VSS-200 sampling tips needed

[SineHacker]

Hey Circuit benders, long time no text!

I haven't logged on in a good while, but when I was last using the forum actively there were a good few users who had a bent VSS-200. The one I have was one of the first machines I ever bent, but I never really used it for serious music until now. (I love starting a post with a story). I hope some VSS-200 users are still on here, I have a more general question about the machine, so here it is:

when I record a sample with the inbuilt mic, it comes out fine (lo-fi bliss) every time and loads straight away, however when I use the phono input with any other source it usually doesn't work or fucks up, occasionally it will work and the samples will come out as expected. The inbuilt mic is always really loud as well, on par with the built in sounds the keyboard has whereas using the phono input seems to come out at about 1/3rd the volume :/ It's annoying because the vss kicks out a nice amount of hiss if the volume slider is high as well. Oh yes, also worth mentioning is that when I record a sample with the phono input it seems to take about 30 - 60 seconds to register and will then be about half a second long!! I'm usually recording drones so would dynamics be the key here? i.e does the vss recognise changes in amplitude? I was wondering if the VSS tries to normalise the recording which is why it takes so long to process, but this seems pretty far fetched for an old machine.

it's not ideal for a live setup, not knowing if your sample has come out ok. I'm guessing volume of the input signal is the problem, in my setup I use a homemade matrix mixer which is kinda quiet despite having pre-amps (however I tried running a line direct from my pss-790 which is loud as poo and that had the same problems) and I want to sample directly from one of the output busses on that - I'm thinking about making an external pre-amp to boost signals for the vss input, opinions?


p.s if anyone is interesten in what I have been up to: Ginko Live at Chapter, Cardiff

[SineHacker]

Well, if anyone is interested at all, I think it is something to do with voltage/amplitude detection - drones don't come out so well but drum loops at the same volume come out fine. Voice also works pretty well, sampler doesn't seem to like signals processed with reverb or delay guitar pedals for some bizarre reason, but i'm guessing its a voltage thing.

[Circuitbenders]

You do need to feed it a signal over a certain volume before it will start sampling automatically, but it could just be that you have a damaged phono socket. Sometimes its connected and sometimes it isn't.

Or you have a dying op-amp on the input..........