Topic: M-Audio MicroTrack 2496 - *actual* real-life experiences thread

[F.O.Bean]

some people make a living with that stuff
i'm not saying that is coming substitute the 744 , but ....

no offense, but if you're doing this for a living, and you're serious about your job/career/what you do for a living. why would you use this, especially considering what else is available - 722, 744, deva, marantz, etc <-- all proven to work, all pro gear. not to mention the soon to be released sonosax recorders. *shrug*

werent there problems w/ the marantz pmd-671 w/ a 2gb file limit thing any other big problems

the marantz def looks more solid and more pro-sumer

so its working just phine w/ the CHG sign on, thats great news!

[Depechemode1993]

so what happens after the 2GB mark? you have to redo a file and that means you miss part of a recording if the show goes over 2GB. isn't 2GB 2 hours?

[F.O.Bean]

so what happens after the 2GB mark? you have to redo a file and that means you miss part of a recording if the show goes over 2GB. isn't 2GB 2 hours?

at 24/48, 2gb is just about 2 hrs!

[Ed.]

so it'll record while its being charged, and it'll take a digi signal just fine, and i remember somewhere someone saying that maudio was gonna fix the 2gb thing in one of the first firmware updates.

sounds like everything i need in a recorder.  woot!

[jboyzh]

[

hope it's just the FW...
ph power is on the 1/4 input when "ph power" button is put on, regardless of the LMH button.
the 1/8 input is mic only, but this seems to be as advertised on m-audio.com, so that's ok.

sorry  didn't get ,does the phantom still exist if you set to line level ?
did you check if setting to line level  influence on 1/8 input attenuation?
oleg

yes, I have to manually put phantom power ("PH PWR" button) off when changing to line input.
yes, there seem to be two different levels.

[MattinSTL]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, being fed by a MixPre, and then use the RCA outs back to the MixPre and monitor my recording from there.

For the record, Oleg is a professional video guy in Isreal... and I'm a video guy here in the states... that's why these types of issues are really important to us. I think we're both hoping for a convenient field recorder that'll still get quality on a budget... but without any "deal breakers". The reasons to contemplate using this even for professional work are obvious... they're all the same reasons YOU want one... but there's a couple things that it MUST do for us.

And I'm not judging the unit in any way... I just happen to have a couple questions for people who got theirs and I'd like to get their first impressions... AND get some answers that M-Audio has refused to answer. We now know what happens at 2 GB on a file and I've tried to get that question answered for weeks.

What could be a deal-breaker for a video guy won't mean anything to the rest of you... but I still paid for a MT and since I'm waiting anyway I wouldn't mind finding a problem that would make me return it. Not being able to record and monitor the line-outs at the same time would probably be a deal-breaker for me. I'm not going to feed it with a MixPre and then plug phones into the MT... rather then the MixPre.

For a cool little field recorder the thing is dirt cheap and dead sexy... but for somebody contemplating professional use of this thing there's a few important questions that need to be answered. I'll take a worse SN in a fat machine if I know I can count on it to do everything I need it to... only if I can't count on the MT... but I hope I can!

So why did I already pay for a MT? 100db SN and phantom available (if needed)... that alone is worth the price of admission! But I can't buy this unit and a Marantz... it's one or the other.

[jboyzh]

so it'll record while its being charged, and it'll take a digi signal just fine, and i remember somewhere someone saying that maudio was gonna fix the 2gb thing in one of the first firmware updates.

sounds like everything i need in a recorder.  woot!

just check that you can plug both usb and spdif at the same time because they are really really close...

[oleg]

[
no offense, but if you're doing this for a living, and you're serious about your job/career/what you do for a living.  why would you use this, especially considering what else is available - 722, 744, deva, marantz, etc <-- all proven to work, all pro gear.  not to mention the soon to be released sonosax recorders.  *shrug*

i dont say it going to be the main one , but some times i need more tracks ,and i prefer for this small unit go digi in
not to say that sometimes i do fx or small budgets  while my 744 making money on the side , was thinking to have "dv" recorder :-)
  about the sanosax , few shekels more and i buy deva4 while my 744 becomes a back up:-)

[jboyzh]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, being fed by a MixPre, and then use the RCA outs back to the MixPre and monitor my recording from there.

For the record, Oleg is a professional video guy in Isreal... and I'm a video guy here in the states... that's why these types of issues are really important to us. I think we're both hoping for a convenient field recorder that'll still get quality on a budget... but without any "deal breakers". The reasons to contemplate using this even for professional work are obvious... they're all the same reasons YOU want one... but there's a couple things that it MUST do for us.

And I'm not judging the unit in any way... I just happen to have a couple questions for people who got theirs and I'd like to get their first impressions... AND get some answers that M-Audio has refused to answer. We now know what happens at 2 GB on a file and I've tried to get that question answered for weeks.

What could be a deal-breaker for a video guy won't mean anything to the rest of you... but I still paid for a MT and since I'm waiting anyway I wouldn't mind finding a problem that would make me return it. Not being able to record and monitor the line-outs at the same time would probably be a deal-breaker for me. I'm not going to feed it with a MixPre and then plug phones into the MT... rather then the MixPre.

For a cool little field recorder the thing is dirt cheap and dead sexy... but for somebody contemplating professional use of this thing there's a few important questions that need to be answered. I'll take a worse SN in a fat machine if I know I can count on it to do everything I need it to... only if I can't count on the MT... but I hope I can!

