RECORDING ISSUE

I had the same problem with running out of space when plenty was available. I'll bet those of you experiencing this problem are on a MAC!!!!

Here's what I found out, the hard way (lost irreplaceable concerts). What I was doing was trashing the files on my MAC after downloading them. This works fine on my digital camera, and according to tech support, it should work, too. So when it happened again, I checked the size of the file I'd trashed, and added the file size when the recorder stopped, and the total was the total capacity of the card!!!!!

Tech support denied they knew about this issue when I called. Yet I've known three people with Mac's who had the same experience, except they didn't figure it out, and one returned the recorder. Is the M-Audio this stupid that they can't figure out a problem so obvious? Are they an "all PC" place that doesn't have a Mac to confirm? Are they one of these arrogant tech companies that won't admit a problem for fear of a recall (like Apple)? What exactly accounts for this stupidity/arrogance? Surely I'm not the only person who figured this out?

I also seem to remember having trouble with just hitting the delete button without a similar experience, though I just tried it and couldn't confirm. I gave up a long time ago and just download after every concert and reformat the card immediately. I never want to f-up another concert due to the limitations of the recorder. I just wish they'd fess up so I could know if they fixed it. The firemware update doesn't mention it, so they're silence doesn't help, and all these extra steps really irks me when it should be simple. Maybe the type of card used matters--but again it isn't worth f-ing up another concert to figure this out.

LEVEL METERS

The level meters suck. It takes a long time to figure out how they work relative to what comes out with the wave form, and even then it doesn't seem to work real well. They do go up with more sound, but as far as being useful relative to anything real they are useless.

OVERLOAD (Levels won't go to zero)

I was warned about this when I bought it from SoundProfessionals, and they convinced me to buy a $100 12V pre-amp. I have mics that have a mini-plug. So you plug these into the pre-amp and it goes into the 1/4". I was told this would solve the problem of not being able to turn down the volume all the way at loud concerts. The problem is I've never tried a loud concert without it, and at very loud concerts, it doesn't work even with the pre-amp! It doesn't always sound bad, but the levels go into the red. Why in the HELL doesn't the sound just go to zero when you go to the low end of the scale? Is it that hard to do?

BASS OVERLOAD

With really pounding bass, the bass sound overloads and sounds like a strawberry fart, at least with my system of mics, pre-amp and Microtrack. The terrible thing is this can happen even without the levels going into the red-so how in the HELL can you stop it from happening? With one loud rock show I got terrible bass overload standing on the floor one night that basically ruined the recording. The next night, same club, same band, I stood in the balcony and got a GREAT recording. Can anyone tell me why this could happen?

PHANTOM POWER

I don't use phantom power as my mics don't use it, so I wish there was a way to disconnect it in settings so it would never engage. It sounds like, from what I've read online, in certain situations you can fry the recorder and/or the mics, but from all I've read it's still not clear to me how. Once I accidently engaged the power, and I was terrified what I may have done. No damage though, I think.

BATTERY

It really annoys me that the battery is proprietary. I mean, it seems to work for a year or more at least, but shouldn't it be a standard battery and accessible? What if M-Audio goes out of business? I have on occasion forgotten to charge the battery, run home to go to a concert and don't have time to charge the battery before the concert and end up not being able to record it. This sucks big time. So does the time a concert ran about four hours unexpectedly and I missed the end of the show because the battery went dead. You have to plan too much too far ahead to have a charged battery and reformatted card. So I like the idea of a USB battery pack--and when I had it with me I did use the iBook trick out of desperation (just tried it and it worked), but I didn't know it would work on-the-fly and shut off the recorder and missed a great guitar solo--doh!!! I went by Radio Shack and they never heard of a "USB Battery Pack". I found some online, but I'm not sure if they work or have the right connectors. So, when I finally fix this, again another $80 or so and lots of research to fix what should be part of the unit with a simple pop-in of a spare battery.

HOLD SWITCH DISPLAY

When I go to a concert, the lights are usually off. Also, I engage the HOLD switch so I don't have to worry about f-ing up the recording when the thing is in my pocket. So when I pull the thing up to look at the display to check the levels during a show, I hit the volume button which I discovered is the only thing that will light the display when the hold switch is on. Unfortunately, this causes a warning sign to come up for several seconds which covers up the levels I'm trying to see!!!! F___!!!!!! I told M-Audio they should fix this in their next firmware update so it displays along the bottom, under the levels meters. The guy at tech support just sort of said it wasn't likely. Great, thanks. It makes me wonder if their employees ever use their product in real-world situations.

TECH SUPPORT

I found the tech support fairly awful, though that was a six months ago. It was so bad I never tried again. The guy wouldn't admit my problems existed--or didn't know them--or downplayed my requests as seemingly unimportant by his standards. Then he suddenly said he had their weekly company meeting and hung up without much of an apology or explanation. Seemed like one of those people who may know how to deconstruct his PC (notice I didn't say MAC), but doesn't interact with real human beings on a daily basis. At least he did call back the next day to follow up.

PLAYBACK

When I go to play back the show after the show I want to fast-forward to certain parts. But the fast forward is slow and often resets to zero. It should be stable and accelerate the longer you hold it down. It doesn't.

I LIKE IT ANYWAY

Despite all the above, I have recorded some fantastic shows with my Microtrack. It often seems to just be luck if the recording comes out at loud shows. It's so small I have snuck it into major gigs and have never been caught by hiding it well (yet, anyway). When it isn't a super-loud concert and I'm in the right place, the recordings are super clean. I once recorded an eight-hour conference in one mp3 file with no problems. I wish they'd fix everything I don't like and they'd have an awesome unit. My advice: go to a lot of concerts of groups you hate to get used to the unit, as it has so many strange quirks you'll surely f-up your first recordings until you learn all the quirks.

-Relentlesscactus