(Last updated 11/26/2007)
Some of our customers have asked how M-Audio's MicroTrack II recorder
compares to our PDAudio recording system.
PDAudio (priced at between $350 and $1200, depending on its
configuration) and MicroTrack II (priced at under $300) are aimed at
different segments of the audio recording market. PDAudio is aimed at
the audio professional (sound studios, location recordists, Foley and
sound effects recording professionals, radio and TV professionals) and
semi-professional (musicians and sophisticated hobbyists), and offers
the highest available sound quality and essentially unlimited features.
In contrast, MicroTrack II is a recorder aimed at the
sound-quality-conscious mass market, a one-purpose recording device with
limited recording quality and features.
The comparison can be broken into two parts:
- How does our Mic2496 dual mic pre-amp/A-to-D compare to the mic
pre-amp and A-to-D in MicroTrack II, and
- How do PDAudio's other features compare to MicroTrack2496's other
features
As MicroTrack II's technical specifications and test results become
available, we will post direct comparison charts.
Summary: MicroTrack II does not have a pro quality,
low-noise, mic pre/A-to-D. But it is good enough for most users who
want a replacement for their MD and DAT recorders. Professional and
high-end amateur users will want the Mic2496's much finer
performance.
A digital audio recorder's microphone pre-amp and A-to-D converter
determine how much dynamic range the recorder will have (that is how
loud and how soft a sound it can record), how much hiss and noise you'll
hear in the background, how much distortion will be recorded and also
the nature of that distortion. So the quality of a recorder's mic
pre/A-to-D determines the quality of a recorder's recordings.
Core Sound recommends its Mic2496 for use with PDAudio. Mic2496 is a
truly professional mic pre-amp/A-to-D converter; all of its
specifications reflect an audio professional's expectations. Its noise
level is down below -135 dB, providing true 22+ bits of dynamic range
and inaudible noise. Its frequency response is flat to within one or
two tenths of a dB between 20 Hz and 40 KHz. Its distortion levels are
almost immeasurable. Its channel separation is greater than 95 dB
across the frequency band.
MicroTrack II's published specifications show that it is really a
very good 16-bit recorder, quite a bit better than all the MiniDisc
recorders currently on the market and better than most portable DAT
recorders too. But compared to Mic2496, it's not in the same class.
Its mic pre-amp and A-to-D converter provide only 16- or 17-bit
performance. Noise is down only 98 dB for the 1/8-inch input (a bit
more than 16-bit performance) and 100 dB for the 1/4-inch TRS inputs (a
bit less than 17-bit performance). Frequency response is flat within
+/- 0.5 dB for the 1/8-inch unbalanced input and +/- 0.3 dB for the
1/4-inch TRS balanced inputs.
M-Audio advertised including a "phantom power" in the MicroTrack II.
While the world expected a true 48 Volt phantom supply that can supply
10 milliamps per channel, instead the MicroTrack II provides 48 Volts
but with current of only around half a milliamp. As a microphone draws
more current the voltage drops. Many microphones simply won't work
properly on that limited current, while some of the more modern ones
will do just fine. Check with your microphone manufacturer to see how
the limited current availability will affect your microphones.
In contrast, Mic2496 V2 provides true 48 Volt phantom power, so it
can power almost all of the microphones that are out there with only a
few exceptions. It provides a fill 10 milliamps per channel (20 mA
total) to the two microphones. It will power every microphone that
requires 48 Volt Phantom Power.
For comparison with recent products from other manufactureres, see the
user reports on the Marantz PMD670 and 671 recorders. The folks at
Marantz are pros at manufacturing professional portable audio recorders;
they've been doing it for years. Those units are much larger than the
MicroTrack II (allowing for more physical separation between the very
noise-sensitive mic pre-amp and the noisy digital devices) and they're
priced at double its retail (allowing use of higher quality parts); even
so, their mic pre/A-to-D performance are clearly not in the pro audio
range.
And then there are all the issues associated with the necessarily
limited feature set that MicroTrack II has. In contrast, one of
PDAudio's greatest strengths is that its feature set has grown and will
continue to grow to meet its users' needs.
Only PDAudio running Gidluck Mastering's Live2496 software offers
hot-swapping of recording media, allowing essentially unlimited
continuous recording time (MicroTrack II is limited to 2 GB maximum file
size). Only PDAudio with Live2496 allows for timed recording duration
and timed auto-start. Only PDAudio with Movie II or Luci allows for
mono recording. Only PDAudio with Luci allows detailed audio editing
and publishing directly to the Internet. Only PDAudio with Luci or Vito
Sound Editor allows for WAV file editing on your PDA. Only PDAudio with
various software applications allows recording to the widest variety of
sound file formats, including WAV, MP3, FLAC lossless compression, Ogg
Vorbis, MP2, and many others. Only PDAudio with Movie2496 or Luci
provides time stamping of cues, cue annotation and cue sheets.
