first off, thanks for the good early morning discussion.
I.e.: the cpu has no control over the charging process? Cannot be tweaked a bit?
I read that these Li-Polymer batteries need a 1C charge at steady voltage until the current drops to 0.
And that the voltage was the key to charge correctly (but not do damage) or to under- or overcharge.
If the voltage is set in hardware and is on the safe side a small mod could fix it? (smd resistor?)
I agree that things could be tweaked, but I don't think major gains on battery life will happen. also, if we're now going into "small mods" that go beyond the scope of just firmware fixes, thats'a different story, and much more expensive for M-Audio. I don't see them offering up to replace some internal parts to gain some battery life.
it is what it is, and is not what they advertised. just get a small external pack if you need more than 2-3 hours.
2-3 hours without phantom is ridiculous.
if you need longer run times, run an external pack. how much run-time can we realistically expect from something like this. before the MicroTrack, one of the batteries that I carried was larger than the whole MicroTrack, let alone the battery in the MicroTrack. To acheive the small form factor, it's clear that they skimped on the internal battery, unfortunately. that's just the way it is, rediculous or not.
From my point of view, there are only 3 issues with the current firmware:
- 24 bit S/PDIF
- 2 GB limit with no work around in place
- the unit freezes too often, and with a power down and power up, I may miss the start of a set.
I can agree with the latter two; the first one is nice but not necessary for my environment (I have yet to hear the difference between 16/44.1 and 24/96 with cheap but pro mics and batterybox, also there is no small ADC to accompany the MT?).
from this comment, it's clear that we have very different uses in mind. I only care about recording a 24 bit S/PDIF signal from my V3. I don't care about the analog inputs at all, because I'll never use them. So we must both realize that we're going to have different measures when determining whether or not the MicroTrack is a success or failure. As far as not hearing a difference between 16/44.1 and 24/96, well then, I'd ask what you're listening on. For me, the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit is like night and day.
and for a small external A/D, if the internal one is not good enough for you, there is always the Core-Sound Mic2496. it is the same size as a Denecke AD-20. I know many people don't like Len at all and won't recommend his products. I don't really have any experience with Len, so I'll refrain from that whole discussion. But I do have a few 24 bit recordings made with the Mic2496, and they sound pretty good (a couple Phil shows, a Jorma show, and a couple others as well). If anyone would like to hear those, I'd be happy to set you up. just shoot me a PM.
I guess my main point in posting was: there are many things that can be fixed via firmware. but there are some that cannot. it is important to realize which is which, so we can focus our complaints to them on the issues that can actually be fixed.
If it is really a hardware bug a PCB revision could fix it but I guess M-Audio won't replace the initial PCB's.
To correctly realize which is which, info on the PCB design could be helpful. (i posted some stuff about the ADC datasheet with questiosn about the line signal path)
Which is the most direct route to put bugs under M-Audio's eye?
True, but I don't think it's realistic to expect that M-Audio is going to give us details on the internal design of the MicroTrack. just my opinion though.
Is anyone else experiencing the recording meters fading or completely blanking after 30+ minutes of recording. I taped QOTSA(acoustic in-store) last night and after 30 minutes or so, all I could see on the display were the peaks. I stopped and restarted the recording after the first hour at 24/96(2gigs) but the full display of recording levels was still not present, just the peaks. BTW, I was running mk4(DIN) > lemosax > MT24/96.
dB-
Yes, this has been noted before, and I've experienced as well. not sure what's going on, but the recording continued without any problems. (I was running 16/48 via S/PDIF from my V3). for me, it's nto that big of a deal, because I use the levels on the V3.