So why did I already pay for a MT? 100db SN and phantom available (if needed)... that alone is worth the price of admission! But I can't buy this unit and a Marantz... it's one or the other.

Whatever counts: yes, I hear the signal on the Line-outs and the Phones when recording from 1/8 imput or from 1/4 input.
I'm pretty curious what you pros say about the sound quality once you've got you MTs :-)

[oleg]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, the MT... rather then the MixPre.

For a cool little field recorder the thing is dirt cheap and dead sexy... but for somebody contemplating professional use of this thing there's a few important questions that need to be answered. I'll take a worse SN in a fat machine if I know I can count on it to do everything I need it to... only if I can't count on the MT... but I hope I can!

So why did I already pay for a MT? 100db SN and phantom available (if needed)... that alone is worth the price of admission! But I can't buy this unit and a Marantz... it's one or the other.

matt . don't think there is problem while you analog in , you get e to e signal threw the rcas , only in digi in mode the recorder cant make a2d convertion the same time it recording . cheap stuff :-)
about ph power , you would need ext battery for normal work , the units internal battery is very limited , suspect  that m-audio made testwith very low bitrate recording and  gods know what phantom mikes
about li-ion batteries , even new one usially get 70-80 % of capacity after first charge

[oleg]

[

yes, there seem to be two different levels.

2 or 3 different levels , since the attenuation have 3 positions , or the line  doesn't change the last setting on 1\8 plug
the phantom can be a dog for some mixer boards outputs  , very stupid that m audio didn't made this option threw the menu ( like 744), since phantom is very nice for very loud sfx as gunshots when you like to use the line inputs with mikes

[Sanjay]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, being fed by a MixPre, and then use the RCA outs back to the MixPre and monitor my recording from there.

Maybe I don't understand what your trying to do.  With the mixpre you can monitor the meters before you send it to the microtrack, so long as you keep the gain at 0db on the microtrack there is no reason to need to further monitor.  In fact you cannot feed the microtrack with the mixpre and send a signal right back to the mixpre from the recorder. 

Also I saw you were looking to buy one, search online for used Shure FP-24, they are the EXACT same as teh mixpre, just branded under shure.

[MattinSTL]

Thank you for that Sanjay! I'll look for that model also... and by the way you can send anything with an RCA out back to the mixer... just go to monitor in. Right?

Well I know it's really easy on the MM-1... and you can dial up the monitor or the direct headphone out... hmm... maybe I should hold onto the MM-1 if other mixers don't do this... right now I can just dial up as much phone or monitor as I want... right into my 7506's... simultaneously or independently.

That's what Oleg was talking about in a pro environment... and that's why recorders like the 671 let you hear what just got recorded... instead of what's about to... it's the only way to be sure of what you're taking home!

[oleg]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, being fed by a MixPre, and then use the RCA outs back to the MixPre and monitor my recording from there.

Maybe I don't understand what your trying to do.  With the mixpre you can monitor the meters before you send it to the microtrack, so long as you keep the gain at 0db on the microtrack there is no reason to need to further monitor.  In fact you cannot feed the microtrack with the mixpre and send a signal right back to the mixpre from the recorder. 

Also I saw you were looking to buy one, search online for used Shure FP-24, they are the EXACT same as teh mixpre, just branded under shure.

in film  recording ( for money) business you always trying to hear actually recording or at least e 2 e from the recorder to bee sure you have the signal .
you can feed the micro track and monitor the e2e on mix pre , it has return  input
its quit important actually to hear it since i dont sure the analog input stage wouldn't distort on high levels , even your miters are showing right signal , i am not sure in that but seems  the fine leveling of microtrack  signal is after a to d stage and not in analog domain

the sure 24 doesn't identical to mix pre as it made now

[Sanjay]

I hate to ask a stupid question... but does the unit send signal out the RCA outs while it's recording? I was hoping to use the unit w/o phantom, being fed by a MixPre, and then use the RCA outs back to the MixPre and monitor my recording from there.

Maybe I don't understand what your trying to do.  With the mixpre you can monitor the meters before you send it to the microtrack, so long as you keep the gain at 0db on the microtrack there is no reason to need to further monitor.  In fact you cannot feed the microtrack with the mixpre and send a signal right back to the mixpre from the recorder. 

Also I saw you were looking to buy one, search online for used Shure FP-24, they are the EXACT same as teh mixpre, just branded under shure.

in film  recording ( for money) business you always trying to hear actually recording or at least e 2 e from the recorder to bee sure you have the signal .
you can feed the micro track and monitor the e2e on mix pre , it has return  input
its quit important actually to hear it since i dont sure the analog input stage wouldn't distort on high levels , even your miters are showing right signal , i am not sure in that but seems  the fine leveling of microtrack  signal is after a to d stage and not in analog domain

the sure 24 doesn't identical to mix pre as it made now

Interesting did not know that aspect.

As for the last part, I am not sure if I understood, but the Shure FP-24 is 100% identical, except for the name, I have played with a shure and a mixpre side by side and they have no differences whatsoever.  They are exactly the same.  If you are referring to the Sound devices MP-2 and the FP-24, they are different.  The MP-2 has an automatic 16db gain (6 if using 1/8" out), allows you to mid side decode on the fly, and allows you to shut off meters.  The mixpre has no auto gain, no mid side, and does not allow you to shut off meters.

shure:

mixpre: