Automatic Recordings with Dropbox

How I automate rehearsal recording delivery using a Denon and Dropbox.

Disclaimer, I am no longer at UNT, and this archived article may have outdated or inaccurate information.

This lovely interface is courtesy of the Denon DN-700, runs about $1,000. It is a website that allowed full control over the unit. On a unique IP network like what we have at the University of North Texas I’m able to pull this pretty thang up on my iPhone and monitor, stop and start recordings. There are 7 units throughout the college and all connected to one Dante network and over analog directly from a microphone preamp, like our Grace m802. That means I can route signal from any location to one of these no matter where it physically is.

We use most of our Denon units for backup recorders and have them all dump to a LaCie FTP network drive. This example shows how to use one unit to send rehearsal recordings directly to Dropbox.

Change to desired format.

I use mp3 for the 2 hour rehearsal recordings, wav for most other things.

Set the recording Timer

Set one or multiples. Keep in mind though that this all goes to the same folder.

Set your FTP Server credentials.

This has to be an FTP server, and it has to be a server that the Dropbox app will work on. The other key is the Archive Mode set to auto, and Clear After Arc set to On. This means the recording will automatically be moved to the FTP folder when the recorder stops recording. You could also schedule the transfer as well.

Setup FTP. Maybe the Tricky part.

There are two ways to approach this. MacOS has a built-in FTP server, and if the machine is well protected should be fine to use for this. I use the built-in FTP server on an old Mac where that’s all it does.

The alternative For OS X I use PureFTPd. Free, and runs as a system process so the app doesn’t have to be open all the time. There’s equivalent apps for Windows too.

The key here is to make your FTP home folder within the Dropbox folder. The full path should be complete between your home directory and the Denon Folder path. It is also key that this server remain behind any external firewall for security. Granting timed access or restricting what addresses can connect would be good here too.

Also the Denon will automatically create the SD1 or SD2 folder depending on which SD card is being used.

All Set!

Archiving starts moving the audio file over FTP the moment the record is stopped.

mp3 within Dropox, free to share and sync with others!

And instantly on my phone!

Annoyances:

1. File names can not really be modified until they are on the FTP server.
2. You can not schedule certain timers to work with certain specific file names or Settings Presets. I couldn’t schedule a timer to use mp3 with analog inputs, and another to use wav with AES inputs.
3. Sometimes file transfers can take awhile, but luckily the Denon will record and transfer at the same time!
4. There isn’t a way within this limited overview to use one Denon for multiple types of uses. For example, I can not use one Denon to record band and orchestra rehearsals, then separate them to different folders in Dropbox. The only way to do that is manually or with a script on the FTP server.