Topic: Microtrack 24/96 1.3.3

[gl0bber]

I just used the MT for the 3rd time, and after reading all of the problems on previous pages, I was really nervous because this was the concert I wanted to record.  The other 2 were practice runs.  I am using the MT with a 2gb SanDisk Extreme CF and a 1gb SanDisk Ultra CF, plus CSBs with battery box and an external usb charger just in case. 

I recorded The Cure Saturday in London.  I recorded at 16/44 to wav.  They were scheduled to play over 3 hours, so I brought along the extra 1 gb card.  No problems during the show....I recorded the entire main set, then swapped out the 2 gb CF card during the encore break and used the 1gb for the encores without any problems.

However.....while listening to the recording the next morning through the headphones on the MT, the sound stopped at approx. 60 minutes into the first file (the first file is about 2 hours-2 hours and 10 minutes).  The levels were still going up and down, but I was not getting any sound.

When I tranferred the files to my PC, all was fine, but I still have no idea why I couldn't hear anything beyond the first 60 minutes!

Mine stops playback randomly any time after 30 minutes.  It's just another bug that hasn't been fixed (yet).

[BC]

However.....while listening to the recording the next morning through the headphones on the MT, the sound stopped at approx. 60 minutes into the first file (the first file is about 2 hours-2 hours and 10 minutes).  The levels were still going up and down, but I was not getting any sound.

When I tranferred the files to my PC, all was fine, but I still have no idea why I couldn't hear anything beyond the first 60 minutes!

Mine stops playback randomly any time after 30 minutes.  It's just another bug that hasn't been fixed (yet).

Yeah, mine does that too. The MT sucks for listening to recordings. I think it is best to transfer the file to a computer and play back from there.

[SClassical]

I can playback all my 24/48 tracks without problems with the current 1.3.3. One thing I notice is during playback the vol and pause/unpause controls respond VERY slowly. It takes over 10 secs for it to respond to your request. Anyone experience a slow response while doing playback?

[jtessier]

I actually just got the SanDisk UltraII 8 gig for a birthday gift.  Will be trying it in the field for the first time next Sunday at Sound Tribe.  I am probably also going to go back a revision in the firmware. (May keep the same firmware and use the JB3 as a non 24bit backup out of the ua5 analog outs).

However, Since my freeze up I have been doing alot of testing at home with 1.3.3.  The only time I have been able to reproduce the recording stopping is when a battery pack is plugged in. Regardless of bit depth or sampling rate.  Up to this point I have only been using the Kingston... Just got the SanDisk today.  When the battery pack is plugged in it seems pretty random and hard to reproduce, but it has never happened when the MT was self powered.

You haven't tried the 8GB Sandisk card yes with 1.3.3 have you? i'ts been reported to have problems with 1.3.3 and work fine with 1.2.3. Not sure at which sample rate or bit depth the problem was reported but the symptom is static or clicks several times a second (in other words, very obvious) all thru the recording.

J.T.

[jtessier]

I think I've figured out the recordings stopping early thing. If you check the rec time available sreen it will report based on 96k (most of us know about and live with this).  For example I took my smallest card (the 64 that came with) and it said it has 00:01:44 of record time.  I then recorded a 44.1 source and it started and showed it was going to record for 3 minutes or so. But when it reached (you 've probably guessed) 00:01:44, it stopped and says media full.  I could then record a second file but again it stops before it get's the 'actual' end.

At least with this info we can predict when it will stop. It will stop at the time that the rec time available screen says.

J.T.

[china_rider]

You haven't tried the 8GB Sandisk card yes with 1.3.3 have you? i'ts been reported to have problems with 1.3.3 and work fine with 1.2.3. Not sure at which sample rate or bit depth the problem was reported but the symptom is static or clicks several times a second (in other words, very obvious) all thru the recording.

Hmmm... I will have to try some more at home before sound tribe next weekend.  I've recorded the stereo for 4 hours at 24/96 and v.1.3.3 firmware without issue yet.

