[PT 2] M-Audio MicroTrack 2496 - *actual* real-life experiences thread

[jhirte]

I should also add, 24/96 functionality through digi in, and 2gig limit removal would be nice to have too!

[Brian Skalinder]

Taped 24/48 last night from my V3. I am running the latest firmware onit...

Did you run V3 digi-out to the MT2496, or analog-out?

[silentmark]

My unit last night lost the meters at about the 50 min. point of the recording when they went into some kind of maxxed out look with the left chanel a little dimmer and flickering, but the recording turned out fine, if fine.(real nice in fact). I do agree even when working properly the meters are hard to read the peeks are way out in front of the base (solid line) of the levels but all in all it has worked very nice for 2 shows.

Brad

Yes the meters are definately buggy. I didn't have this happen until after I updated the firmware. It appears as if the meters "work" fine until they turn into what I can best describe as an inverse appearance, full bars until you get a sound source, flickering with the peak bars moving. So far I think the meters suck ...

[jhirte]

Taped 24/48 last night from my V3. I am running the latest firmware onit...

Did you run V3 digi-out to the MT2496, or analog-out?

digi out of course.

[silentmark]

The levels suck BIG FLOPPY DONKEY DICK. So, I h ave the V3 dialed in, the horizontal bars appear as if they dont refresh correctly, they moved realllllly slowly, and wouldnt show where t he current level was - I went off the verticle black bar that shows peaks.. t hat worked ok. After it was going a while, the horizontal bar would flash all the way to the top, sometimes staying there... this was on the left channel... t he right would do  its "normal" thing... peak bar (verticle ones) were fine.....

When Eric & I were running some tests last night, the meters worked fine, then went to crap at about 30 minutes in. We even noticed that the MT would show clipping, but NO peak lights on the V3. There were times though it appeared correct on the MT and the V3 clip lights.

I'll say it again the meters suck ...

[Brian Skalinder]

digi out of course.

That's what I thought.  In which case at least the MT2496 meters' sucking doesn't really matter (unless you also plan to use the MT analog-in).

I was slamming the V3 on the opening band to see what the MT did as far as handling clipping... V3 peak lights would light up, the red lights on the MT would flash, but the WAV isn't clipping at all on really loud parts. Its weird!.

If you're running digi-out from V3 > MT2496, then the MT2496 isn't really "handling" the clipping - the V3 is.  And the V3 clips very gracefully under our recording circumstances (less so under others - but I don't think that's unique to the V3).  The only way to test how the MT2496 handles clipping is to feed it an analog signal.  'Course, with flaky meters, it'd be a tough test to run at the moment.

[Zaphod]

So about the digi-in....is there a sort of threshold (don't know what else to call it) that allows the digital signal to be attenuated or bumped up? Or is it just dependent on the levels the pre/ADC is sending out? i.e. the levels are automatic and there isn't any way to adjust the incoming digital signal on the MT?

[silentmark]

digi out of course.

That's what I thought.  In which case at least the MT2496 meters' sucking doesn't really matter (unless you also plan to use the MT analog-in).

IF you are using a V3, sure the meters don't really matter, but what if you aren't using a V3 and still use the digi in ? Imo the meters do matter ... well until I get a V3 that is  

[Brian]

So about the digi-in....is there a sort of threshold (don't know what else to call it) that allows the digital signal to be attenuated or bumped up? Or is it just dependent on the levels the pre/ADC is sending out? i.e. it the levels are automatic and there isn't any way to adjusted the incoming digital signal on the MT?

if the spdif signal is bit transparent there is no way to adjust the gain digital in on the MT. 

i used to own a creative soundblaster sound card(a known non-bit transparent card) and could adjust the gain digi in with the creative software because that card sends the signal through a DA>analog stage(where you can add the gain)>back into the AD(whre it resamples).

if you can adjust the volume of the spdif signal on the MT, i'd have to believe that it is not bit transparant and sends the signal through an analog stage first.....which would suck!

[jhirte]

I  was using the trim on the v3 to fine tune the output to MT... atleast I was for the second band... first I left trim flat and jacked the gain... seems ok to my fried ears (from the show - thanks heavy metal music! hehe).

I can post a flac or something when I get home....

[Zaphod]

So about the digi-in....is there a sort of threshold (don't know what else to call it) that allows the digital signal to be attenuated or bumped up? Or is it just dependent on the levels the pre/ADC is sending out? i.e. it the levels are automatic and there isn't any way to adjusted the incoming digital signal on the MT?

if the spdif signal is bit transparent there is no way to adjust the gain digital in on the MT. 

i used to own a creative soundblaster sound card(a known non-bit transparent card) and could adjust the gain digi in with the creative software because that card sends the signal through a DA>analog stage(where you can add the gain)>back into the AD(whre it resamples).

if you can adjust the volume of the spdif signal on the MT, i'd have to believe that it is not bit transparant and sends the signal through an analog stage first.....which would suck!

Did not know that, thanks for the info.

I'm looonggg overdue for an upgrade....soon very soon, just been waiting for something small and reliable to hit the shelves.

[Brian Skalinder]

IF you are using a V3, sure the meters don't really matter, but what if you aren't using a V3 and still use the digi in ? Imo the meters do matter ... well until I get a V3 that is 

True.  For example, if I run T+ UA5 > MT, I definitely want the meters to function properly!

[jhirte]

digi out of course.

That's what I thought.  In which case at least the MT2496 meters' sucking doesn't really matter (unless you also plan to use the MT analog-in).

I was slamming the V3 on the opening band to see what the MT did as far as handling clipping... V3 peak lights would light up, the red lights on the MT would flash, but the WAV isn't clipping at all on really loud parts. Its weird!.

If you're running digi-out from V3 > MT2496, then the MT2496 isn't really "handling" the clipping - the V3 is.  And the V3 clips very gracefully under our recording circumstances (less so under others - but I don't think that's unique to the V3).  The only way to test how the MT2496 handles clipping is to feed it an analog signal.  'Course, with flaky meters, it'd be a tough test to run at the moment.

I'm meaning when adjusting trim to fine tune the output to the MT - I was curious what it would do if it got to hot a signal...

[plucks]

for some reason i dont think the red lights on the MT2496 are actual clipping
I think it just means it has reached a certain dB level.  Kind of like when the V3 goes from green to red

[Brian Skalinder]

I'm meaning when adjusting trim to fine tune the output to the MT - I was curious what it would do if it got to hot a signal...

That's just it - nothing you do on the V3 will send "too hot a signal" to the MT2496 when running V3 digi-out > MT.  All the "hotness" is handled by the V3's ADC.  When running digi-in, the MT simply receives and stores the 0s and 1s, nothing more.  If the waveform that those 0s and 1s represent is clipped during the analog to digital conversion within the V3, the MT doesn't care - all it's doing is writing the digital stream to media.  To see how the MT sounds when pushed with too hot a signal requires running analog-in to the MT.