M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 Digital Recorder

User RatingProduct Experience
2 Days

Strengths: Simple to set-up, simple to use

Weaknesses: Supplied 64MB memory card can only record 2 minutes at CD-quality settings

Summary: Presumably you are interested in this gadget because you want a simple way to record high-quality, digital sound and transfer it to your computer, MP3 player, etc.

Well this works but forget about capturing high quality sound longer than 12 minutes on a $110 1GB CompactFlash card [not included]. (MP3 format; Sample rate: 44.1; Bits: 192. Your "mileage" may vary.)

If you want to record an hour-long event, you must either buy five 1GB cards and swap them out between songs, or pay a fortune for more CompactFlash memory (~$200 for 4GB, ~$540 for 6GB). And if you're ready to spend that kind of money, why not buy the Core Sound PDAudio-CF instead?

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A 1 GB card can record 1.6 hours of uncompressed CD-quality audio at 16-bits/44.1 kHz. 2-channel audio at 16/44.1 is 10 MB per minute or about 606 MB per hour. Also, if a 1 GB compact flash card costs too much, the Microtrack will accept microdrives, which cost much less.

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If you're even going to offer a review to possible buyers, how about reviewing the actual product and how well it performs rather than give a bad rating based on your awful research regarding storage issues? Anyone who has done an ounce of research already knows that Microdrive is the way to go when it comes to storage for this device (at least for lengthy recording), but giving a bad review and low rating and not justifying your reasons with actual product performance is pitiful. Your review of the MicroTrack wouldn't get two stars from me.

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I did purchase one of these machines & did a test recording with it. Here is my review for potential buyers. Pros: Small, SP/DIF input, easy to use, upgradable firmware, can lock down buttons so nothings accidentally pressed. Cons: Cheaply made (Everythings plastic), flakey battery time/meter (Seemed to depleat rather quickly. Was able to record the whole concert that I was using it for), Level meter seemed flakey too (Seemed to show clipping very easily. Possible should be run with a better front end. I used a Denecke AD-20.) With that said, I would recommend this machine. Thinking about buying it & keeping it this time, but not using it as a main deck until I'm confident that everything will be fine. I paid $329 ($357 w/tax)& wouldn't pay much more than that.

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