it's still £150.

 

Well, that was my quickest rejection of an item ever. I can't believe a recorder can be so unfit for purpose. Yes, you could stick a compressor/limiter in front of it, but you should hardly have to. The interface couldn't be much worse!

[paulears]

Oddly, I'm not miffed with CPC at all - I simply suspect that they had a sample, popped in a SD card or USB stick and maybe a CD, and pressed record. If you only have one recording media inserted, pressing record, will record the cd to it. selecting it and pressing play, makes it play back. It's only of you then start looking at the file on a computer system that you find the levels are a bit adrift. However, they play back at subjectively the same level, so you don't really notice. The lack of input gain and some kind of level display is a big problem - but only when you try to use it in a show environment.

 

I had a note from CPC asking me to send it back for a credit, so I'm quite happy with the service. The design of the unit infers it does things differently to how it actually is. MP3 encoding often makes level problems somewhat hidden - same thing with MD Atrac - going over level seems less nasty than on an uncompressed format. While I was experimenting, I grabbed the only available MD (well, available without actually leaving the studio!) and put it into a Denon pr MD recorder that has XLR balanced outs, and plugged this into the Pulse unit - as the Aux input is not looped through to the output, pressing play on the MD machine produced audio on the meters, so I hit record on the pulse. After stopping recording, pressing play revealed I had recorded AC/DC. It sounded a little rough, which I assumed was probably a poor recording on the MD. Checking the files in soundforge, it was off the scale, with the peaks squared off. Plugging in the MD properly revealed no distortion.

 

Equipping a piece of rack mount equipment with balanced audio ins on XLRs should make the requirement of being able to handle +4dB levels essential. This is where the initial problem lies. Rather a shame really, because the concept is sound - the manufacturer just messed up the spec?

[Alec]

Not miffed with CPC either, it's the designers/manufacturers who screwed this one up. I always get cross when designers patently fail to design reasonable kit.

 

On balance, it does look rather like this is primarily a player, with recording as an afterthought. Guess it might do a little better as a player, though from my brief play, it still doesn't do that fantastically.

 

Anyway, got my RMA number sorted too. Like you say, top service as ever from CPC.

[Chris Beesley]

Thanks for the feedback guys - this is very handy. We are now working with the factory for this item with the aim of bringing to market MK2 versions asap that perform correctly and have the added features such as the level indication and time stamp.

[churchpa]

Hi all,

thanks for the legwork on these. Sounds as though someone has taken the monacor small desktop unit (the drm110?) , repacked it into a 1U case and added the XLR's.

We have used this monacor on installs, and in unattended church kit (remeber most church sound guys know how to work their kit, but have no other sound/ technical knowlege!) the lack of level controls is in fact an advantage!

 

The current cpc price of £89 plus VAT makes this a lot cheaper than the monacor (about £115 , without a psu!)and we have neded to add a custom punched 3U rack panel as well, so I will get a dmp200 and try it out this week.

 

If we are adding a wish list for cpc to go away and work on fopr the spec of a mark 2, I would like spdif in and out!

 

Thanks again!

 

Mark

[Dan Gruner]

I think all this just goes to show you get what you pay for!

[J Pearce]

I don't think anyone would disagree Dan, but if you can live with the lower quality kit it can mean you can get more out of a small budget and consequently do things you otherwise couldn't.

I'm sure everyone would love high end kit, but you have to work within your means.

[NickSayle]

I too was thinking about buying a rackmount SD/USB type recorder. Having read this thread I decided to avoid the Pulse DMP-200 and went for the iKey Audio RM3 from CPC.

