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

[leegeddy]

according to Sound Devices there IS a slight difference between the MixPre and the FP-24.  they are not identical.

marc

[Sanjay]

according to Sound Devices there IS a slight difference between the MixPre and the FP-24.  they are not identical.

marc

well until they'd want to tell me what it is, I call bullshit, they look and sound the same, on the inside they look the same.  I think they just want you to buy their version thats all.

[Brian Skalinder]

according to Sound Devices there IS a slight difference between the MixPre and the FP-24. they are not identical.

Enlighten us?  All the info I received some time ago, direct from both Shure and Sound Devices, indicated the Shure FP-24 is simply a re-branded SD MixPre.

[prof_peabody]

Several +Ts awarded during informative read.  Please continue...

[WiFiJeff]

- Seems to have no input monitor while recording from SPDIF

Yikes.  WiFi, can you confirm this?   Hope this isn't true, although I imagine a firmware upgrade could fix it.

I hope to do some SPDIF tomorow, have only done line-in so far.  One plus today is that by plugging in USB power (from the AC adapter) while the machine is on I was able to record for clearly longer times than the 3 hours of the internal battery, so the 4 AA USB pack should work, I'll also try that soon.  I also confirmed that I still get meter readings with the input monitoring turned off (I guess the manual only means that incoming levels are not monitored, but recorded levels are?), but not sure the battery is going down any slower with monitoring off (I wasn't using any headphones or analog out, and had the playback levels at zero).

Here's a picture my wife took (maintaining my anonymity):

Jeff

[WiFiJeff]

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...

This is a good point, I hadn't noticed the potential for a problem here.  The fit is incredibly tight, but it does work okay, I will probably want to shave down the plastic on the outside of the RCA connector so it goes in without a fight.

Jeff

[modmike]

Please confirm if the RCA outs are live (E to E in Record) when taking a s/pdif signal.  I'd like to plug an SVU-1 or SVU-2 there during recording.  They are much easier to read than some funky LCD level gauge -- especially in the dark.  . . . and I like to look at levels at the VERY END of the chain, whether it's KM140>MT2496 . . . or KM140>V2>MiniMe>MT2496.

[oleg]

[

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.

http://www.sounddevices.com/tech/mixpre_changes.htm

[udovdh]

- Seems to have no input monitor while recording from SPDIF

Yikes.  WiFi, can you confirm this?   Hope this isn't true, although I imagine a firmware upgrade could fix it.

Confirmed...
It is in the helpdesk email you get when you send in an issue.

[soundpro]

God I hope that's the case... sorry I missed the part about NOT using phantom. 3 hours w/o phantom would be a JOKE and would possibly affect me getting this thing. (or it would make me buy two)

I need a recorder to go for the better part of a day. I was pretty much counting on at least 6 hours minimum!

I'll cancel my order and get a friggin' Marantz and run it line in if the MicroTrack can only do 3 hours... I was ALREADY bummed about the sealed in battery... I mean really, what the F&CK? The thing coulda' been a half inch longer and used DOUBLE AA... and then you coulda' had a pocket FULL of juice for anything! Even a power in that you could wire a battery pack to would be nice... The first thing I'll need to do is mod the adapter.

Funny you should say this about the battery. I spent 6 mos emailing back and forth with the guy who designed this unit last year (to help them define which features it would have, etc) and I STONGLY suggested that it have the following features that M-Audio elected to eliminate/change:

1-that it use a field replaceable Lithium-Ion battery, or if not, standard recharegable AA batteries. Yes, the size would grow, but I thought the slight difference in size wold be worth it.

2-that it should have a limiter (switchable, of course). I find the limiter function on the R-1 to be very handy.

3-that it should use XLR's for the balanced mic inputs, not the TRS 1/4" (although they created a nice market for adapters :-).....I would have preferred the XLR's though. Again, the size would have increased a little......

4-that the max file size would allow at least 6 hours of recording at CD quality without stopping.

There were other minor points, but these were the major ones.

Chris Carfagno
The Sound Professionals, Inc
www.soundprofessionals.com

[prof_peabody]

If someone could figure out how to open it up, it is likely that the internal battery can be easily removed and replaced with a custom connector to a better (albeit external) regulated power source that would allow longer recording times. 

[rdvdijk]

3-that it should use XLR's for the balanced mic inputs, not the TRS 1/4" (although they created a nice market for adapters :-).....I would have preferred the XLR's though. Again, the size would have increased a little......

4-that the max file size would allow at least 6 hours of recording at CD quality without stopping.

3: mini-XLR inputs wouldn't be that much larger than a TRS 1/4". Who knows, someone here might be able to replace the TRS inputs..

4: that is something that could possibly be fixed in the future.. (if the battery holds up, that is)

I totally agree with you about the battery, this can turn out to be the biggest problem of this unit. We'll see how this turns out as people will test this in the field.

Roel

[johnw]

As long as you can record off external power via USB, I don't see the harm in having a built in battery, but it would be nice if it were replaceable. Totally getting rid of the internal battery and replacing it with an external jack would remove some of the stealth factor of the unit.

[Ed.]

i think if the internal can last a solid 3 hours in stealth type situations, most people will be plenty happy.  i can't think of any situations where i've need to stealth longer than 3 hours, other than in a festival environment.

[johnw]

Exactly