Topic: Microtrack 24/96 Back Light Power Consumption

[ghibliss]

Has anyone tested the MT for backlight power consumption yet?  I was interested in finding out how much battery drain there is if you keep the backlight always on.  Leaving the backlight always on with the hold button engaged appears to be anice way to monitor recording levels at a concert.  If the battery drain is too high to allow the recorder to go for at least two hours I could use my external battery for the MT which woudl handle itas it si 4200 maH.

[ghibliss]

I just completed a test to determine if the backlight would cause the battery consumption rate to increase significantly enough to foreshorten recording time.  I recorded a file using the supplied 1/8" microphone with the recorder set at 24/96 with the backlight set to "always on" and the hold button engaged.  The battery consumption did not appear to be increased significantly as I had already used the MT for the Dave Mason show on Monday and had not yet recharged it since then.  The test started with the battery level indicating a little below 50%.  The recording of a 24/96 file lasted 57:52 min/sec at which time the auto file split function worked as designed.  It did not appear to take five seconds before the meters were indicating that a file was being recorded which is a good sign.   

I think that the next test I conduct will be with music which will play from my computer that is in excess of the the maximum file time. When I play back the information I can check the interval for the lapse in the recording from the original on the pc in Wavelab for an exact figure on how much of a loss we can expect to see in real life using this feature.

The battery still had a significant amount of charge left for recording if required when the test was completed.  I see no reason why one could not leave the backlight "Always On" and be able to easily monitor the recording.   




 

[guysonic]

Has anyone tested the MT for backlight power consumption yet?  I was interested in finding out how much battery drain there is if you keep the backlight always on.  Leaving the backlight always on with the hold button engaged appears to be anice way to monitor recording levels at a concert.  If the battery drain is too high to allow the recorder to go for at least two hours I could use my external battery for the MT which woudl handle itas it si 4200 maH.

I also tested the draw (~20 milliamperes if I remember correctly) to be fairly insignificant, so no reason to not use except maybe adding a bit of noise to the electrical ambient inside the deck.  However, my noise tests show that whatever is causing the high frequency noise problems inside the microtrack, it is NOT due to the backlight being on.

[ghibliss]

This noise is not something which is present when using the spdif coaxial input which is how I actually record when at concerts!  I have never had any audible noise compinent added when I have pressed the buttons on the MT to have the backlight come on while in the process of recording. When using the spdif input you are bypassing the preamplifier stage of the MT and eliminate the major week spot of the product.  I like using the MT as a bit storage device as it is as small as you can presently find for a 24/96 capable device at the moment.