Last night, I ran the MicroTrack at 24bit (via the S/PDIF input) for Yonder Mountain String Band. it was the first real show where I was running 24 bit out of the V3. I've done several tests of the MicroTrack at home, but hadn't yet had the chance to run it at a show. here are some things that I observed:
battery power -
as per usual for me, I think I went way overboard with battery power. I am using ToddR's "juice box" to supply a regulated 5V to the microtrack. I'm using a 9V, 5AH, NiMH battery. this battery should power it for a LONG time, which is good. I certainly didn't have any problems at Yonder Mountain last night
channels -
during the first set, the channels recorded normally. During the second set, the channels recorded in reverse. This is easily fixed in post (just swap channels), but still an issue. I did not power down between sets.
"remaining time"
as we all know, when you start recording a file, there is also a count down with the remaining time. in all my tests, this counts down from the 2gig file size limit, not the total time left on the card (I'm using a 4GB CF card - Sandisk Ultra II). So, as usual, I start the first set recording and the count done is from ~2 hours. Then, between the 2nd set and encore, I noticed something funny. The second set had recorded for about an hour and half, but the count time thing still said that I had another hour and a half to go (approx.) So for the second set, it had started counting down from 3 hours instead of two. At this point, I'm thinking one of two things "shit, for some reason, it's only recording at 16 bit (48kHz) instead of 24 bit. 16/48 would give me about 3 hours per 2 gigs. shit." or "this is strange, the first set was an hour long. so maybe it is recording at 24 bit, but is counting down from the total time remaining on the card (4 hours total at 24/48 minus 1 hour for the first set). well, I got home, and verified that it did indeed record both sets at 24/48. I verified this by looking at the file size, and playing both sets in WaveLab and using the bit meter.
So this begs the question, why did it tell me that I have three hours of record time at 24/48? what would have happened when it reached the 2 gigs? probably just stopped, like it did before. but I thought that this was strange behavior.
Obviously, I haven't listened to the whole recording through yet, but I'm assuming that there were no pops/skips/blips or any errors like that. If I do find some problem with the recording, I'll let you all know.
and, finally, a few other minor observations:
as this was the first time for me running 24 bit out of the V3 S/PDIF, it was also the first time that I needed to break out the XLR > mini cable to run my D8 analog out of the V3 as a back-up. I learned that the standard right-angle neutrik XLR connectors are too wide for the V3, and they can't fit next to my right-angle mic input XLR's. they pushed against each too much for me to be comfortable. Because of this, I ran my D8 backup from the AES1 output of the V3, and recorded a truncated signal. As a back-up, this wasn't a big deal to me. as it turns out, it looks like I won't have to transfer that DAT anyway. However, this method of DAT back-up wouldn't have worked if I was running at 24 bit, 96kHz. on the other hand, there are still two things precluding me from recording 24/96 on the MicroTrack anyway (the S/PDIF input on the MicroTrack doesn't yet record at 24/96, and 8GB CF cards are still too expensive anyway). Once these items are taken care of, I'll probably trust the MicroTrack enough to not run a back-up anyway. I'm almost at the point of leaving my D8 at home already.
The levels are still not accurate after a while. I consider this a minor issue, because it doesn't impact the recording at all, and I have nice level meters on the V3. speaking of levels, I had this show DIALED in. man, it was sweet, peaks consistently around -1dB or so, with only one clip (during applause between songs).
and as far as the sound, well, the Avalon is one of the better sounding venues in Boston, and there weren't too many screaming, drunken idiots (although there were a few). actually, at one point, some passer-by spilled a beer right by our gear. luckily, only a bit splattered onto my D8, which was easily wiped off. a bit more got on the laptop that was running an on-the-fly matrix. I think because of this, they missed bit of the recording, and will have to splice it in from another source. and speaking of multiple sources, it was nice that there were 5 tapers there. Last year when the played Boston, I was pretty much the only taper. it was good to see more folks come out to tape.
All in all, it's nice to finally record at 24 bit, the MicroTrack is doing just what I want it to, and I almost trust it enough to leave the D8 at home. just a few minor issues to be resolved with firmware:
(1) 24 bit, 96 kHz recording via the S/PDIF input
(2) auto-save at 2 gig limit and seamlessly start a new file
(3) fix the intermittent channel swapping
(4) make it more stable (although it seems pretty stable to me now, much more so than the original firmware) In all my tests and last night, it has only frozen on me once with the latest firmware installed. not perfect yet, but much better.
Topic: [PT 2] M-Audio MicroTrack 2496 - *actual* real-life experiences thread (Read 90308 times)