An out of production (more or less 'old') portable Sony DAT deck can run a 120 meter DDS2 tape for 4+ hours of audio and still have juice left for rewind, etc.
The Sony is a delicate mechanical device.
The M-Audio has fewer moving parts, no motors and better battery technology than two Duracell AA cells.
If it cannot record 4 hours straight (I remember 8 hour runtimes advertised?) it makes me wonder.
This is an *excellent* point, the best MT-battery related argument so far.
Thanks!
With a Sony portable as guidance I think a current device should do at least the same w.r.t. recording time, SNR, DR+N, etc.
But it doesn't (yet).
Analog electronics have improved. With lower voltage rails, still HiFi audio is possible.
Battery technology has improved, Li-Polymer wins over Li-Ion and NIMH. (not?). No more memory effect, more power per cubic whatever.
Storage capacity (CF, SD, DAT, etc) has increased. Media now carry more and more data.
Still the industry has to produce something as small, versatile, usful, etc as a Sony D100 portable DAT deck. A device of 7+ years old, fragile, mechanical, etc and outperforming most of them all on just 2 AA cells. (w.r.t. good 16-bit recordings)
Therefor: what did the M-Audio technicians look at when designing the MT?