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

[soundpro]

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. 

We opened it already.....the top panel is held on with double sided tape. The botton snaps on and off...the clips that hold it are along the long sides. The battery is on the bottom and just a square, thin pack covered in thick foil material. They added some Kapton tape on one end to keep it from shorting out component leads on the circuit board. I don't think any 'normal' pack will fit in there. Of course, an external pack would be possible....

Chris Carfagno
The Sound Professionals, Inc

[prof_peabody]

We opened it already.....the top panel is held on with double sided tape. The botton snaps on and off...the clips that hold it are along the long sides. The battery is on the bottom and just a square, thin pack covered in thick foil material. They added some Kapton tape on one end to keep it from shorting out component leads on the circuit board. I don't think any 'normal' pack will fit in there. Of course, an external pack would be possible....

Chris Carfagno
The Sound Professionals, Inc

+T
Can you post a couple pics of the internals for us?  I'm curious what chips they are using in it.  Does the battery have any specs written on it?  It may be possible to buy a better battery and replace it.

[nic]

We opened it already.....the top panel is held on with double sided tape. The botton snaps on and off...the clips that hold it are along the long sides. The battery is on the bottom and just a square, thin pack covered in thick foil material. They added some Kapton tape on one end to keep it from shorting out component leads on the circuit board. I don't think any 'normal' pack will fit in there. Of course, an external pack would be possible....

Chris Carfagno
The Sound Professionals, Inc

+T
Can you post a couple pics of the internals for us?  I'm curious what chips they are using in it.  Does the battery have any specs written on it?  It may be possible to buy a better battery and replace it.

also, if we know what chip is used for the digital input, we can find out if it resamples or not!

[fozzy]

We opened it already.....the top panel is held on with double sided tape. The botton snaps on and off...the clips that hold it are along the long sides. The battery is on the bottom and just a square, thin pack covered in thick foil material. They added some Kapton tape on one end to keep it from shorting out component leads on the circuit board. I don't think any 'normal' pack will fit in there. Of course, an external pack would be possible....

Chris Carfagno
The Sound Professionals, Inc

+T
Can you post a couple pics of the internals for us?  I'm curious what chips they are using in it.  Does the battery have any specs written on it?  It may be possible to buy a better battery and replace it.

Mostlikely its a soft li-poly 3.7V battery.  These are generally only avilable it big quantaties unless it is used in some other products that are out there.  They are generally the most capacity/size/weight efficient packs out there.  Unless there is any extra room in there an internal "upgrade" is not likely.  Should be realatively easy to rig an external pack to the internal connections if external powering via USB is in-adequate. 

[JackoRoses]

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

if you plan on making a living than I would never even look into the tracker.
There are better options that you should be using. For one putting the house on cutting edge tech that has not even had a week to test in the field is ludicrous.
All it will cause is lost of money and customers imo if you plan on using it to make money right away and not wait for the unit to get tested thoroughly in the field.

[prof_peabody]

Mostlikely its a soft li-poly 3.7V battery.  These are generally only avilable it big quantaties unless it is used in some other products that are out there.  They are generally the most capacity/size/weight efficient packs out there.  Unless there is any extra room in there an internal "upgrade" is not likely.  Should be realatively easy to rig an external pack to the internal connections if external powering via USB is in-adequate. 

Better soft li-poly batteries come out evetually, sometimes you can locate a better battery to replace an older or cheaper one (like people do with their old iPods, and sometimes new laptops).  For my needs, external USB may just be enough.

[udovdh]

Mostlikely its a soft li-poly 3.7V battery.  These are generally only avilable it big quantaties unless it is used in some other products that are out there.  They are generally the most capacity/size/weight efficient packs out there.  Unless there is any extra room in there an internal "upgrade" is not likely.  Should be realatively easy to rig an external pack to the internal connections if external powering via USB is in-adequate. 

Better soft li-poly batteries come out evetually, sometimes you can locate a better battery to replace an older or cheaper one (like people do with their old iPods, and sometimes new laptops).  For my needs, external USB may just be enough.

If 3+ hours is the max without phantom (although they (dare to) state 8 hours) I may need an internal battery upgrade. Tips are welcome.

[1st set only]

has anyone contacted M-audio to find out what the problem is?

[prof_peabody]

If 3+ hours is the max without phantom (although they (dare to) state 8 hours) I may need an internal battery upgrade. Tips are welcome.

Going external is probably best.  If the USB options are good I may just do that, otherwise I may hack out the original battery and wire up a new external batt.  FYI- don't forget about the related thread:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=49161.0

[udovdh]

has anyone contacted M-audio to find out what the problem is?

I sent a message to their helpdesk to ask under what conditions the 8 hour battery lifetime is achieved.
Maybe they'll respond.
Maybe not, so better ask them the same if you're interested in the answer.

[BLOODYJACK]

Most manufacturers battery life claims will be with the least current draw to make the battery life look better.
So common sense tells us recording without monitoring (no headphones), backlight, micro drives and phantom power would give the longest battery life.
All of these things are major current draw items.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I just dropped Chris a pm to confirm whether a Sound Pro bat box can be plugged into the 1/8" input with the mics we commonly use (whether cmc4 or 4061, etc)..   It should work okay but it would be nice to know if that application will require 1/4 adapts..

[WiFiJeff]

I've had the Microtrack running almost 5 hours now with a 4 AA battery USB power supply (using 2500 mAh Lenmar batteries).  When I unplug the USB power, the battery indicator is down to 1/4, but the green light on the USB box is still on.  I'm doing all line-in (no phantom power, no monitoring). 

Issues with SPDIF in.  When I selected SPDIF on the MT menu, it set the sampling rate to "automatic" but the bid depth changes to 16 and I can't access the change menu (though it works for analog-in selection of bit depth).  ANd feeding the MT with the output of my Grace V3 (via the RCA out) just got the MT to lock up.  Another call to tech support, this is a known issue, probably the one we were hearing about a few weeks back from the guy in Spain.  It will be fixed in the famous firmware update WHICH IS EXPECTED IN A WEEK OR SO.  I'm not sure how good this estimate is, since US tech support doesn't have access to MT 24/96s yet.

Jeff

[poorlyconditioned]

If 3+ hours is the max without phantom (although they (dare to) state 8 hours) I may need an internal battery upgrade. Tips are welcome.

Going external is probably best.  If the USB options are good I may just do that, otherwise I may hack out the original battery and wire up a new external batt.  FYI- don't forget about the related thread:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=49161.0

My choice would be to keep the internal battery and hack an external adapter.  I've got my NJB3 set up like that.  Even though the internal battery sucks, at least you have a backup in case you lose the external power, eg., connector comes off, or you have to change batteries.  Also, I try to preserve the internal battery, whatever is left anyway, by running off the external, even when not taping.  So, internal battery is OK with me as long as you can plug/unplug an external battery *while the unit is recording*.

  Richard

[WiFiJeff]

I've had the Microtrack running almost 5 hours now with a 4 AA battery USB power supply (using 2500 mAh Lenmar batteries).  When I unplug the USB power, the battery indicator is down to 1/4, but the green light on the USB box is still on.  I'm doing all line-in (no phantom power, no monitoring). 


Jeff

Battery pack crapped out at 5 hours, though the light was still on and the AA batteries tested okay.  The internal MT battery was down to zero.  I put some lithium AAs into the 4 AA USB pack, and it started charging the MT again.  Diagnosis: the NiMH voltages drop and at some point fail to power the MT.  I'll try tomorrow with a recharged MT and a lithium AA battery pack.

Jeff