Hello forum!
Firstly and foremostedlyest – a big dramatic THANK YOU to everyone who was a part of this EPIC thread. What a resource.
I’ve decided, after a loooong time of research – days solid!, that I will be buying myself a Microtrack II.
I just wanted to try and list all the issues and notes I’ve taken in order to make sure I’ve covered everything[!] and maybe get some advice on a couple of things. (hopefully this will help anyone else looking into the MT II)
Here it goes...
1) I can use balanced mic or line to TRS inputs or unbalanced to 1/8” inputs without problem. To use unbalanced into TRS I need to have a loud preamp and turn MT gain right down, or use a pseudo-balanced cable. Does this cover everything?
2) What kind of problems have people had with battery drainage? I read in a couple of user reviews that people had experienced it draining whilst off. I read elsewhere that this was either caused or exacerbated by using the Hold switch, and also some reports of it clearing up once the battery got ‘worn in’. Any more experiences/definitive story on this? I’m thinking it might be wise to run it off a battery pack whenever it’s remotely practical, so that the external battery wears out rather than the internal battery, the external being much easier to replace than the internal. I’m aware of this method of replacing the internal battery with an iPhone or iPod battery:
http://www.greendog.co.uk/microtrack/howto.phpBut this is an MT 1, will this work the exact same with MT II?
3) I should reformat my CF cards at every opportunity to avoid problems. I think that was from Guytronic on these forums…
4) I’ve read here that people are using 16Gb CF cards with no trouble, but I understand that M-Audio still only officially support 8Gb. Anyone tried 32Gb? Anyone tried ‘Kingston 133X ELITE PRO’ cards? They seem to be the cheapest 16Gb cards I can get.
5) Anyone found or made a windshield that works well with the plugin mic?
6) Can you still only change recording level while recording, or has this been changed?
7) I can get this for a fair bit less than I was expecting, so I’m considering buying a new mic. Another stereo omni condenser mic would be good, not necessarily the same T-mic design, but something smallish would be good, which I can either have plugged straight into the unit or on an extension and clipped somewhere inconspicuous. Basically how little can I spend on this to get a noticeable improvement? Something I can get from a UK vendor would be best. There’s 3 options at Sound Professionals for $50, $60 & $70 respectively. Any experience with these? Or I found this Olympus ME-51S mic:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-145037-ME-51S-Stereo-Microphone/dp/B000BTAH62/ref=dp_cp_ob_ce_title_1 [8 )] Battery pack?? Are there any limitations on what specs I’m looking for? The ‘BATTERY SIZING 101’ over at
www.sonicstudios.com seems to suggest to me that more voltage/current/wattage = more power supply, is it as simple as this? Anyone got any advice between something that’ll take AA/C/D batteries or some sort of battery unit that’s basically another Microtrack battery in external form, like this:
http://www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=32 Or this:
http://www.amazon.com/Lenmar-Universal-Powerport-Power-Adapter/dp/B0015ZZZLS/This one is tricky for me, as I’m taking the thing to Nepal in the summer and I don’t think I’ll always be in a city with even semi-reliable mains power. So looking for a reasonably heavy duty solution here.
You know what, by joe, I think that’s it! Hopefully I’ve just created a helpful summary for any prospective Microtrack buyers, or present owners for that matter, and hopefully someone has definitive answers to some of these questions!
Again, many many thanks for this thread.
Keep pebblin’
Simon