[cmoorevt]

I think I've figured out the recordings stopping early thing. If you check the rec time available sreen it will report based on 96k (most of us know about and live with this).  For example I took my smallest card (the 64 that came with) and it said it has 00:01:44 of record time.  I then recorded a 44.1 source and it started and showed it was going to record for 3 minutes or so. But when it reached (you 've probably guessed) 00:01:44, it stopped and says media full.  I could then record a second file but again it stops before it get's the 'actual' end.

At least with this info we can predict when it will stop. It will stop at the time that the rec time available screen says.

J.T.

+T. Nice job!  Just confirmed the same thing here with a 64 mb card.  Not sure why my record time available was different than yours with a similar sized card, but whatever. 

I fed it a 16/48 signal, using the spif input

File 1: 2:37 total time on media/5:14 on time remaining countdown on main recording screen/stopped at 2:37
File 2: 1:18 total time on media/2:37 on time remaining countdown on main recording screen/stopped at 1:18
File 3: 0:39 total time on media/1:18 on time remaining countdown on main recording screen/stopped at 0:39

and so on, down to no time remaining.

Coincidentally, in each instance using the 64mb card, the total time remaining/length of time that the file recorded before stopping, was exactly half of the time on the countdown on the main recording screen. 

Another way of looking at this is that when the total time of the file and the time countdown were exactly equal, the file stopped recording.

Reason I bring this up is because with my 2gb card, I get a total time on media of 01:30:26 but a Max time per file of 01:26:48.  When I go to the main recording screen, the countdown is 02:53:36 aka twice the "Max time per file" number.

So...perhaps the unit stops at the max time per file reading and not the total time on media for the larger CF cards.  The way for me to test this of course would be to record and see if it stops at 01:30:26 or at 01:26:48, which I'll try to do tonight.   

Wonder if it chokes when the countdown and the time already recorded hit the same number?

edit:  Just ran a test and passed by the Max time per file without a problem and stopped at the total time on media, in this case 01:30:26.   Time to fire off some Incident Reports to M-Audio.

[JasonSobel]

I think I've figured out the recordings stopping early thing. If you check the rec time available sreen it will report based on 96k (most of us know about and live with this).  For example I took my smallest card (the 64 that came with) and it said it has 00:01:44 of record time.  I then recorded a 44.1 source and it started and showed it was going to record for 3 minutes or so. But when it reached (you 've probably guessed) 00:01:44, it stopped and says media full.  I could then record a second file but again it stops before it get's the 'actual' end.

At least with this info we can predict when it will stop. It will stop at the time that the rec time available screen says.

J.T.

interesting, but I'm not so sure.  or at least, it's not consistent.  the last time I recorded, on Thursday 3/30 (and I posted in pretty good detail everything that happened), the first set went all the way to within a minute or two of the 2 gig limit.  (at 24/48 via S/PDIF).  but then the second set was cut short, at just past one hour, which was slightly more than half of the 1 hour, 53 minutes, and change that I could get from a 2 gig file size limit...

[china_rider]

I think I've figured out the recordings stopping early thing. If you check the rec time available sreen it will report based on 96k (most of us know about and live with this).  For example I took my smallest card (the 64 that came with) and it said it has 00:01:44 of record time.  I then recorded a 44.1 source and it started and showed it was going to record for 3 minutes or so. But when it reached (you 've probably guessed) 00:01:44, it stopped and says media full.  I could then record a second file but again it stops before it get's the 'actual' end.

At least with this info we can predict when it will stop. It will stop at the time that the rec time available screen says.

J.T.

interesting, but I'm not so sure.  or at least, it's not consistent.  the last time I recorded, on Thursday 3/30 (and I posted in pretty good detail everything that happened), the first set went all the way to within a minute or two of the 2 gig limit.  (at 24/48 via S/PDIF).  but then the second set was cut short, at just past one hour, which was slightly more than half of the 1 hour, 53 minutes, and change that I could get from a 2 gig file size limit...

