Topic: M-Audio MicroTracker details **PART III**

[Brian]

I pulled an XY recording of a mono PA and it sounds like ORTF ! talk about soundstage.

[Nick's Picks]

I just doesn't sound like you'd expect an XY recording of a PA to sound...or, at least it didn't to me.  And this is a venue I tape in frequently, and know what to expect for results.   it caught me by surprise, and I attribute it to the preamp section of this Marantz.

[chitaper]

OK, I have ordered a MicroTracker, a 4gb CF card, and a 80gb OTG drive but have a question:

If recording at a long, 2 set show or a festival, is there enough time between sets or shows to transfer the data to an OTG drive and erase the CF card for the next set or show? Otherwise, it seems that 2 CF cards will be needed. I'd like to get by w/ one for now if possible, as they are still $200 a pop.

[Nick's Picks]

if you need long record time, you'll just have to settle for 16bit resolution.
6.5 hours on a 4gb card.

[JasonSobel]

or at 24/48, you still have 4 hours on a 4 gig CF card.  should be enough for just about every 2 set show...

[chitaper]

or at 24/48, you still have 4 hours on a 4 gig CF card.  should be enough for just about every 2 set show...

OK, but I'm going to Vegoose. How long to dump 4gb to the OTG drive? Anyone have any idea?

[F.O.Bean]

well, this has nothing to do w/ that, BUT when going jb3>jb3 via the 4-pin>4-pin cable i have, it still takes about 30 mins to do a 2/2.5hr set!

i suspect w/ a usb 2.0 card reader>usb 2.0 OTG drive, it may be faster tho, who knows tho, noone yet

[Sebastian]

Even at the oldest standard, USB 1.0 can transfer data at a rate of 1.5 MBit/sec (which is 187.5 MB/sec). So, at this rate the transfer of 4 GB of data should take approximately 21.3 seconds. And USB 2.0 can even do up to 480 MBit/sec (though this will never happen as most CF cards can't be read faster than at 10 MBit/sec).
Since the MicroTrack has a USB 2.0 port, we can pretty much expect reasonable transfer times. These numbers are all highly theoretical and nobody knows how fast the MicroTrack will really be able to read CF cards - so don't take my word for it

I'm also planing on buying an OTG hard drive for festivals, etc. I'm just not sure how to power it in the field - or how to charge the Microtrack in the field. Any ideas on that? Or are there any battery packs with USB connectors available already?

Another thing to look out for when buying CF cards is the lifetime of their flash memory. After a certain number of erase-write cycles, every flash memory will become unreliable.

[neutrino]

if you need long record time, you'll just have to settle for 16bit resolution.
6.5 hours on a 4gb card.

Or go with a microdrive 6gb drive. 3hrs at 24/96. I just recieved one from an eBay auction for 100$. It's an Apple branded Hitachi 6gb drive sealed from OEM.

[chitaper]

Even at the oldest standard, USB 1.0 can transfer data at a rate of 1.5 MBit/sec (which is 187.5 MB/sec). So, at this rate the transfer of 4 GB of data should take approximately 21.3 seconds. And USB 2.0 can even do up to 480 MBit/sec (though this will never happen as most CF cards can't be read faster than at 10 MBit/sec).
Since the MicroTrack has a USB 2.0 port, we can pretty much expect reasonable transfer times. These numbers are all highly theoretical and nobody knows how fast the MicroTrack will really be able to read CF cards - so don't take my word for it

I'm also planing on buying an OTG hard drive for festivals, etc. I'm just not sure how to power it in the field - or how to charge the Microtrack in the field. Any ideas on that? Or are there any battery packs with USB connectors available already?

Another thing to look out for when buying CF cards is the lifetime of their flash memory. After a certain number of erase-write cycles, every flash memory will become unreliable.

Well that sounds pretty good, even if it took 5 minutes it would be plenty of time.

The OTG drive I bought is this one. It has a rechargeable internal battery that should last several hours of use, way more than enough if all you're doing is dumping data to it. You can install any 2.5" 9.5mm hard disk you'd like into it, between the enclosure and the disk it's less than $200.

I'd be using the V3 for a pre, and it's claimed that the battery in the MicroTracker lasts 8 hours, so I'm not too worried about that. A 12v battery and power inverter should do to recharge if you have to in the field?

[John Kelly]

Even at the oldest standard, USB 1.0 can transfer data at a rate of 1.5 MBit/sec (which is 187.5 MB/sec). So, at this rate the transfer of 4 GB of data should take approximately 21.3 seconds. And USB 2.0 can even do up to 480 MBit/sec (though this will never happen as most CF cards can't be read faster than at 10 MBit/sec).

HA!  All of those speeds are theoretical and USB 1.0 never even approaches 1.5 MBit/sec.  I have to transfer all of my shows over USB 1.0 currently and it takes around 30 mins for a 1.5 hour show at 16/44.1.  

As for the speeds of USB2, it can only reach 480 MBit/sec in bursts - its sustained speeds are in fact much lower, which is why Firewire tends to be faster.  

[prof_peabody]

Even at the oldest standard, USB 1.0 can transfer data at a rate of 1.5 MBit/sec (which is 187.5 MB/sec). So, at this rate the transfer of 4 GB of data should take approximately 21.3 seconds. And USB 2.0 can even do up to 480 MBit/sec (though this will never happen as most CF cards can't be read faster than at 10 MBit/sec).

HA!  All of those speeds are theoretical and USB 1.0 never even approaches 1.5 MBit/sec.  I have to transfer all of my shows over USB 1.0 currently and it takes around 30 mins for a 1.5 hour show at 16/44.1.  

As for the speeds of USB2, it can only reach 480 MBit/sec in bursts - its sustained speeds are in fact much lower, which is why Firewire tends to be faster.  

Yup.  USB is poor for sustained transfer.  They sacrificed high sustained transfer rates for making the technology cheaper.  People always point out that Firewire is slower than USB2, but Firewire supports higher sustained transfer rates as you said.  For someone whos day job involves moving around gigs of data all day that's important.

[1st set only]

I have never seen one of these OTG drive enclosures before, Way Cool Beans!

how do we know it will work with the microtracker?
and is M-audio recomending any specific brand CF cards or are you guys just crossing your fingers?

thanks for being my guine pigs!!

[F.O.Bean]

if it doesnt work w/ the microtracker, a usb 2.0 card reader would do the trick

[udovdh]

NAD T524 sounds good.
Shitty handling of groups on DVD-A though. (it is no direct CD player replacement)

Interesting, because that's the one I was going to get. I didn't think it was out yet. Do you have one?

Yup. Cheap in Germany. 350?
I was looking at using it mainly as a DVD-A player (for archived shows). `->` goes to next track or 1st track in next group. `<-` doesn't do groups, just tracks... So without a screen you cannot easily navigate groups. The current group is not on the players'display, nor audio resolution. Asked NAD, it's a restriction of the controller used in the player.