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

[Brian Skalinder]

For reference, part I:  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=50364.0

[BLOODYJACK]

I have the play file problem. After recording a file, if you go to the file menu you can not play the file unless you power down first
is this a common bug?

[bdasilva]

Real life experiences... Stopped by Sam Ash this morning and J came right up and told me the unt I had been talking about for so long  was IN... They had one. It had a 399. price tag on it and I started to shake. Then he said he'd put it down as a "special promotion" and give me 75. off of that. I had to do it. 351.50 out the door. It's sitting and charging and I reading all I can about it. I'm thinking about that tapping the 1/8 for +5vdc power and running the signal thru the TRS inputs to run the AT853's.
lets hope the Version 1.5 comes out soon and they sell enough to keep paying those programmers to continue to upgrade our units.

[prof_peabody]

Real life experiences... Stopped by Sam Ash this morning and J came right up and told me the unt I had been talking about for so long  was IN... They had one. It had a 399. price tag on it and I started to shake. Then he said he'd put it down as a "special promotion" and give me 75. off of that. I had to do it. 361.50 out the door. It's sitting and charging and I reading all I can about it. I'm thinking about that tapping the 1/8 for +5vdc power and running the signal thru the TRS inputs to run the AT853's.
lets hope the Version 1.5 comes out soon and they sell enough to keep paying those programmers to continue to upgrade our units.

This is probably a stupid question, but why wouldn't you just run the AT853 on phantom out of the 1/4"?

[Todd R]

I wonder what will sound better?

m20 > ecms-23 > psp-2 > microtrack (24 bit)
or
m20 > ecms-23 > psp-2 > todd mod sbm1 > microtrack (16 bit)

What is the preliminary opinion of the adc in the unit?

Tim --

If you want to know how the MT sounds compared to a ToddR modSBM1, check out the MT comparison running now over at COtapers.org.

I ran CD deck> line in to: (1) MT line-in, (2) V3> MT, and (3) ToddR-modSBM1> MT

[John R]

nice comp todd +

[Todd R]

Thanks John.  Interestingly, I tried Mule and moe first, but couldn't get the MT to accept those and not go way over/clip.  Couldn't get the levels low enough with what I assume are -10dbV consumer RCA outs, so I had to find something more acoustic in nature.  I'm not sure what that says for PA taping.  Might be that the MT will not pair well line-in with fixed output preamps like the m148, MV100, and NBox.  I don't know that for sure by any means, but CD RCA outputs aren't really that hot of a signal.

[Simp-Dawg]

i really couldn't hear a difference in those comps, so that's good...but the input level thing todd mentions is less than inspiring.  What would be great, since the a/d isn't bad, would be to run v3 > analog out > MT at 24bit while running ANSR on > JB3 at 16bit...hmmm

[bdasilva]

Real life experiences... Stopped by Sam Ash this morning and J came right up and told me the unt I had been talking about for so long  was IN... They had one. It had a 399. price tag on it and I started to shake. Then he said he'd put it down as a "special promotion" and give me 75. off of that. I had to do it. 351.50 out the door. It's sitting and charging and I reading all I can about it. I'm thinking about that tapping the 1/8 for +5vdc power and running the signal thru the TRS inputs to run the AT853's.
lets hope the Version 1.5 comes out soon and they sell enough to keep paying those programmers to continue to upgrade our units.

This is probably a stupid question, but why wouldn't you just run the AT853 on phantom out of the 1/4"?

From what I can see the phantom adapters lower the voltage in (48v)  to less than 6vdc thats used to power the mcs... as they pass the signal... I could make the TRS to XLR adapters (which I need for open taping anyway )  and then plug in the phantom adapters and then the mics... Or come up with some clever way to power the mics straight out of the unit. I'm sure there is going to be lots of clever accessories once we have had the Trackers and we love them...;

[prof_peabody]

Thanks.  +T

[neutrino]

Thanks John.  Interestingly, I tried Mule and moe first, but couldn't get the MT to accept those and not go way over/clip.  Couldn't get the levels low enough with what I assume are -10dbV consumer RCA outs, so I had to find something more acoustic in nature.  I'm not sure what that says for PA taping.  Might be that the MT will not pair well line-in with fixed output preamps like the m148, MV100, and NBox.  I don't know that for sure by any means, but CD RCA outputs aren't really that hot of a signal.

Todd-

I assume your going "line-in" thorugh the 1/8" jacks where you were finding you couldn't get the level low enough without going over?
dB-

[Todd R]

No, I was going into the 1/4" inputs.  (RCA>RCA cables) > (RCA>1/4" mono TS adapters) > 1/4" inputs on the MT.  Gain set to Line (well, gain set to "H", but right now that is Line, not High).

[neutrino]

That's bizzare. Although I haven't tried it myself, I can't imagine overloading the 1/4" inputs with a fixed line level. I know the 1/8" inputs set to "line in" will overload but not the 1/4". One oddity I found with the l/m/h switch is that it didn't seem to take the right setting until I booted the unit up with the selector switch in the setting I wanted to use. You might try that.
dB-

[WiFiJeff]

My experience calibrating the line-in on the MT was that I had to set my MMA6000 preamp 2.5 dB higher for the MT than for the Edirol R1 to get the same recorded waveform from a fixed source.  I had the input volume levels maxed out for both (line-in), though the MT little arrows don't go quite to the top (and I've never gotten a reply from M-Audio on whether that is unitary gain or what).  I am using hot mics (DPA 4060s), so the gain I use even for most acoustic music is small (5 dB to 15 dB on orchestral and chamber music unless I am far back in the hall).  Anyway, this did not strike me as al that unusual, pretty much allows me to use all my expected settings on the MMA6000.

Don't you have to power-off the MT to get any (internal) level changes to take effect?

Jeff

[silentmark]

Well here are some of my findings. First I do want to state that I do not stealth and could care less about the analog inputs at all and the shows I taped were all with the digi in.

Time remaining: I also had a strange time come up with a 4 gig card. It display 4:30 remaining, when it should have been around 6:30 for 16/44.1, settings were on auto through the digi in. It didn't stop at all so no problem there. Yesterday I set the input to be the 1/8" jack, set it to 16/44.1 wav and the time remaining display showed 6:36 remaining. I switched back to the digi in and I got the same time remaining, 6:36.

I used AC power both nights so I have no real battery life reports, BUT I did learn that you should power down after each set when using AC power or even an external battery pack (which is my next test I hope to do). If you leave the miniusb in when powering up, it goes into charge mode, no biggie, just plug the usb jack in after powering up. What I did find was after the first night's first set recording I left the unit plugged in and powered up. Second set starts, I hit record and the unit froze. Powered down, unplugged the miniusb, hit record, froze again, powered down again, then up, hit record, good to go, re-plugged the AC power in. After that second set I powered the unit down, third set getting ready to start, power up, hit record, plug the AC jack in again, no problems. I did this process the second night of recording as well with no freeze ups.

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. Being so used to the o so wonderful meters of the D7/8 , these took alittle getting used to, still don't like them that much, really need some dB numbers on there. I am sure over time I will get a bead on them 

As it has been said, the digi in and the usb port are REAL tight, I need to shave some of the plastic off the usb jack for a smoother fit.

Using a seperate usb2.0 card reader is faster then the unit itself, 1.6 gig 45 minutes with the MT, 2 gigs 35 minutes with a reader, times are approx.

At this point, even with the limited usage, I give a thumbs up