Topic: [PT 2] M-Audio MicroTrack 2496 - *actual* real-life experiences thread

[neutrino]

Taped NIN last night with the microtracker. Came out so bad that it was amazing, mostly because I was so close there were no stacks around me. I ended up just being happy being 10 feet away and just had a great time. Anyways. First problem I had was the autolux set. I got it going, did it, came back, and the microtracker is OFF and the power button is stuck in. I had the hold button still on, so I have no idea how any of this happened. I had so much junk in my pocket that anything could have happened. Then I did QOTSA and NIN. Both came out with clipping galore. I set it for M and moved both sliders at about 1/3 the way and started the file and put it on hold. I tried to play the file back after qotsa to see if it clipped, and the stupid thing wouldn't even play the file. It would play some older files, but not the ones I needed. I'd just keep pushing the nav button in over and over and nothing happened. I am very sure I wasn't writing to any files either. It of course did play it 4 hours after the show, how nice.
Anyways, NIN was the same. I'll attach a pic here and a clip. Oh yeah, the setup was SP-CMC-4>SP-SPSB-1>MT via Line-In with Phantom off. After the show I noticed the L/M/H was moved from M to H. No idea when that happened, but i'm not suprirsed with all the stuff in my pocket. In total I had a MT, SP-SPSB-1, and a USB battery pack all hooked up.

I'll try the setup again when I get a pair of mics modded with phantom power all set.

PS, if you're an NIN fan you can figure out which songs didn't clip!

Here is a clip that should sound terrible http://www.fuzn.net/mtclip.wav

I can't believe it was clipping, but oh well. Trent threw his bottle right on my hat and I guess I lost my hat! I was drenched in water as well. I have no idea where the bottle bounced off to. I was NOT expecting that to happen.

A couple of questions...

Were you recording through the 1/8" inputs or the 1/4" inputs?
Why would you set the l/m/h switch to "m" if you were using a battery box?

I would suggest trying your setup through the 1/4" inputs with the l/m/h switch set to "H" which is really "L" for line-in, that is until you load the new, yet to be released firmware.
dB-

[fuzn]

Taped NIN last night with the microtracker. Came out so bad that it was amazing, mostly because I was so close there were no stacks around me. I ended up just being happy being 10 feet away and just had a great time. Anyways. First problem I had was the autolux set. I got it going, did it, came back, and the microtracker is OFF and the power button is stuck in. I had the hold button still on, so I have no idea how any of this happened. I had so much junk in my pocket that anything could have happened. Then I did QOTSA and NIN. Both came out with clipping galore. I set it for M and moved both sliders at about 1/3 the way and started the file and put it on hold. I tried to play the file back after qotsa to see if it clipped, and the stupid thing wouldn't even play the file. It would play some older files, but not the ones I needed. I'd just keep pushing the nav button in over and over and nothing happened. I am very sure I wasn't writing to any files either. It of course did play it 4 hours after the show, how nice.
Anyways, NIN was the same. I'll attach a pic here and a clip. Oh yeah, the setup was SP-CMC-4>SP-SPSB-1>MT via Line-In with Phantom off. After the show I noticed the L/M/H was moved from M to H. No idea when that happened, but i'm not suprirsed with all the stuff in my pocket. In total I had a MT, SP-SPSB-1, and a USB battery pack all hooked up.

I'll try the setup again when I get a pair of mics modded with phantom power all set.

PS, if you're an NIN fan you can figure out which songs didn't clip!

Here is a clip that should sound terrible http://www.fuzn.net/mtclip.wav

I can't believe it was clipping, but oh well. Trent threw his bottle right on my hat and I guess I lost my hat! I was drenched in water as well. I have no idea where the bottle bounced off to. I was NOT expecting that to happen.

A couple of questions...

Were you recording through the 1/8" inputs or the 1/4" inputs?
Why would you set the l/m/h switch to "m" if you were using a battery box?

I would suggest trying your setup through the 1/4" inputs with the l/m/h switch set to "H" which is really "L" for line-in, that is until you load the new, yet to be released firmware.
dB-

I was using the 1/4 inputs via some 1/8 to 1/4 converters. I set it to M because I just got the thing the day before, so I didn't read up on anything. I don't really get how the L/M/H switch works. I probably did use H for some time since I saw the switch had moved to H after the show, no idea when it decided to move there. Every set I taped clipped though, I have no idea if that even mattered. Hold was on through when I put it at M, so would it even know that it was moved to H? I wasn't sure on that one.

[Simp-Dawg]

woot!  got mine today!  charging right now...

[fuzn]

Anyone else having their power button getting stuck in easily? I just push it in and a little down, and it'll just stay there. I am positive that's how my autolux set didn't come out. Ugh.

