Anything on the face of the planet sounds better than the pre in the MT. It is so easy to clip the MT's pre that it is almost unusable and when it does clip, you will get audible static. Very thin, dry, and other unpleasant adjectives that I don't have time to list.
I agree that the MIC2496 is pretty big to stealth with -- the guy in Core's photo of it must have enormous hands. But considering it's a power supply, preamp and ADC combined, it's relatively compact. Even without phantom power being supplied, you won't get much more than two hours on a standard 9V battery before hitting low voltage, and I only get a little over an hour with my thirsty Audix mics attached. I use a compact lithium-ion battery from bix.com that will power the Core unit and the mics for 7+ hours.
The MIC2496 is way better than the internal preamp/ADC of the Microtrack, even running line-in -- the high noise level on the recordings I was making using the MT as an analog recorder was the main reason I bought the MIC2496. I have no complaints about the sound at all, and the latest firmware release for the Microtrack seems to have resolved the earlier quirks with S/PDIF input.
Well this sounds like another bad rap session on the MT being only good as a bit bucket. I have found this NOT really true with excellent results using the analog LINE input of the MT.
Done quite a few very low loudness nature, and some live music recordings using the MT line input with external preamplifier. MT line input handles about +4dBu maximum, so some preamps will overload the MT line input before they show clipping.
I have found the LINE input recordings very nice sounding and a few of my customers are recording classical and solo piano and like the MT results better than M1 DAT deck used before with same DSM mic and external pre, so the MT is fine using line.
This gives a much smaller package to stealth than most any external pre + A/D of excellent equivalent quality. I just carry the whole rig around in a vest pocket all the time now. And carry in a second vest pocket an external USB power sled running on 4 C cells for overcoming the lousy battery situation with the MT.
Talk is cheap, results are what's important in audio so give the following a careful listen.
Recordings done with MT with external pre on page:
www.sonicstudios.com/mp3.htmLook in Nature, Ambient, Radio ENG, Session, and Live performance sections for:
(Nature section)
Rolling Thunder-Rain #1
(Ambient section)
JULY 4, 2006 ILLEGAL SUTHERLIN RESIDENTIAL FIREWORKS/GUNSHOTS
ROSEBURG AIR SHOW RECORDING
(Radio/ENG section)
Peace March & Rally
IT'S SAINT PADDY'S DAY IN ROSEBURG!!!
Live music recordings at:
www.sonicstudios.com/mp3_2slp.htmMile Post Eight's 4th public appearance
THE HOTQUA STRING BAND
Image of external PA-24XP preamplifier runs for over 200 hours on internal AA cells, and is strapped to back of MT as shown below (I now use adhesive Velcro to the MT back instead of the wrap strap), and images of USB power sleds for MT at
www.sonicstudios.com/batsys98.htm#microtrackBottom line is the recordings sound excellent IMO, and the mic, pre, deck, and powering configuration is very small and practical for using in any situation. There's very little not to like for having such small size portable portable rig that does 24bit/88.2K mode with using the MT's internal A/D using the analog line input, and will record reliably for 20 hours without any need to carry spare batteries regardless of MT's internal battery state of charge.