Ok I bought an iRiver ifp-890 (refurb) and am trying to set it up. The disc that came with it contains TONS of folders of files but no clear setup info for recording that i can see.

help me. PLEASE!

The disk should have nothing to do with recording. You have to navigate to the recording menus and set to line in, ext mic, int mic etc and set volumes. Then go to town. If I remember, you hold down the joystick until the menu pops up. if you are using an ext mic set it to that, then set the volume. It takes some tweaking and playing around. I just tore through my emails because I used to have a great instruction but it is gone. I see if I can get it again.

There's a pdf of the manual here:
http://www.iriveramerica.com/images/pdf/iFP-800EngPlayer.pdf

The short of it:

Press and hold the "Record" button to change modes.

"Voice" uses the built-in mic, and "Line-In" is for your external microphone (make sure it's a dynamic mic, there's no phantom power!).

Once you're in recording mode, press in (and hold) the joystick, and go to "control" to change your settings.

Voice recording:
Use 44.1 and 128 or better. AGC is auto-gain control. Play with it if you like.

Line-in Recording mode:
Press in the joystick to switch to Stereo. Then set it up at 44.1 and at least 128 by moving the stick l/r and u/d.

Line-in Volume.
I've found with my mic, that 45-55 gives a decent result. Record a bunch of tests to find what works for you.

Line-in/Mic.
You want to set the button to "External Mic." If you don't, then it'll turn off the pre-amp and record at line-level.

---------------------------

The CD is the transfer software. IMHO, the biggest flaw of the iRiver is that it is not plug-and-play. You need the disc to download anything from the iRiver to your computer.

You can re-flash the firmware and "untie" it from the software that they bundle with it. But the highest quality you can record at at that point is 96/44.1. I don't know if they drop the quality to get you to stay with their transfer software.

I run Linux and therefore use the alternate firmware so that I can transfer files directly to my Linux machine. When using the alternate firmware it is plug and play and is seen by the computer just like any flash drive.

Stick with their transfer software if possible. That allows you to use the higher bit rates.

That said, the most recent episode of one of my podcasts was recorded at 96/44.1 using the iRiver and a $2.55 lapel mic. I think it sounds pretty good.

This page should tell you everything you need to know:

http://www.geekfishing.net/media/podcast/2..._recording.html

It says it's for a 799, but the 790 series and 890 series are functionally identical just with different casings. I followed the directions on this page when I got my 790 and it helped me out a lot.

DPeach,

Do you have a link to that firmware by any chance I was seeking out an opensource one last night to no avail.

Slusy is my new best friend

http://www.iriver.com/html/support/downloa...chProductIdx=35

I did the 1.95 version of the firmware which just came out in February, but after doing that, all of my Linux machines cannot read the files properly. I rolled back to 1.85 and it works fine. Both of those firmwares are linked to from that page.

Hope that helps.

Thanks.

Also how do I raise the line in record volume. (is it stating the obvious to point out the utter craptasticness of this user interface?)

See my post above.

Oh, you get used to it I can change playback speed and change mode/recording source without looking

All figured out now...

Thanks everyone!