PreRecord Buffer

The FlashMic incorporates a pre-record buffer of up to 10 seconds (adjustable).

When enabled, audio collected by the microphone is constantly being written into a buffer memory – separate from the main memory – at all times as long as the FlashMic is powered. Thus the last few seconds of audio are always already stored inside the FlashMic. When the REC button is pressed, the contents of the buffer is written into the main memory, while the ‘live’ audio continues to be written into the buffer. When the M/STOP button is pressed, the contents of the buffer continues to be written to the sound file, so nothing is lost.

When the recording is replayed, it will be found that it begins with a few seconds of audio immediately before the REC button was pressed.

There are no controls on the FlashMic itself for the pre-record buffer; it is enabled and has its duration set from the FlashMic Manager software, as part of a preset configuration. The pre-record buffer can be set from 0 to 10 seconds, in one second increments.

Setting Pre-record Buffer Time

It should be clear that if all sound files are created with 10 seconds of pre-record buffer enabled, available memory will be used up more rapidly. A degree of experiment may be necessary to find an optimum setting for the length of the pre-record buffer.

It is recommended that the buffer is deselected (by setting the duration to ‘OFF’ in FlashMic Manager) for recording situations where it is unlikely to bring any benefit.

FlashMic File Names

Frequently, the number of sound files to be downloaded from a FlashMic may be quite large. Furthermore, the FlashMic may have been used in several different locations, and/or by different journalists/recordists. Thus it is important to identify sound files at the time of recording so that their identity and origin can be correctly attributed.

A written (or electronic) recording log is recommended elsewhere in this manual, and it is good professional practice to maintain such a log. FlashMic Manager additionally provides the user with the scope for considerable extra assistance in file identification in the form of definable file header information.

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