bipponobungus's Full Review: Dell 3110cn Laser Printer
I consider the MicroTrack to be a recorder, not an mp3 player. My wife calls it an "audio camera".
I got a MicroTrack originally for recording my son's preschool class. I've also used it for nature recordings and random things around the house.
The MicroTrack is so easy to use that my 4 and 7 year old kids can use it to record and play back (once I've set the recording parameters). That's about the best thing I can say about it.
The included T-mic is really noisy. I think they just included so you can start recording right out of the box. For decent results, even on speech, you'll want a better mic.
I recorded myself reading to my son with the mic about two feet away, and to my ear the noise (similar to tape hiss) was intolerable. Using the T-mic for nature recordings is also very noisy. It might be ok for recording loud music, but that's not what I do. I've gotten much better results using other mics in the 1/8" jack though.
Another problem I have a lot with the T-mic is that unless it's really jammed into the jack, the right channel won't make contact and will record silence. All it takes is a tiny wiggle and I get a mono recording instead of stereo. Not that two omnidirectional mics spaced an inch apart give much stereo, but it is noticeable.
And, the channels on my T-mic are only matched to within 1.5dB, so the right channel records noticeably quieter.
The 24-bit support seems mostly for marketing, not recording. Although the MicroTrack can record at 24 bits, the noise floor on the 1/8" input really only warrants 12 bits, which isn't really so bad since it's an ok match for even the quietest electret mic you'll plug into that jack. For better noise performance you'll want to use the balanced 1/4" inputs, which give about 17 bits above the noise floor. I don't expect most people would have the pro gear to use those inputs (I don't), and if you do, you'll be disappointed by the feeble 30V phantom power (standard is 48V).
For the cleanest recordings, the MicroTrack does have a digital input so it's possible to use an outboard preamp and D/A converter if you've got them.
Although the user interface is easy enough to use, it's often quite slow to respond, and I often find myself wondering whether I pushed a button hard enough for it to register.
One bug I've seen is when I stop recording, it will sometimes display a "writing file" message, and then hang.
The manual isn't very well written. The initial battery charging sequence wasn't at all as described. In fact when
I first plugged the MicroTrack into its charger nothing happened at all and I thought it was DOA. It woke up when I plugged it into my computer though. It seems to have two or three ways of indicating that the battery is charging which is confusing.
I don't believe the manual specs the input clipping voltages, and it's not clear how the record meters are calibrated. If you want decent recordings, expect to spend some time experimenting with levels.
I've never run the battery all the way down, so unfortunately I can't comment on battery life. I do wish it used AA rechargeables instead of a built-in Lithium ion battery which I don't expect to last more than a year or two.
To use it with a computer, just plug it in and it appears as a removeable drive. There is no way to rename files or create folders on the MicroTrack itself, but you can do it while it's plugged in to USB. You can also copy wav and mp3 files to the MicroTrack for playback, but the user interface for playback is a bit primitive so I wouldn't really want to use it as an mp3 player.
It's small (pocket size) and light, but there's a cheap feel to it. I wouldn't want to drop it, and the plastic scuffs easily.
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