Topic: Microtrack Taping setup

[adam_777]

I have been doing some reading on here about the Microtrack and it sounds very much like without additional gear the recordings are terrible. 

Right now I have the microtrack itself and a 4gb hitachi microdrive for it, plus an additional power source for the MT itself.  For those who own and use a microtrack recommend for decent quality recordings of shows without breaking my bank?

Do mics that directly plug into the MT produce good quality recordings?  Do you recommend a battery box or preamp? 

[gratefulphish]

I don't think that anyone is going to recommend just going mic in on the MT 24/96.  It is an option, just not a particularly good one.  Better move would be a preamp, or preamp/ADC so that you can take advantage of the digital in on the MT, which is really its strongest point among the lower cost bit buckets.

[adam_777]

Do you have any particular pre amps you would recommend?

[gratefulphish]

That would depend in large part on your budget.  You can look up the Church Audio preamp as a lower cost option, or look for a Sound Devices Mixpre or MR-2 (discontinued model number), or a UA-5.   Check out the yard sale for used gear at more reasonable prices (usually).  Also read some of the preamp threads, and use the "search" function.

[adam_777]

Ok thanks.  I had been using search, But none of the threads I found seemed to relate directly to what I needed to know.  I'll check out those models and see what works, thanks for the help.

[pmonk66]

Ok thanks.  I had been using search, But none of the threads I found seemed to relate directly to what I needed to know.  I'll check out those models and see what works, thanks for the help.

There are several modified UA-5 at the YS

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,84898.0.html

or for a few bucks more

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,84453.0.html

This is all you need (outside of some good mics)

[gratefulphish]

There is also an AD-20 and some relatively cheap mics in this post http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,84675.0.html