Hi Everyone

I have my first wedding tomorrow (I'm experiencing a mix of excitement and nervousness!) Anyways, these may seem like obvious answers but I was wondering if it is best to turn the AGC on or off or if this even makes a difference. I turned the Voice Auto Detection off, I am guessing that is the right thing to do. Yes, I'm using a Giant Squid. Also, should I select stereo or mono? What kind of a difference would that make? Thanks!

The Giant Squid is a mono mike, so you don't gain anything using the stereo setting.

Here are settings I copied from a post by Mark Foley on 8/28/05. This has been my guide and it has served me well.

***SETTINGS***

Timer (manual section 5-17)

- Sleep power off - OFF / Beep OFF
- Stop Power off - 60 min

Control - (manual section 5-22)

- Line in recording mode:
Mono
44.1KHz
160 Kbps

Stereo
44.1Khz
320 Kbps

- Line In Rec Volume: 45 (Giant Squid Mic) 50 (MT830 mic) 50-55 (Azden 503)

- Line In Auto Sync: OFF

- Line In / Ext Mic: EXT MIC

***SETUP***

1. Connect mic to line-in jack
2. Set line in rec mode as above (SETTINGS)
3. Press and HOLD "Mode/Rec" button
4. Select Line-In mode
5. Press "Nav/Menu" button to go to PAUSED record mode
6. Press REC
7. Engage the LOCK!

***STOPPING***

1. Unlock
2. Press "Mode/Rec" button
3. Press and HOLD the STOP button

Expected record times based on 512 Mb model (256 will be half...1Gb will be double the record time below)
In mono:
44hz 32kbps = 23 hours: 27 minutes
" " 40kbps = 18 Hours: 54 minutes
" " 48kbps = 15 hours: 45 minutes
" " 56kbps = 13 hours: 30 minutes
" " 64kbps = 11 hours: 48 minutes
" " 80kbps = 9 hours: 27 minutes
" " 96kbps = 7 hours: 52 minutes
" " 112kbps = 6 hours: 45 minutes
" " 128kbps = 5 hours: 54 minutes
" " 160kbps = 4 hours: 43 minutes

In Stereo:
44hz 64kbps = 11 hours: 53 minutes
" " 80kbps = 9 Hours: 31 minutes
" " 96kbps = 7 hours: 55 minutes
" " 112kbps = 6 hours: 47 minutes
" " 128kbps = 5 hours: 56 minutes
" " 160kbps = 4 hours: 45 minutes
" " 192kbps = 3 hours: 92 minutes
" " 224kbps = 3 hours: 23 minutes
" " 256kbps = 2 hours: 58 minutes
" " 320kbps = 2 hours: 22 minutes

Hilary,make sure you read the post above,specifically on setup.You need to put the iriver into "line in" mode then select the "ext mic"
The questions your asking are only relative to the "voice " record mode which only uses the internal mic( not what you want).AGC and detection are not functional in the "line in" mode.