Adjust Input Levels of Saramonic Blink500 Transmitter

Rationale

The Saramonic Blink500 Transmitter, i.e. the mic setup provided for Lightweight Lecture Capture program, defaults to fairly high input level.

A high input level means a risk of distortion and of clipping if the mic is too close to the user, or if the user's voice otherwise reaches a certain loudness.

Turning down the level on the transmitter will allow for the best possible recording, providing additional headroom thus limiting circumstances where distortion can occur.

Listeners can always turn up the volume on their playback devices, whereas distortion or clipping are not easily remedied via digital means.

Procedure

It takes two clicks to move up or down one "stage," as indicated by the LEDs on the device. If you see three illuminated segments (stage three, max input level,) it might take one or two clicks to get down to two illuminated segments (stage two, medium input level.)

Input level is adjusted via the plus (+) and minus (-) buttons on the side of the device:

Pressing the plus (+) will increase the input level, and pressing the minus (-) will decrease the input level.

The device needs to be on and paired, indicated by solid blue lights on the front, before changes to the input level can be made.

The default input level is "stage three," the maximum input level, indicated by three illuminated segments:

In our testing stage three was a bit high for typical use, though the recordings were still completely intelligible.

We suggest turning down to, "stage two," the medium input level, by pressing the minus (-) button until you see two illuminated segments:

Questions

If you have any questions about this procedure or about lightweight lecture capture in general, please reach out to us at servicedesk@mit.edu.

Further Reading

For more detailed information about the use of this device, please see the official user manual.