[fuzn]

I know I need practice, that's for sure. However, my Sacramento NIN show from last week is easily one of the best sounding tapes of this tour, without a doubt. I used the hold feature, it didn't make a difference for autolux as it turned off anyways. I never showed I was taping at all, everything was in my pocket and it was never opened. My first tape ever was a stealth job at the fillmore and it sounds very great. The tape thing over the switches, I thought about it, but didn't do it, I know better now. I used Line-In, via 1/8" to 1/4" TRS connectors. I couldn't watch my levels as security was so close that they were seriously less than 2 inches from me just about the whole show, since the guy was in the crowd almost leaning on me. I just had no idea where to set my levels, since this unit was new to me, I figured setting the levels to just 1/4 the way would be too quiet, guess I was wrong. I have never had any problems whatsoever with my jb3 except for a faulty harddrive that I fixed easily. My NIN show (and openers) from sacramento should be coming out tonight on Dime if you're wondering. (EDIT: Is up now.)

I would have checked after one of the sets if it clipped by playing it back, but this thing has a mind of it's own and wouldn't let me play the file. It does now, but didn't when it actually mattered.

I'm as bummed out as everyone else is. I didn't want to go through all that work to just get a ton of clipping.

[Simp-Dawg]

i'm not a big fan of the nav button, doesn't have good clean response...operating system is clumsy and slow.
you can still turn it off with the hold button on.
can't say i'm terribly impressed with it yet!

[fuzn]

i'm not a big fan of the nav button, doesn't have good clean response...operating system is clumsy and slow.
you can still turn it off with the hold button on.
can't say i'm terribly impressed with it yet!

Same here man, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've been thinking that I should just get a dat and wait until this thing is worked out. It turning off while hold is on is a HUGE problem for me, since my power button gets stuck easily.

[Evil Taper]

2 words:  Edirol R1

For real though, what a let down for something so stealthy!

[wbrisette]

I did notice the red clip lights on the MT seem a bit over zealous as my sbm1 wasn't even lighting up while the MT was like a Xmas tree at times, so just keep that in mind.

Christmas tree? You haven't seen a christmas tree until you've see the 722 or Deva in a dark room. Together the units could compete for the job of house lights. 

Wayne

[Todd R]

you can still turn it off with the hold button on.

Very strange, you can't turn mine off when the hold switch is engaged.  All buttons are locked out with hold engaged, including power.

My firmware is 1.0.2.  Is this what everyone else has?

[WiFiJeff]

you can still turn it off with the hold button on.

Very strange, you can't turn mine off when the hold switch is engaged.  All buttons are locked out with hold engaged, including power.

My firmware is 1.0.2.  Is this what everyone else has?

I asked this on another thread.  Everybody who answered had 1.0.2

Jeff

[Todd R]

Thanks Jeff!

[tightglobes]

so from those of you who have actually bought & used the microtrack:  is the general feeling a thumbs up or a thumbs down?  i've read thru all of these posts so i know of the quirks.  i've been pleased with m-audio in the past & feel that most of these things can be corrected with the proper firmware update.  i'm not as concerned with mic pre-amp as i am the balance line signal, so no worries there for me (with phantom power, etc.).  the other solid-state recorders like this don't handle a balanced line-level signal which is what really draws me to this recorder.  and the thought of never buying dat tapes again thrills me.

i've got a good deal on one but have to purchase it by thursday.  so i guess what i'm trying to find out before i make the plunge is - overall, would you buy it now that you have used it if you did not own it?

thanks!

[WiFiJeff]

... overall, would you buy it now that you have used it if you did not own it?

thanks!

In the words of the all-wise Magic Eight Ball, "Ask again later"

Jeff

[plucks]

so far with minimal use i can't imagine why people are complaining.  My battery was mostly charged right out of the box so only 2 hours to get it fully charged. 

For those who want to use this as a digital in recorder this thing rules IMO.  Its SUPER lightweight, but not real cheap feeling.  The menu is easy to navigate, no problems testing with USB1.1 (i dont have 2.0).  I plan to get full use of it on friday

I even tested out the T-mic in 24/44.1.  It's a little tinny/hollow sounding on ambient noises & voices, but the background noise is pretty minimal.  It's actually quite sensitive.  HOWEVER, i did notice some of that weird digital-noise that you get when holding up a cell phone to an ipod.  Those click/beep noises.  I am hoping that is only on the a/d stage or that it is my flash card. 
I plan to get more SPDIF testing to see if the diginoise was a random event.

But, i have huge hopes for this especially once the firmware upgrades fix it all