I was just able to confirm this with the card that came with the microtrack and the 8gig SanDisk I have.  I got pretty much the exact same results as posted above with the 64meg card.  With the 8 gig I had a total of 6gig already recorded on the CF at 24/96.  Was able to record another hour at 24/96 with no issues (2 gig file size) and maxed out the card.  Removed one of the 2gig files and reset the UA-5 to record at 24/48.  With the 2 gig left I should have been able to record 2 hours but the recording stopped after 1 hour which is the 24/96 remaining time.

Good catch... T+.   I'm going to keep playing around and see if I can make it stop recording in any other situations but so far this is the only way I have been able to reproduce it reliably.

EDIT: Support email sent to M-Audio

[cmoorevt]

I wrote to M-Audio about the stop recording issue and heard back from them today.  They admitted that they were able to reproduce the problem and that they are working hard on a fix for it.  No timetable on when an update would be posted to their website, but at least they admitted it was a problem.

[ghibliss]

I have not had any problems using v 1.3.3 firmware on my MT.  I have recorded four shows since the firmware came out and all were made at 24/96 with a 4 GB Kingston Elite Pro 45X CF card.  All of the recordings came out extremely well with no problems during recording.  I have had the backlight set to "always on" and have the "hold" button engaged once recording has started.  I am going in with spdif from my external a/d mic preamplifier and always attach the coax to the MT after I have established a signal level from the a/d converter mic preamplifier.  I do not use an external battery box and my microphones are powered by my a/d mic preamplifier so there is minimal current draw on the MT while operating aside from the backlight being on always.  I have tested the backlight current draw and it has very little effect on the battery run time in my configuration.  This set-up has worked every time for me with no mysterious hang-ups during recording.

I upload the data from the CF card after removing it from the MT and use a Lexar Firewire card reader which transfers considerably faster to my pc then the USB 2.0 for some reason.  For a typical 2.0 GB of files to transfer it takes approximately seven minutes to complete which saves a lot of time. I did not have any issues with running at 24/44.1 either which is the only other rate which I have used with the spdif input thus far.

I will keep my fingers crossed that I do not run into some of the bad luck which other have been experiencing with the hang-ups.  hopefully the last few niggling items will be resolved soon and we will all be able to enjoy the hell out of this little gem!!!

[china_rider]

If you are recording at 24/96 you will not see the stop recording issue as the time left is measured at a 96k sampling rate.  Wish I could go at 24/96 all the time but pretty much everyone I record has sets that run over the hour mark and there is often not a good time to split the file during the set. 

Oh well... Hopefully we will get a fix soon.

[Todd R]

Sorry, I haven't been following the thread and tried reading back a bit, but I haven't figured out what the issue is.  Could someone give me a quick summary?  I thought the incorrect record time available issue was fixed with firmware 1.2.3.  Did they screw it up again with the latest firmaware?

[china_rider]

Basically if you are configured to record SPDIF with the sampling rate set to auto and go under the Record settings menu and then select Rec time available it will show you the recording time left based on a 96k sampling rate.  If you record at a level < 96k and total time left at 96k is less than the file time left at your sampling rate the recording will stop at the 96k time.

[china_rider]

Not sure... I can reproduce the issue with the card that came with the unit, a 4gig Kingston Elite, and a 8gig SanDisk.  It does not happen when not recording SPDIF since you set the sampling rate and it is not auto.  Have not gone back a revision yet to see if the problem exists there.  Probably will try it Saturday.

Checked my email a few min a bit ago and I also got a reply from M-Audio stating they were aware of the issue and working on a fix.  There was no mention of a time frame and it seemed pretty much like a form email.

EDIT: If you want to specifically test for the situation upload to your MT your cards max-2gig (or more) and then record at 24/48.  If the recording stops after an hour or so it affects you.  If you can record for around 2 hours up to the max of your card it does not affect you.  You can adjust the times if you do the math but 24/96 = ~2gig/hour, 24/48 = ~1gig/hour.