11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
It's a recorder,...not a player.
Date of Review: Nov 26, 2005
The Bottom Line: Recommended for recording only or playback from root directory only. Some play list management there but doesn't work.
2-17-06 update:
This is just a brief update on the Microtrack. I do not believe M-Audio has any interest in making the Microtrack capable of functioning as a player. So, I cam going to change my rating to recommended with a restriction. Just as in my title, the device is a recorder, not a player. As a recorder it works really well. Never download music to it from your PC or if you do, do not put it in folders. Just put it in the root and you will be fine.
One point: There might be an issue with the battery. If you charge it and use it right away it's fine and will last several hours. If you charge it and do not use it but let it sit for a week or so, you may come back to find the batt dead for no apparent reason. You may even for a moment thing the device has failed as you will not get it to power up at all until it charges for a few minutes. This has happened to me three times already.
12/3/05 update: I actually got an e-mail from M-Audio today...some two+ weeks after e-mailing them. They offered to refund my money and also mentioned the 11/21 firmware update in the hope it would resolve the problems. Well, there is support after all! Their willingness to refund the money is enough for me. I can't return it right now anyway until I get back to the US so I'm going to give the Microtrack a little time to evolve. I will change my recommendation of the Microtrack if a new firmware update warrants it.
It depends on what you want to do with this thing as to whether you're going to like it or not. If you want an MP-3 player, get an Iriver. (i-Pod sucks) This is unfortunate because a lot of the little MP-3 players have very low output and tend to distort if you turn them up high enough to hear them. The Microtrack can play louder without distortion so it would be nice if they would fix the playback menu so this could be a dual purpose device.
Actually, it doesn't even work well for playback through an audio system. This is because they didn't allow enough space around the RCA connectors to connect a decent patch cord. I'm not an advocate of high-end cables but only the cheapest of RCA connectors can be connected to this thing due to the lack of space around the connector. These are recessed into the device with only a very thin opening around them for the connector. Making the holes around the RCA connectors slightly larger would have resolved this.
The thing is lighter than typical MP-3 players of similar size…or smaller MP-3 players for that matter. This is a good thing but at the same time it makes it feel like a cheap piece of plastic in your hand. It feels like a toy. Still, that's good right!
There's something not exactly right about the "Nav" button. You use this to navigate the menus…up and down to find what you want and then press to select. You can't just grab the thing and do this however. You have to press it up or down just right or it doesn't work. It's like it tries to press in partially then will not move up…or down, like it jams. Once you get use to it you know how to apply the force to make it work but be prepared to practice a few times…it could be mine is defective, maybe yours will not be this way.
It's not immune to lockups any more than any modern device. Mine locked up once already and I can't remember if it was the power button and the record button or the power and del button. Anyway, holding down one set or the other of those two buttons for several seconds reset it apparently. I'm not sure if that was the proper procedure but it got it to recover.
Forever!!! Finally a device that can be programmed to stay on and ready forever! This is a big feature for anyone that would like to cue this thing up and then wait possibly a long period of time before releasing it. Most portable devices will get tired of waiting after a few minutes and shut down. Then when the moment comes….it's not ready! What's worse is that these typically take a day and a half to boot up and be ready again and then they are no longer cued up. The Microtrack has the option to wait on you forever. I know some people that would buy this device for that feature alone…even if they had no use for the device…it's that important to them. Or they are that frustrated with the typical device that has a maximum hold time of a few minutes.
One reviewer talked about really needing to read the directions…maybe I should do that but I've always considered that to be cheating. I really didn't think it was necessary, I found the device to be very intuitive. Especially for play back the operation is obvious. You press the Nav button to open the folder and press it again to close the folder again to open…again to close…again to open….. That's what I would have expected! Well actually I would have expected the first Nav button press to open the folder and the second to start playing what ever song is highlighted. Guess what, that's exactly how it is suppose to work. Unfortunately firmware problems have prevented this until 11/21/05. Now it works sometimes but still gets into the mode of the Nav button doing nothing but opening and closing the folder. You can highlight a track then back out using the menu button until you get to the screen that shows the volume setting, power meters and currently selected song title. Then press the Nav button and it will start playing…some other track. It does change the display to reflect the actual track being played but it will not be the one you selected. So, if you buy the Microtrack now be prepared to deal with this problem for the moment and hopefully a later firmware release will correct the problem. BTW, check the M-Audio web site regularly for updates. The down load will include a "read me" file with update instructions. It is as simple as copying the update to the device then selecting firmware update in the device menu. Nothing to it!
I have not found the technical support to be of much use. My first experience with them was after the October firmware update. It was at about that same time that I put a bunch of stuff on the device with the plan to use it as a portable MP-3 player. This is when I discovered the Nav button opening and closing the folder problem. Their response to my complaint was on the edge of sarcastic until I wrote back asking them to try folders and sub-folders. Then they wrote back and basically said, "oh yeah, you're right it doesn't work". Later after sufficient frustration with the device prompted me to request a refund, they never responded to my e-mail. That was about 10 days ago and still no reply. The 11/21/05 update has made it possible to use the device but it's still problematic. Their failure to respond however may cause me to continue to seek a refund or possibly I will just dump it on E-bay. I also had a bad experience with their Firewire 410 interface which I did return for a refund so I'm not overall impressed with their products.
The Microtrack has a lot of potential, I wish a better company had produced it. For portable recording and transfer to another device by removing the CF card and putting it in the other device it should be great! If that's what you are going to do with it then I have to say I recommend it. Maybe someday a future firmware update will make it a viable player as well but be prepared to wait a bit on that. Right now as a player you will have the same love hate relationship with it I do, love the sound quality and ability to play loud on your headphones without distorting like an i-Pod and hate the frustrating menu operation.
I selected "poor, 1 hour" for battery life but I'm really not sure. I charged it overnight before taking a flight to Taiwan and it lasted about 30 seconds. Later it seemed ok then later it was very low after sitting a few days on a full charge without being used. I haven't really tested battery life completely yet but it seems there may be some serious issues with this. I also hate the fact it is an internal battery.
Recommended with exclusions and cautions as described above. As a recorder? Well, it's just pretty dang cool!
mthemaniac
www.mfk-projects.com (loudspeaker design page)
