At 2:16 PM +0000 8/5/09, Raimund Specht wrote:
>
>
>Rob, you wrote:
>
>> So, has anyone confirmed that is possible to power it with a USB
>> battery unit and use it as a mic pre and the line output to a
>> recorder?
>
>Hi Rob,
>
>I just tried it out and it works. However, the E-MU tracker does not
>accept the power on the USB interface socket (which would make it
>much easier).
>
>So, one needs to make a special USB power supply cable that
>terminates into a 4 mm DC plug, which fits into the 5 VDC input of
>the E-MU Tracker. A compatible plug is for instance this one:
><http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/28828.pdf>http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/28828.pdf
>
>It is also important to note that the output signals of the
>preamplifiers are available at the "Inserts" sockets, not at the
>"Outputs".
>
>Regards,
>Raimund
>
Thanks Raimund!
This is looking very promising isn't it? The insert outputs are
unbalanced, post-pre gain. Good chance the signals could be hotter
than .5 -.7 volt "-10dB" consumer unbalanced inputs but that could
be addressed fairly easily.
Did you happen to measure the input noise at full gain? I see the
their -127dBu figure is unweighted and doesn't specify the gain
setting used. Just curious as our RecorderList is using A weighted as
the standard.
DC power through the 4mm coax jack is probably better for recordists
who need 12+ hours of use. We need to figure out how much voltage
variation its happy with. (The H2, for example, specifies "9 vdc,"
but the supplied wall wart supplies 15 volts DC. I'm using 9.6 vdc
but I suspect it would be happy with anything up to 14.4 vdc) It
would be great if the E-MU tracker pre is compatible with a 5 cell
NiMH "sled" at 6 volts DC. Might not have a DC-DC voltage regulator
as computers tend to supply steady, uninterrupted voltage. I don't
see any power usage info.
The line output distortion measurement of THD+N (1kHz at -1dBFS):
-99dB (.0011%) might be impressive too. Any comments on this figure
engineers?
If you've tested it at max gain and are happy with the published
-127dBu unweighted figure, I don't see why folks (on a budget or not)
couldn't go ahead and move on this unit to use with a large
assortment of pocket recorders with interfaces and other features
that fit their preferences/budgets with no quality loss.
This gear option lessens the excitement around possibly using new
Sony pocket recorder with a portable phantom power unit, but the
flexibility of the E-MU Tracker Pre /Pocket combo probably offsets
the disadvantages of fitting three "modules" instead of two into the
recorder "kit" (4 with external power for the recorder)
Think of how many times we've run into a "gotcha" trying to make the
inexpensive external pre approach work. :-) :-)!!
Or,.. two E-MU Tracker Pres with the $400USD Samson R-16 (4 channel
recorder)! Rob D.
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