Topic: MT's A/D...? how is it?

[Nick's Picks]

good , bad...acceptable?
what is it close to ?

does it sound as good as a ua5 in that regard, ?
just curious.

I've got a chance to change my rig up a bit, and run m248>MT.  I'm thinking about it...but am having trouble deciding if I want to let my ACM660 go.  its such a sweeeeeeeetttt sounding box. 
I'm just feeling like I want 24bit again.  stupid gear upgrade bug.  My shit sounds awesome right now, and here I am contemplating a change.  I guess i'm not happy until I start making shitty recordings again.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

The big problem is the noise.. Does the m248 only add 20dB?  The noise probably wouldn't be much of an issue with rock levels but anything quiet that requires more gain would suffer.  You'd either have to add gain using the mt or in post.  I ran 4061 > MT as a backup for a metheny show and it sounded pretty good except for quite a bit of background noise.

Other than that big limitation, the A/D seems pretty decent.

[shruggy1987]

if you run into the 1/4" TRS inputs, the A/D sounds good to my ears.  it does a great job IMO.  i have never run a UA-5 to compare, but of the recordings I've heard of both, I'd say the A/D is comparable.  i've never had background noise troubles with the MT running at 24/48.

+t for getting the upgrade bug...i've got it too, just no money to do anything about it yet.

[Chanher]

i really should've run line-in when I had one, but I didn't. but here is doug's opinion, if it matters...

"Hello !
I feel the analog noise is too audible to do much to it, especially via the TRS jacks. I feel an analog PCB rebuild is in order, perhaps let a analog PCB grounding engineer take a crack at it (not a crack pipe as these guys seem to have done !). The 3.5MM jack sounds best, hence I did do a bit to it. Mine has a full analog path upgrade but the MOD I offer is only an input overload MOD, it drops the fixed gain by 12dB, this makes it easy to use for music recording with the supplied T-Mic or DPA 4061s. Mine has the T-MOD type upgrade.
peace...Doug"

[it-goes-to-eleven]

i really should've run line-in when I had one, but I didn't. but here is doug's opinion, if it matters...

"Hello !
I feel the analog noise is too audible to do much to it, especially via the TRS jacks. I feel an analog PCB rebuild is in order, perhaps let a analog PCB grounding engineer take a crack at it (not a crack pipe as these guys seem to have done !). The 3.5MM jack sounds best, hence I did do a bit to it. Mine has a full analog path upgrade but the MOD I offer is only an input overload MOD, it drops the fixed gain by 12dB, this makes it easy to use for music recording with the supplied T-Mic or DPA 4061s. Mine has the T-MOD type upgrade.
peace...Doug"

Some folks spent a lot of time measuring and quantifying the noise on the 3.5mm vs. 1/4" inputs. They published those results and they directly contradict what Doug says above (the TRS were more quiet).  I am certain that Doug was asked about this apparent contradiction and was dissapointed that he never replied.

[Nick's Picks]

well..
we'll see I suppose.  hope I dont come out of it whishing I bought an R1.

[thegreatgumbino]

Why wouldn't you buy an R1, Nick?  What does the MT have to offer above & beyond the R1?

I'm surprised to see you leaving the 660 so soon, Nick 

[Nick's Picks]

well...I can get a 660 any time.  248's are hard to come by.

the MT offers "bit bucket" functionality, should I get a V3 in the future, and that is the only reason.  if I knew i'd be running line in from here on out, and I may decide that anyway, then its r1 all the way.

plus, i seem to be on the "it ain't broke, so it needs to be fucked with" mentality w/my gear.

[jbraveman]

I've been pretty happy with how it sounds. Nick I sent you my scofield recording which was made via the TRS inputs.  It would be nice to hear an R1 to MT comp, however.

[larrysellers]

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=32553

This is a link to a p&f show using the microtrack's a/d. Pretty cool setup this person was using.