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

[F.O.Bean]

damnit, +T for testing tho

[F.O.Bean]

so youre gonna have to keep ahead of the MT battery so the voltage doesnt drop

damn that sucks!

monitor on and all that jazz

[John Kelly]

Shouldn't be a problem for the VRBox, should it?

[hyperplane]

WiFiJeff, just gave you another +T for keeping us all updated with info. you rule!

[Rick]

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 

So you only got 5 with no phantom power or no monitoring and on an external pack? That dosn't sound very good. Have you tested phantom power on with the internal battery?

[Todd R]

Likewise Jeff, +t for the testing!  So, just so I'm clear -- this 4 AA battery pack is the one nickspicks posted awhile back that has the usb output?  Also, so if I'm understanding the spdif doesn't work with the V3 and may not work at all until the firmware update?

Thanks again for all your info!

[leegeddy]

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.

from the Knowledge Base

MixPre versus Shure FP24
 
There are few minor differences between the current MixPre and the Shure FP24. They share the same preamplifier topology, chassis, and controls. The differences are that the MixPre has a two-color meter versus the FP24's single color output meter. The output balancing on the FP24 is impedance-balanced versus the active-balanced output topology of the MixPre. These differences are quite subtle. Both products are built by Sound Devices.

...not to prolong the discussion about SD vs. Shure products in this thread, but here's the answer.
like i said, the difference is slight.

marc

[WiFiJeff]

Likewise Jeff, +t for the testing!  So, just so I'm clear -- this 4 AA battery pack is the one nickspicks posted awhile back that has the usb output?  Also, so if I'm understanding the spdif doesn't work with the V3 and may not work at all until the firmware update?

Thanks again for all your info!

Yes, I was using that 4 AA pack.  With 4 NiMHs it only had 4.8 V to start, unless the circuitry took it up to 5 V, but the instructions that came with it contemplate using 1.5 V alkelines, I expect to do better with lithium (which are 2900 mAhs in any case).

The SPDIF won't let you select 24 bits period, as far as I can tell, I don't think it's a V3 issue.  The tech guy at M-Audio was well aware of the issue, though he didn't have a MicroTracker to hand yet.  There were reports of this from Europe, but we all discounted them since they were pretty much anonymous friend -of-a-friend reports.  I guess they have a fix but shipped the first lot without the firmware fix they have engineered.  The Edirol R1 also had these kinds of issues when they shipped, but by the time I got mine in January they were shipping with the 1.03 firmware.

Jeff (love my Oade modded R1)

[soundpro]

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.

The chips are not visible without *really* taking it apart. The battery has no markings at all on it. We had to put it back together before any pics were taken. As soon as I can, we will open it up again and get some pics.

Chris

[soundpro]

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..

If you are going to record loud sounds, you need to plug the battery modules into the line input. You will need an adapter:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-PHON-MINI-1

Chris

[goose]

I believe you meant to post to:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?board=22.0

"hippies" - "Happy Retailing"

[Brian Skalinder]

I believe you meant to post to:

Just because he's a retailer, doesn't mean all of Chris' posts have to go in the Retail forum.  Someone asked a question about using the gear he sells, and Chris answered appropriately.  Seems reasonable to me.

[goose]

I disagree for this particular post.  If he were not a retailer he would likely have responded that we simply need an adapter.

[goose]

One thing that could account for reduced battery time could be the use of high speed CF cards which I have not seen discussed.  In the R1, and I am making an assumption that it will be similar in the MicroTrack, regular speed, or even low speed CF cards are used and get significantly better battery time than SanDisk Extreme CF cards.

[udovdh]

One thing that could account for reduced battery time could be the use of high speed CF cards which I have not seen discussed.  In the R1, and I am making an assumption that it will be similar in the MicroTrack, regular speed, or even low speed CF cards are used and get significantly better battery time than SanDisk Extreme CF cards.

So maybe someone should test battery life with a high speed card versus a normal card to confirm?
We could then make a list of cards versus battery timings.