Only PDAudio with Mic2496 allows for recording at 192 KS/s. Only
PDAudio with Mic2496 allows you to record while passing on a digital
signal (optical or coax) for a daisy chain of other digital tapers.
Only PDAudio with Mic2496 (with detent option) allows for a calibrated,
repeatable gain setting; necessary for precise acoustics measurements.
Only PDAudio lets you record directly from a coaxial or an optical
digital audio feed provided by others to your un-augmented PDA -- no mic
pre or A-to-D is required. PDAudio with Live 2496 also has record-time
FLAC compression to potentially double your storage space.
Only PDAudio can record digital audio to a PDA (e.g., HP iPAQ
2200-series) commonly available for less than $100. PDAudio lets you
use the highest quality outboard mic pre/A-to-D using either coaxial or
optical interfaces so that you'll get the benefit of those 24-bit word
widths and high sample rates.
Only PDAudio has a full color display. Only PDAudio provides all of the
non-recording Pocket PC functions that a Windows Mobile PDA supplies,
including telephone, Video and MP3 player, Internet browsing, local area
network access, games, spreadsheets, word processing, GPS navigation and
many others. And the drivers for PDAudio are essentially open source
(or otherwise easily available) so that folks who want to write their
own applications and to add functions can.
For only $350, PDaudio can also be configured to only record digital
audio signals. In this configuration, it does not provide a microphone
or Line level input; it only provides digital audio inputs. It
provides all of the professional flexibility described above at a price
that's even lower than MicroTrack II.
In contrast to PDAudio, MicroTrack II is intended to be a good
quality, small and simple-to-use recorder for the mass market, and we
expect that it will meet those goals. Its feature set is limited to
those needed for basic recording. For those who need a simple
recorder and don't need professional sound quality or PDAudio's broad
feature set, MicroTrack II will be the correct choice.
Here's a letter we received from a fellow who simply loves his
MicroTrack:
S.T. wrote:
You guys are making me LMAO.
Your bias is blatantly obvious, comparing a stand alone
preamp/converter AND an interface device, NEITHER of which can record
anything, to the Microtrack. Talk about comparing apples and oranges.
My Microtrack costs far less than your two units, which by themselves
are useless. Using 2 of my AT 4051's, a Symetrix SX202 mic pre and the
Microtrack, I'm able to record with as much fidelity as with my
expensive Creamware A16 Ultra AD/DA converter into my DAW. For its size
and price, the Microtrack, which I've been putting thru some rather
thorough paces for the last 3 days, is something I've wanted since I was
12 years old, when I recorded on a 3" open reel portable, before
cassettes and probably before you were born.
Nice try, but the reasoning in your article is anything but sound. The
Microtrack, without ANY accessories, is a PERFECT answer for recording
gigs, rehearsals, and shows for reference. It's also a perfect tool to
capture song ideas without a pile of stuff to make it happen. With
minimal extra outboard gear (decent mic pres and mics), its recording
quality and noise floor is quite useful for any professional purpose.
And here's our response:
Hi S.T.,
We're not bashing the MicroTrack II -- in fact we praise it very
highly to all of our customers and are selling a boatload of them.
The MicroTrack II is the clear successor to the MiniDisk and DAT
recorders. It's an easy-to-use and very compact recorder. It's
certainly priced right. And once M-Audio fixes the firmware bugs (as
I'm certain they will, having been an M-Audio dealer for many years),
it'll be reliable too.
But it is what it is. Its mic pre-amp and A-to-D converter will never
be able to provide more than 16-bits of dynamic range, so it's really a
16-bit recorder unless you add an external Mic Pre/A-to-D converter like
our Mic2496 or Grace's Lunatec V3. Like most of its competitors that
cost under $2000, it's simply not a true 24-bit recorder.
Its phantom power supply is weak and inadequate -- it can't correctly
power many standard microphones.
It will never have a large, color display. It isn't designed for hot
media swapping or media chaining. It's limited to 2 GB maximum file
size. It can't do on-the-fly FLAC encoding. It can't do scheduled
recording or timed recording. It can't record to Ogg Vorbis and many
other format. It doesn't yet record Mono, will never record at 192
KS/s. It doesn't work with the many PCs out there still running Windows
98.
It's interesting that you find the need to use the AC-powered
Symetrix SX202 pre-amp. That makes your recording rig much, much bigger
and says something important about how you perceive the quality of the
MicroTrack II pre-amp and phantom power supply. Add in the price of
the pre-amp and how much did you really pay for your recorder? And
haven't you seriously compromised its portability?
But as you say, for its size and price ($259 -- the price we sell it for
on our Web site), its the best recorder out there. We simply love it!
MicroTrack II holds great promise for a certain market segment,
primarily those who are currently using MD and DAT recorders, and who
are satisfied with 16-bit performance. We expect to sell a bunch of
them.
PDAudio, in contrast, provides truly professional 24-bit performance
and unlimited flexibility. We therefore expect that PDAudio will be the
choice of most audio professionals and semi-professionals.
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