[We received our first shipment of M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 flash memory
recorders this past Monday. I've been posting my impressions to the
PenComputingAudio group on Yahoo, and thought that this groups might
appreciate them too. -- LM]

As I work my way through what the MicroTrack 24/96 can do, I've found
some more interesting and unexpected things:

First, as I noted before, its phantom power voltage is 30 Volts and not
the usual 48. I haven't measured how many milliAmps per channel it can
supply.

When recording an S/PDIF data stream, MicroTrack 24/96 is currently
limited to making 16-bit recordings. That really clinches my initial
impression that it's really a 16-bit recorder. Its Mic and Line inputs
are limited to roughly 16-bit dynamic range (despite the option to
record that to file in a 24-bit format), and the digital input is also
16-bit only. Perhaps the next firmware release will extend it to
24-bit?

Also, while the level meters operate when recording from the S/PDIF
input, the headphone output (and presumably the Line outputs too, since
they are probably driven from the same analog signal source) does not.
So you can't monitor on headphones while recording from a S/PDIF source.
(You can monitor on 'phones when recording from the TRS and 1/8-inch
analog inputs.)

Another surprise is that MicroTrack 24/96 is currently a stereo-only
recorder. It can not record in mono, though there are indications that
it will be added in a future release of the firmware.

There are a fair number of bugs, most of which do not "sink the ship",
but are pretty weird and annoying. Like what? Like imagine you
recorded three files from the S/PDIF input. You simply can't get it to
play back the first file in the file system. If you try to play back
the first file, it simply won't play. If that weren't enough, it also
causes a condition that you then can't play *any* of the files. But if
you first play back the second or third file, it works fine unless you
then try to play the first: that breaks it and you have to cycle power
to get it back.

The workaround (not surprisingly) is to record a few short files and
then delete the first file -- then you'll always be able to play the
rest of the files.

Weird.

There are others like that. And then there are the ones that can sink
the ship. Like the one that I haven't quite figured out yet. It makes
the file system act like the CF card has no more space for recording.
If you check the time remaining for recording, it's a negative number.
But when you check the directory to list the files that are there, there
aren't any files! If you've made a recording, it's gone and in some
cases unsalvageable. The only way I've found to get back into business
is to reformat the card in a PDA or a PC and start over.

I'm keeping M-Audio informed of what I find.

I'll post more as I dig deeper.

--
Len Moskowitz PDAudio, Binaural Mics, Cables, DPA, M-Audio
Core Sound http://www.stealthmicrophones.com
Teaneck, New Jersey USA http://www.core-sound.com
Tel: 201-801-0812, FAX: 201-801-0912