No one has used the commercial version of the Microtrack 24/96 yet.
Shipping is supposed to start sometime in September. I think it's
best to reserve judgement until an actual unit can be evaluated.
Until then, we're just speculating. (But it's fun, isn't it?)
The specs quoted on the Core-Sound web page are lifted verbtim from a
TapersSection.com newsgroup discussion about the Microtrack. The
original message containing the specs was posted without a link to
verify the source. So, while the specs may indeed be accurate, I'd
like to see them displayed on an M-Audio web page.
The Core-Sound digital recorder touted as superior to the Microtrack
24/96 is unusual. The recorder is assembled from six components:
-- Core-Sound Mic2496 ($550), a stereo preamp and analog/digital
converter;
-- Core-Sound PDAudio-CF ($200), a digital audio interface in
Compactflash card format ;
-- a Pocket PC-compatible PDA, such as HP iPAQ hx2415 ($400);
-- recording software to capture the digital stream ($50);
-- an SD flash memory card to hold the recordings (1GB $60); and
-- special cables ($50) to link your mics to Mic2496, and from Mic2496
to PDAudio-CF.=20
And don't forget a big rubber band to hold the pieces together! The
ensemble is about twice the size of the PDA, still small enough to
hold in one hand.
That's a total of about $1300 for a typical Core-Sound setup. You
could purchase three M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 recorders for that
money. Or better, buy one Sony Hi-MD recorder and have $1000 left over
for a mic!
--oryoki
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