Topic: MicroTrack 24/96 Beta 1.2.3

[balou2]

You can't change the sample rate when running S/PDIF, only when you running analog in. Just use auto, then it will go with what you set your UA-5 at for sample rate. Also, make sure the ADV is "on" on the UA-5.

That's what I needed to know. +t to ya!
Mike

[alienbobz]

You can't change the sample rate when running S/PDIF, only when you running analog in. Just use auto, then it will go with what you set your UA-5 at for sample rate. Also, make sure the ADV is "on" on the UA-5.

That's what I needed to know. +t to ya!
Mike

Backatcha  .

[it-goes-to-eleven]

No, you're right - you've not constantly harped on the negatives.  Apologies, FL - I replied while in a cranky mood based on what I perceive (whether it's true or not) as the increasing negativity on the board as a whole, not just regarding the MT (though there's a fair amount of it specific to the MT, sometimes with good reason, sometimes not).

Thanks Brian.  I really have avoided piling on the MT threads.

The MT has so much potential. And while M-Audio has made some very necessary fixes/improvements, they still have quite a bit of work to do.  The device is a bit of a tease right now.

It almost seems like the development team has no MT users or champions of the product.  Bug reports rarely drive true "usability" in a product.  I actually wonder whether the third party who is rumored to have developed the product on behalf of M-A is soley handling bug fixes in a cumbersome off-shore outsource model.

Getting Rockbox running on the MT could change *everything* and is probably the best hope of making the MT really really good.  Just take it out of M-Audio's hands and let real developers fix it.

[Ed.]

out of curiousity, what needs to happen to get rockbox on the MT?

[it-goes-to-eleven]

It has been reported that the MT is based on the same CPU as the Iriver:

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=60189.msg796259#msg796259

Getting the Rockbox team members to take on a new platform is a big request to make because it would likely require a great deal of volunteer time by some pretty hardcore/talented folks. If it really is similar to platforms already supported, it wouldn't take as much time but it would still probably take a lot of time.  Ultimately, most people would not consider the MT as sexy of a device as some of the video players, etc.  Specs for the support chips may not be available.  So someone might need to write a driver for the A/D chipset from scratch, etc.

I did a search on the rockbox site for microtrack and found only the briefest mention. So there is no momentum at this time.

http://www.rockbox.org/irc/rockbox-20060202.txt

[Ed.]

interesting.  well, fingers crossed for anything that gets this thing to be the reliable bit dump we all want it to be.

[Brian Skalinder]

is the issue of it sometimes resetting itself to factory defaults in the FAQ, cuz it should be.

FYI, just added the following to the FAQ:

[192]  My MT sometimes locks up when I try to start or stop a recording.  What's going on?
[193]  My MT2496 re-set the recording configuration.  What happened?!?

Any other additions, please contact me - Andrew's buried with other priorities for a while.

[Ed.]

nice! +t

[gl0bber]

Deja vu - how creepy...

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it is indeed based on the PortalPlayer platform (same as the iPod and certain other popular players with a sorry and convoluted outsource model - case "designed" in US for the label, OS and firmware developed in Hyderabad India, and of course slapped (glued?) together somewhere in China).  For all intents and purposes it is really a Chinese player technology implementation.

I'm not holding my breath for any significant improvements in useabililty.  Among other things, I've noticed on all the MT's I've used (over about 30 hours) indications that the ARM CPU's approx. 75MHz may be fine for playback, but doesn't quite cut it for recording.  Yes, the 24-bit A/D is there, but it struggles just drawing and updating the level meters.  Anybody who has used their MT for any extended period of time notices that sometimes the meter marks momentarily disappear as the CPU tries to catch up after presumeably writing the buffers out to CF.  During playback the meters are unuseable.  I would suggest that the next firmware update just disables them for more reliable playback.

Using TI's OMAP multimedia processors (ultra low power consumption, 200-300MHz) would have worked wonders for the interface and other things, but probably would have been too expensive for the US marketers.  I must add that such a device would have been worth $400.

[JasonSobel]

i've only done short at home test recordings with my mt to compare the v3 adc at 16 and 24 bit.  tonight i'm going to record a show for the first time with it and a 6 gb microdrive.  i added the dummy 2gb file on it and got the same reading at the "record time available" screen as jason posted, when i powered it up not connected to my v3.  everything is working correctly so far, since it thinks i'm going to do 24/96.

I then hit "record time available", and it shows me two times

"Total time on media: 01:58:10"
and then right below it
"Max time per file: 00:57:52"

obviously, it was assuming 96kHz, and I'll get twice that when I send it a 24/48 signal from the V3.  I just thought that it was cool that they've added that small feature.  probably implemented because they said they fixed the count-down timer issue.

since i'm going to record tonight at 24/48 i then hooked the mt up to the v3 which was set at 24/48 output, and got the same  reading as above.  shouldn't the max time per file and total time on media change to reflect the 24/48 that the mt is getting from the v3?  what readouts are others getting when they hook it up to their v3 at 24/48?

