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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: raymonda on November 11, 2018, 12:02:31 AM
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So I've been using this unit as a two track bit bucket for 10 years, which makes it one of the longest two track recorders I've used to date. Anyway, I broke it out for Bobby at the Landmark and two strange things happened.
During the first set it recorded the first 20 minutes and the last 17 minutes of the show. However, everything inbetween was gone.
During the second set on 4 occasion it reversed channels on me, swapping right for left and left for right. Fortunately I could hear the switch and swap them back. It is not seamless but not noticeable unless you have headphones on a listen for it.
My thoughts is that this unit has seen it's final days and this is an indication that it is about to go south perminately. In preparation for that I just purchased a Tascam 680, which I owned in the past. It is a bit overkill but there doesn't seem to be a unit with digital in, which the 680 does.
Anyway, has anyone else experienced this with a Microtrack and can it be fixed or debugged? If not, I got more than my money out of this unit and can easily put it to rest. However, it is small and has been a good unit through the years.
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So I've been using this unit as a two track bit bucket for 10 years, which makes it one of the longest two track recorders I've used to date. Anyway, I broke it out for Bobby at the Landmark and two strange things happened.
During the first set it recorded the first 20 minutes and the last 17 minutes of the show. However, everything inbetween was gone.
During the second set on 4 occasion it reversed channels on me, swapping right for left and left for right. Fortunately I could hear the switch and swap them back. It is not seamless but not noticeable unless you have headphones on a listen for it.
My thoughts is that this unit has seen it's final days and this is an indication that it is about to go south perminately. In preparation for that I just purchased a Tascam 680, which I owned in the past. It is a bit overkill but there doesn't seem to be a unit with digital in, which the 680 does.
Anyway, has anyone else experienced this with a Microtrack and can it be fixed or debugged? If not, I got more than my money out of this unit and can easily put it to rest. However, it is small and has been a good unit through the years.
ray
pmd 661
tascam hdp2
also digi coax in
of course the much more expensive SD 7series
But have never owned a MTII so cannot offer experience
but what were you powering it with ?
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External battery. It didn't shut down. It just did not track or save 20 minutes of the show. Plus the 4 times is switched channels.
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You might have already lost confidence in the machine by now & this is a long shot... But this kind of erratic behavior is typical of internal memory corruption - that's the memory where all manner of operating parameters are stored during use - & can easily occur if the internal battery is run down to zero. When you say "I broke it out..." I take that to mean that you took the unit down from a shelf where it's been for the past x months, plugged in the external battery & away you went.
I would power up the unit via external power supply or usb battery, go into the "system" menu & select "factory default". This will re-write all internal memory to its factory settings. Then fully charge the internal battery for maybe a day or more. Once you've done this, it might be worth doing the "factory default" reset again, before finally formatting your memory card. It's probably worth a try, and you can do a simple test by leaving the MT recording all day from a radio or suchlike.
It's always worth trying to resurrect much loved machines! And the MTs were pretty unique in being tiny & having a digital in. I know you've gone with the DR680, but the (much smaller) Tascam DR100 also has digital input, but it's on a 3.5mm jack, so you need a simple adapter (which I think is included).
Good luck with it.
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I've twice taken a chance with a cheap used MTII, the latest being barely used. I did a battery swap in the first one which didn't help. The second gave me troubles recently. I love the idea of a cheap digital-in recoder but I'm convinced they are all past their usable life. Luckily I'm only into both for about $70. I've had good luck with a Dr100mkII digital input.
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ive got 2 hardly used MTIIs if anybody needs a spare, PM me
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The Marantz PMD-561 has a digital coax input and it's only $250
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1275332-REG/marantz_professional_pmd_561_professional_portable_audio_recorder.html?sts=pi
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MJWIN,
thanks for the advice. I'm trying your recommendation and will see if setting it back to factory settings work.
Ray