M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 Battery Replacement Trick

by daryl on March 31, 2011

So thanks to the postings here and here and other forums I was able to successfully replace my battery inexpensively, fairly quickly and with not much drama.

I just wanted to add my two cents to the process in case it might help someone. Anyway, definitely read the other posts for details. My post here will be tips in addition. Disclaimer: I am not an electrician but I did take electronics in high school.

First thing is (in my opinion) there isn’t a way to open this device without damaging it. Even if its a small scratch or dent. I am guessing the reason M-Audio charges so much to replace the battery is they probably have to replace the back of the case which is the part that gets damaged and they have to cover any other costs associated with the repair. Possible accidents?

Second thing is you don’t have to dismantle as much as everyone says. All you have to do is remove the back cover. That’s it!

  1. Buy an iPhone 2G battery (1400mAh) from eBay for less than US$6 (including shipping and tools).
  2. Remove back cover.
  3. Remove battery.
  4. Here’s my big tip! Remove tape from top of the battery. Inside the white tape you will find a small circuit board. Take your soldering iron and heat the solder where the wires are connected to disconnect the black and red wires. Voila! Now you don’t even have to strip the wires!

  5. Cut the exposed part of the white wire on your new 2G iPhone battery. Tape the end with electrical tape. I taped the small white wire to the end of the battery to secure it. Sorry! wish I took more pictures.
  6. Solder the red wire from the Microtrack to the red wire on your new battery.
  7. Do the same for the black wires.
  8. Tape the exposed wires with electrical tape. I also taped the wires to the edge of the battery. Sure wish I took photos.
  9. Tape the battery to the board. I used the old rolled up scotch tape trick. (Too cheap to buy double sided tape). Make sure the wires are away from where the case tabs align.
  10. Plug the device in and test to see if it lights up.
  11. If all is good install the back cover. Done!

Hope this was helpful.

Happy recording!

Video Comparison – iPhone 4 vs. HTC Evo

by daryl on July 25, 2010

My wife and I just bought new phones recently and we just happened to shoot the same video at the L.A. Zoo today. I thought it would be interesting to show the comparison. Sorry for the large files but I wanted to show the videos as close to the original as possible. Also, this is not meant to be an “Apples to Apples” comparison. I meant to show what type of video you get with each phone shot in high def. The Evo does not shoot 1280 x 720 in H.264 (see original file specs below).

As far as I can tell, there isn’t a way to change video settings on the iPhone 4 but I haven’t researched that either. The HTC Evo allows you to change settings for white balance, resolution, encoding type, audio on/off, etc.

I don’t claim to be a video expert (far from it) but on first glance of these 2 clips the iPhone 4 video appears blown out initially. What might be nice is the camera does not have that “camcorder” type adjustment to lighting. Sometimes drastic changes in adjustments can be annoying. The video clip shot on the Evo seems heavy in the shadow areas but richer in color (maybe too rich). It did seem to adjust to lighting more like a camcorder.

Curious to hear your comments.

iPhone 4 – Original file: H.264, 1280 x 720, Millions, 29.97 fps, AAC, 1 channels, 44100 Hz

HTC Evo – Original file: MPEG4, 1280 x 720, Millions, 22.09 fps, AMR Narrowband, Mono, 8.000 kHz

Migrating B2Evolution 2.4.2 to WordPress 2.9.2

March 18, 2010

I just performed a successful blog migration for a client from B2Evolution version 2.4.2 to WordPress 2.9.2.  The blog I am speaking currently  has 577 posts and 33 categories and dates back to 2004.  In my search for a solution, I did find some useful tips online. Like me, you may have already found those [...]

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