In ther "record settings" menu, regardless of whether you are feeding it an S/PDIF signal or not, the "Rec Time Available" will always assume 96kHz.  however, it's when you start recording, the time that it's counting down from is what's important.  for 24/48, it should be around 2 hours...

[JasonSobel]

so the only issues i should be looking out for tonight are possible channel swapping, make sure to have a digi signal going to it during power up/saving of the wav, and to power it down during set break b/c it sometimes will hang if idle for an undetermined period of time.  anything i'm missing?

it would be good to run it at home and check it out to get used to the quirks.  as some users have issues that others don't.

channel swapping when recording via S/PDIF at 24 bit - hasn't happened to me since the latest firmware was released

I turn mine on all the time without a digi signal going to it, and I don't run into problems.  some people say that that's the trick.  I certainly don't think it would hurt, so you might as well do it.

also, I always leave mine on, with the external battery pack plugged in, the whole time, throughout the entire setbreak.  it's never been an issue for me.

so, truely, your mileage may vary.  what I always do is format the card, turn off the unit completely, and then turn it back on again.  usually I'll format at home before heading out to the show. it seems to me, the only thing you're missing is practical experience, which can be a good thing to have when using a quirky recorder.

[balou2]

So I ran the MT for the first time last night, and had a mixed experience.  My initial set up was:

2xKM184s + 2AKG480/omni > Berringer mixer > UA-5 tmod+ > coax out > MT (4gb Sandisk Ultra II)

When I attempted to record, everything ran, but the only sound that stored on the WAV files sounded like FM static, or rather, the static on your TV when you turn the cable off.  I was running 16/44 with ADV "on".  I also have a 5V USB battery sled that I had plugged in to the MT.

Since I was not able to sound check, I had to make a fast adjustment.  I have custom 2x 1/4" -> 1/8" from Leegeddy, so ran UA-5 1/4" out, to the 1/8" in on the MT.  Everything worked stellar at this point:

     - No channel swapping
     - No static
     - No problems with the NAV wheel
     - No issues AT ALL.
     - Ran 3 hours without the battery meter even moving


First, anybody have a clue as to the static issue?  I didn't have time to mess with it as I didn't want to miss any of the show, so I went 1/8" in, but that's not optimal.

Secondly, the USB in on the MT is incredibly close to the coax.  Anyone found a coax that will allow you to plug both the coax AND the mini-USB in?  I used a Hosa coax, and even tried unscrewing the barrel of the RCA, but the connection was still not tight.

Lastly, when I loaded the 4gb card, and set the bit rate to 16 (and adjusted the UA-5 to 44.1), set input to coax, the display told me I had a total of 3 hours, with track maxes of 1:28.  Yet, when I ran 1/8" in, the recording time displayed 6+ hours of time, with over 3 hours per track.  I read that the older firmware versions had issues with the clock and recording time, but I'm running 1.2.3.  WTF?  Never mind...I'm assuming the machine just thinks 96khz.

Otherwise, this machine is going to be a dream.  I'm assuming I was just a lameass and missed something obvious re: the coax.  From there, it was all gravy.  Now I really want the 744 though! 

[cpatch]

I've had problems with playback on the MT where I get a short burst of static and the MT locks up but that's about it. The file is fine and if I reboot and start playback on a different file then skip to the problematic file it will play correctly. At the moment this is the only issue I have with my MT other than the noise floor on the internal preamp.

Craig

[balou2]

I've had problems with playback on the MT where I get a short burst of static and the MT locks up but that's about it. The file is fine and if I reboot and start playback on a different file then skip to the problematic file it will play correctly. At the moment this is the only issue I have with my MT other than the noise floor on the internal preamp.

Craig

Yeh...mine was not a short burst.  It was Poltergeist in a little box.

[JasonSobel]

First, anybody have a clue as to the static issue?  I didn't have time to mess with it as I didn't want to miss any of the show, so I went 1/8" in, but that's not optimal.

Secondly, the USB in on the MT is incredibly close to the coax.  Anyone found a coax that will allow you to plug both the coax AND the mini-USB in?  I used a Hosa coax, and even tried unscrewing the barrel of the RCA, but the connection was still not tight.

just a guess, but if your coax cable wasn't fitting tight, I'm guessing you got static when recording via S/PDIF because of a loose connection.  it's true that the mini-USB and coax connectors are spaced very closely.  What I did was use a swiss army knife to shave off some excess plastic on the mini-USB cable.  this took just a few minutes for me to do, and the USB and coax both fit nice and snug without touching each other.  as far as what kind of RCA connector to have on your coax cable, it's been covered many many times already.  I use a switchcraft right-angle RCA that works perfectly.

I was running 16/44 with ADV "on".

I'm not too familiar with the UA-5, but I thought that with the ADV switch "on" sets it to output 24 bit, and ADV "off" sets it to 16 bit. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)  however, even if you told the MicroTrack to record at 16 bit and were sending it a 24 bit signal, it would just truncate the signal and the recording would still be listenable, not constant static.  my guess is still a loose coax connection...