We caught the secret prototype of this a few weeks ago, and now M-Audio has announced this unit, complete with a name change — it's officially the Microtrack, a CompactFlash-based handheld 2-channel audio recorder. At $499 it's on the expensive side for something that doesn't have any internal storage, but what sets this apart from the average DAP with line-in is its built-in mic preamps with 48V phantom power (it also ships with an included stereo electret microphone). It'll record at 24-bit/96KHz resolution to WAV or direct to MP3, the latter of which is handy as a songwriter's tool because you can dump files right from the device to your computer via USB 2.0 and send them to your bandmates/collaborators. The Microtrack is also sporting a S/PDIF input so you can grab the output from digital mixers or other digital recording devices. Not too shabby for something that weighs about a pack of cards.

[Via Music Thing]