MicroTrack 24/96 Beta 1.2.3

[jsfrank]

Which version of the firmware were you using??

1.1.5

Also, it now says I have 58:18 max recording time left.

[JasonSobel]

Which version of the firmware were you using??

1.1.5

Also, it now says I have 58:18 max recording time left.

was there any particular reason why you were NOT using the latest firmware available (1.2.3) ??  seems to me like they keep on fixing more bugs and each firmware is more stable than the last (although, it hasn't crashed on me since the original firmware anyway).  With 1.2.3, they have addressed the bug about the wrong count down time.  update your firmware and you should no longer have that problem.

[deadheaded]

updating the firmware doesn't really help with the timer countdown issue.  every time i have used the mt with the 1.2.3 firmware the countdown timer doesn't work accurately.  if i record a 1st set of one hour my next file can only be 50 minutes.  it won't reset and allow another 2 gigs to be recorded.  then when the 50 minutes runs out it says media full, saves the file and stops.  then a new full 2 gig file can be started.  i am using a 6 gig microdrive that is formated before every show.  this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

[udovdh]

this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

You did email M-Audio tech support about this bug?

[JasonSobel]

updating the firmware doesn't really help with the timer countdown issue.  every time i have used the mt with the 1.2.3 firmware the countdown timer doesn't work accurately.  if i record a 1st set of one hour my next file can only be 50 minutes.  it won't reset and allow another 2 gigs to be recorded.  then when the 50 minutes runs out it says media full, saves the file and stops.  then a new full 2 gig file can be started.  i am using a 6 gig microdrive that is formated before every show.  this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

other people are having the same issue, but only with cards greater than 4 gigs.  jtessier did a great job summarizing the exact problem earlier in this thread, and a good work-around until M-Audio fixes it.  in the meantime, you can use his workaround, or just get a 4 GB CF card and you're good to go.

[silentmark]

Hopefully this firmware update will fix what nailed me at both Panic shows this weekend. First of all I'm only doing 16 bit 44.1 on a 4 gig card and I reformat my card before each show.

The first set on Friday was 1.06 gigs. After the set ended I save the file, shut down and restarte to reboot the firmware, and fired right up so I could not worry about when the 2nd set was going to start. It recorded about 50 minutes before the set started and the whole second set, but it stopped right before the encore at 1.54 gigs :Huh?

On Saturday there were 3 sets and I was putting much less lead time before each of them. The first one came in at 870 MB, the 2nd one was 546MB, and when I started up for the 3rd set the time remaing meter said I had 1:53 left. I knew if that held true I was going to get screwed. Sure enough during the encore it stopped when it hit the 1:53 mark saying "media full" which was 1.15 gigs. That was less than 3 gigs total!!!!! I should have had plenty of time left. In retrospect I should have saved the file during the encore break an started a new one, but it doesn't make any sense why it was stopping. 

Maybe it was because of that HPF you run  Update the firmware Jeff, I run at 16bit as well and have no issues <knock, knock> ... Oh yeah happy New Year

[anhisr]

In another post it stated that the spidf in worked at 24/96 so, I set up and tried it and yes, the spidf will take a 24/96 signal now.  Do you think they know it or in working on something else this problem got fixed? 

[jsfrank]

Maybe it was because of that HPF you run  Update the firmware Jeff, I run at 16bit as well and have no issues <knock, knock> ... Oh yeah happy New Year

I updated the firmware last night. I'll have to test it out at home as I don't plan on taping anything until Tea Leaf Green is in town February 4th.

Happy New Years to you too. We had a mini Floyd Fest reunion at the Georgian Terrace. I stayed with Steve and Sarah and Bill and Sue.

[jtessier]

J.T. - I am wondering how you fill up the 2 gigs. I have a 6GB Microdrive and I had this problem my last Friday. I know you said you used a wav file. Did you just recorde one that was 2 gigs? I have a few shows next week and don't want to run into this timing issue again. Let me know.

Yeah I just clear off the card set it the do an analog 24/95 recording and let it go until it stops (which should happen when it hits the 2GB limit).  It might not have passed the threshold of where the problem goes away so to check this you can go to the Rec Time available screen. If it shows you two times, one time for the total time left on the card and another time listing how long a 2GB file will record then you are ok. If it only lists the first number (total time on disk) then you need to record some more. Note that later, once you have actually done some more recording and get down to having less than 2GB free the rec time available screen will go back to only showing the total time available but at this capacity this is correct behavior. It's only when there is more than 2GB available that it's supposed to show you the two different numbers.

J.T.

[BC]

Also - all three files, the channels were correct, and do not need to be swapped in post.  I haven't done any at home tests about the channel swapping, but three correct files in a row never happened before.  perhaps they've fixed the channel swap issue with this firmware.  can anyone confirm with similar experiences (or deny with more channel swapping experiences) ??

Sounds good, how has it behaved since then? My new faster 4GB CF is in transit, or I'd run some tests myself on this.       

[alienbobz]

I did what jtessier suggested and occupied up to 4,289,597,440 bytes) I created a file that is about 1:50 made from various clips recorded at 24/48 from the previous concert. Tested it and seems to be fine to me. Don't have the time issue anymore. I will test it some more on Friday, but I think it should be good. Thanks for the advice jtessier.

[JasonSobel]

Also - all three files, the channels were correct, and do not need to be swapped in post.  I haven't done any at home tests about the channel swapping, but three correct files in a row never happened before.  perhaps they've fixed the channel swap issue with this firmware.  can anyone confirm with similar experiences (or deny with more channel swapping experiences) ??

Sounds good, how has it behaved since then? My new faster 4GB CF is in transit, or I'd run some tests myself on this.       

I haven't taped anything since then, and I haven't done any home tests.  I haven't done any home tests at 24 bit, because whenever I am home, I'm using the MT to do DAT transfers.  I've been transferring uncirculated sources for tons of Phish shows, and I must say, it's been rock solid at 16 bit, not a single problem.  but, 24-bit, maybe this weekend I'll do some more channel swap tests at home.  because, I'd also like to see for myself if it really does 24/96 via S/PDIF. (although I won't be using 24/96 at a show until the price of an 8 gig CF card becomes reasonable.  also, hopefully they'll have the 2 gig autosplit feature implemented by then)

anyway, when/if you do some tests for the channel-swap issue, let us all know how it goes.

[Ed.]

+t to JT for all the great advice.

unimportant side note: my microdrive doesn't fit in my card reader slot.  grr.

[musicsherlock]

In another post it stated that the spidf in worked at 24/96 so, I set up and tried it and yes, the spidf will take a 24/96 signal now.  Do you think they know it or in working on something else this problem got fixed? 

performed one quick test at 24/96 spdif...when I looked at the file on my PC, it indicated that it was 24/48 Atleast it didn't freeze up...

[udovdh]

In another post it stated that the spidf in worked at 24/96 so, I set up and tried it and yes, the spidf will take a 24/96 signal now.  Do you think they know it or in working on something else this problem got fixed? 

performed one quick test at 24/96 spdif...when I looked at the file on my PC, it indicated that it was 24/48 Atleast it didn't freeze up...

Did the PC play the file fine at 24/48?
Was the file length as to be expected for 24/48?
Or was it double in size, more like 24/96 size?
Maybe the MT cannot do 24/96 yet and the samplerate is disabled?