First impressions were very good. However, I have found some major drawbacks with this unit. First of all on the audio side and perhaps most annoying is when I turn on other units nearby the RM3 cuts out all audio playback until it itself is restarted from cold. I have tried moving it and re arranging the mains cable etc but it happens every time. It is also extremely susceptible to RFI. It will pick up anything within the house that is either turned on or off including light switches on a different ring circuit. I have to ensure my mobile phone is switched off for the same reason too. When plugged into my mixing desk (Roland digital) via the balanced XLR sockets there is a considerable amount of background noise. I tried this with nothing else in the house switched on apart from the RM3 and my desk. The headphone socket emits a constant clicking sound. I did find it strange that as this is primarily a recorder, why does it have balanced outs and not ins? It will only play one track at a time. There is no continuous play function that will allow it to continue through several songs on one card.

On the media side, it wrote to the supplied 1gb card without error in all modes but failed to do so on a SanDisk card of the same size. The USB function worked about 50% of the time. Usually better if inserted while the unit is off then turned on. Perhaps it simply isn't designed for hot swap. All files have the same date and time stamp of 2009. For some reason, all audio has a fade in so it misses out the start of the track. No idea why this happens, but apparently all the RM3 units do this.

I feel this machine in concept is fantastic. Such a shame it is not really functional in the way it is marketed. I personally wouldn't recommend this to anyone until iKey have addressed these faults.

[revbobuk]

Nick - we have in iKey, and as we've never used it as a player, we've not noticed any of the playback issues you have - I'll check it out next time I have a few moments. But ours is quite happy with all the media we've recorded to, with the exception of USB hard drives, which it just doesn't like at all.

 

There have been a couple of firmware updates posted to the iKey website - worth checking those out, as they added the ability to delete files and improved the level meter display. I don't think the RM3 will ever have the datestamp issue fixed - there doesn't seem to be a RTC chip in there. I think that's one of the major failings of the machine - I hope they bring out an RM4 soon!

 

It's also a nuisance that setting record mode while not in record pause is possible but pointless - you have to set it again once you've pressed record for it to 'take'.

 

Otherwise: build quality is below average, the screen is tiny, but it does a useful job at low cost.

[NickSayle]

Thanks for the heads up, I will have a look at the iKey website. I doubt that will help with the dreadful RFI problems though. I think it is a fundamental design problem. In the machines defence, I does record audio to SD and USB, but don't try using it for playing it back! I have contacted iKey regarding these faults, but I have a feeling that this will end up as a bad buy. I'm getting used to shoddy over hyped products.

 

Note to anyone at CPC. I have been using your company for many years and I know this has nothing to do with you. However, a little extra time on the new products evaluation bench would have been a good idea though

[Dan Gruner]

but I have a feeling that this will end up as a bad buy. I'm getting used to shoddy over hyped products.

 

Same here... :(

[NickSayle]

Dan,

 

Does your machine clip the front end of the audio on play back too? According to iKey it shouldn't. They have also just told me that they are aware of the RFI issues as well. There is a firmware update available, but this will only cover a couple of user interface glitches rather than the fundamental screening/lack of. I have decided to write off the purchase price of this machine as I know I will get the stone wall treatment and I can do without the added stress from a box shifter. I am going to pull it apart and do a full review on it. I have just retired from the Electro mechanical dept. of one of our better Universities so I will do a full and proper job. Watch this space.

[bruce]

Nick - I've never had any problems with CPC returns - maybe worth trying before getting the screwdrivers out? I'd be dropping Chris Beesley a note...

[NickSayle]

Through my job I have used CPC for donkey's years. I have never had troubles returning things even when it was clearly my mistake on order forms etc. That's why I bought from them, but I have be told by CPC today that it might have to go back to the manufacturer with a 3 week lead time for investigation. Perhaps this is a new thing or a contractual agreement with iKey. I have read on a couple of other forums that my problems with the RM3 are not unique. Personally I would avoid this product until these problems have been addressed.

[boatman]

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.... but I have be told by CPC today that it might have to go back to the manufacturer with a 3 week lead time for investigation.

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Sorry, but that attitude is not acceptable. The item is clearly "Not fit for purpose" and, as the supplier, CPC should be offering you a full refund. If they refuse to do so you should contact your local trading standards office.