Topic: Microtrack 24/96... worth it?

[lordbelial]

I've been wandering on the idea of upgrading my recorder into a 24/96 recorder. Taking a look at the possibilities, and since I'll be doing stealth 50% of the times, I was thinking on the MT 24/96 as an option. So here are my questions.

- Will I have problems to feed the MT24/96 with the optical/coax output from my UA-5 bm2p+ mod? Guess not.
- Is there any problem actually with the MT 24/96 not fixed nowadays? (I mean, CF read/write errors, some upgrade to make the MT24/96 much more alike to a taping recording like?)
- Anyone has done recordings with the combo StudioProject C4 > UA-5 bm2p+ > MT 24/96 (24b@96Khz)? Which is the REAL difference between a 24b/96Kh VS 16b/44-48Khz recording?

Sincerely, I'll need the inputs on the board users so I can make my decission. OK, my budget is around 300 $, don't know how much are they rated nowadays.

Thanks for the space!

Regards,

[Gizby]

I've run SPC4 > UA-5 Wmod > MT, but only at 24/48. I used a Hosa DRA-501 coax cable to link the two and it fits snuggly, never had a problem with it. It's pretty much only good as a bit-bucket, which is what you're planning to do, so good times. Most problems have been cleared up with firmware updates. The major remaining one is the 2 gig filesize limit and the not-quite-seamless starting of a new file. It just depends what size card you have, how long the sets are you want to record, and what you want to record at. Other people complain about it's build quality. I've had the screen go out on me before and had to send it in to get fixed.

If you're looking for a 24-bit bit bucket within that budget, and you have a good preamp to control levels, then the MicroTrack is pretty much it.

[taper420]

Your in luck because they just lowered the price at major retailers to $299, but you can actually find them cheaper if you look around. I'm pretty sure most of the bugs have been smoothed out with the new firmwares. I got one recently and haven't had any problems recording throught the digital/coax input. The one thing you may want to keep in mind is each recording file is limited to 2gb, so if you are recording at 24/96 you may not have enough time to get a gapless recording. A new file will be created at the 2gb limit, and this will have a gap of at least 5 seconds. I think most of us that are using them as a practical concert recording device are recording at 24/48. With that setting you will get 1:55 of recording time for each file. I think most of us are happy with this because the greatest difference in sonic quality is heard by upgrading to 24 bit. There is a negligible difference between 96k and 48k, when compared to the difference between 24b and 16b. For one, you will need a special microphone to pick up frequencies that recording in 96 will allow. The other thing is some people say why bother... 96 is just enabling the recording of higher frequencies than we can't hear. Some people say those higher frequencies can effect the harmonics of the range we do hear. Well maybe. But you still need a mic that can pick those up, and a preamp that will carry the full signal. And a playback system to "hear" it. Plus, higher sample rates mean higher error for your clock (so you better have a good one) and that can effect sonic quality as well. I mean... I can see wanting 96 for recording bird calls or something, but I'm pretty sure for our purposes it's just a waste of 0100101's.

[rokpunk]

if you want a microtrack, i just put one up in the yard sale today.
never used, new in box $260 includes shipping and paypal fees.
pm me if ya want it.