Upon completing the initial setup steps described in this article: Introduction to USB file transfer, you are ready to connect your Sound Capsule to a PC.
Follow the steps below to learn how to access your files from a Windows PC:
Step 1 - Connection
Connect the Space Recorder to a PC via a USB cable
Step 2 - Activity in Windows
An empty drive may now appear on your computer. If you select this drive, a popup may appear informing you that the drive is empty or unavailable. Ignore this for now and proceed to step 3.
Step 3 - Enable USB
On your Sound Capsule display, observe the following message:
Press the Up Arrow button to enable USB connection
Please note: If this message does not appear there may be an issue with your USB connection. Attempt to reconnect or swap the cable. Also ensure that you are connecting directly between a Mac and the Space Recorder itself.
If this does not solve the problem, please ensure that your Sound Capsule is running the correct software version or consider performing a Hard Reset, before restarting the process. Contact Nomono support if you require further assistance.
Step 4 - Access your files
Once you have successfully entered USB mode on your Space Recorder, the name of the drive will change to NOMONO-SC and you will gain access your audio files.
Step 5 - Manage Your Files
Your audio recordings are organized in folders named by date and time in the format YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS for easy sorting, with each recording saved in its own folder.
Inside each folder, you’ll find the audio files for your recording:
- Stellar Mic Files: Depending on your setup, there will be 1 to 4 files, each labeled by the color of the corresponding mic, such as Green.wav (mono, 16-bit/48kHz).
- Ambisonic File: This file contains a group of 8 audio tracks captured by the 8 microphones onboard the Space Recorder. These tracks are combined into a single 8-channel audio file saved as ambisonic.flac (losslessly compressed, 8x mono, 24bit/48kHz).
This file structure allows for organized access to both individual mic channels and the full ambisonic capture, making it straightforward to manage and process your audio data.
You can copy your recordings to your PC for safekeeping, sharing or editing in a DAW.
Note: When transferring recordings via USB, you bypass the Nomono Cloud’s audio processing algorithms, which handle tasks like level normalization and audio enhancements. This means the initial audio level may seem low. While experienced audio professionals can manually process these files—such as by using a limiter in a DAW to adjust volume—we strongly recommend using Nomono Cloud whenever possible to take full advantage of automatic processing and optimal sound quality.
Step 6 - Safely Disconnect the Sound Capsule
To ensure a safe file transfer, keep the Sound Capsule connected throughout the process. Once you’ve finished transferring files, follow these steps to safely disconnect your Sound Capsule from your Mac:
- Eject the Sound Capsule on Your PC: Select the Sound Capsule drive and right-click it. Select "Eject" from the drop-down menu. This action safely ends communication between your PC and the Space Recorder. Refer to the photo below for guidance.
- Enter the USB Exit Menu on Your Space Recorder:
- Press the Down Arrow button on your Space Recorder to access the USB exit menu.
- Then, press the Up Arrow button to exit USB transfer mode.
- Press the Down Arrow button on your Space Recorder to access the USB exit menu.
- Disconnect the USB Cable: You can now safely unplug the USB cable to complete the disconnection process.