Topic: Sound Devices New MixPre Series

[sos]

Where did you guys buy from?

Team Kashmir (Midwest chapter) cast it's ballot for... Sweetwater

[rippleish20]

So May 5th went to "late May"? Not that it surprises me...

[dogmusic]

I'm still on the fence about the MixPre-6. Because of the dismal Canadian dollar, it costs over $1200.00 here.

I have a USBPre2 which I can use digital-in to a Tascam DR100mk3. But it would be great to have an all-in-one.

I realize no one has heard the Kashmir preamps, but given SD's devotion to excellence, do members here feel confident that the Kashmirs will be of equal quality to the preamps in the USBPre2?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

So May 5th went to "late May"? Not that it surprises me...

Is that for people that ordered right away?

I was looking last week and B+H said "Mid-May" ...now it says "End of May." I was assuming the people that ordered when it said Mid-May will get the first batch...and I guess I'm in the 2nd batch.

I'd really like to have mine for TAB on 5/31.

[rippleish20]

I ordered mine when they first announced them in mid April. The estimate at that point was May 5th (not that I believed that)

[improviser]

I'm with you, dogmusic.  $1200 (Canadian dollars) is a lot of money for me.  If the new Kashmir preamps sound as good as those on their other products, I'll take the plunge, but I'd rather wait for some reports.

Do you know where they will be available in Canada?  I know that Studio Economik in Montreal will be carrying them.  Looks like the prices are comparable to ordering from the USA.  Any others?

[hipporu]

musicstore.de said today: we expect delivery in late May.

[dogmusic]

I'm with you, dogmusic.  $1200 (Canadian dollars) is a lot of money for me.  If the new Kashmir preamps sound as good as those on their other products, I'll take the plunge, but I'd rather wait for some reports.

Do you know where they will be available in Canada?  I know that Studio Economik in Montreal will be carrying them.  Looks like the prices are comparable to ordering from the USA.  Any others?

Yes, there are a few others: Trew Audio, Sonotechnique, RVA Canada, Audio Services Corp. Canada. They all supply the film audio industry. But the prices are all about the same as Studio Economik.

It's not their fault, of course. The loonie's in the toilet. And you're right that there's no advantage in ordering from the States.

Perhaps Paul who has been so helpful on this forum could compare the Kashmir preamps with the 6 and 7 series.

[old and in the way]

ordered through Location Sound in california. i figured the other places would probably go through their initial allotment . i think these orders will come out of SD in one big batch.
Anyway its just my theory .

[larrysellers]

Where did you guys buy from?

Trew Audio - they gave me free shipping on the MixPre-6 + the battery mount for the Sony-type L batteries.  Free shipping just like everyone else selling these machines, BUT I had to ask for the free shipping.

Did you order the L battery sled or did they throw it in with the purchase?

[dallman]

I have 2 questions that I have not seen answered yet. I think they would apply to many on this board. My questions are about the Mixpre6, but they could be applicable to the Mixpre3 if you follow my context.

First I would preface by stating that my current primary use of gear is recording live music audience recordings at concerts. All types venues flavors volumes etc.
Currently I mostly use a Tascam DR680MKII and a Sound Devices USB Pre 2. I record 3 separate stereo tracks using 3 different pairs of mics with different patterns. I usually have one pair Cardioid, one pair Hypercardioid and one pair Omnidirectional. I use 4 mics ( 2of the pairs) directly XLR into the Tascam and 2 mics (the final pair) direct XLR into the USB Pre 2 then digitally output into the Tascam. I do not use the mix track as a mix track because I have no desire to mix the mics together. Therefore I end up with three separate distinct recordings of the event being recorded.

So my questions in this context are as follows:
1. If I use 4 mics XLR in (P48) and then 2 additional mics via aux in (maybe plug in power, but more likely p48 mics through another preamp outputting to TRS 1/8 aux input on the MixPre6), will all 6 mice be taking advantage of the Kashmir preamps?
2. Since I do not need the mix track, is there any way to use that as another input gaining 2 more distinct track options, or if I were to guess that is a not possible, is there any way to route one of the existing stereo pairs solely to the mix tracks which I could then record at a different gain?

Just to be clear, I expect these tracks to be captured on the SD card in the deck and I would then transfer to my PC. I am not too concerned about my MixPre6 output options in the above scenario, unless I am not seeing some additional advantage to the mixpre6 outputs.

I should ask one more unrelated question: Is there any chance that there will be an android app coming to take advantage of the Bluetooth functionality for us Android users?

Thanks for any help in answering this. I'm itching to order...

[dogmusic]

I use ... 2 mics (the final pair) direct XLR into the USB Pre 2 ...

Do you expect that the Kashmir preamps will equal the quality of your USB Pre 2 preamps?

[dallman]

Hard for me to know, but I do not see why not. They are being touted as top notch from a company known for their preamps and their sound. It also appears from the literature that the pre's can handle whatever is thrown at them and that can be useful especially at the start of a live show. In addition for myself I do not like to drive my pre's to redline as to me they then sound a bit compressed. It is unnecessary in the digital age with even good pre's much less top line preamps, but everyone is entitled to record however they prefer. I like the idea of noise free gain boosts in post. I also like the idea of a smaller form factor although the setup I use is not huge nor heavy, but still, this would still be considerably smaller.

[dpower]

@dallman... To your question #1, you ask if all 6 mics (including the two you'll run from another preamp) will take advantage of Kashmir preamps.

I interpret Aux In to be a line level input so I'd be very surprised if it there were preamps of any kind in the signal path.

Paul Isaacs will be able to confirm.

[dactylus]

Where did you guys buy from?

Trew Audio - they gave me free shipping on the MixPre-6 + the battery mount for the Sony-type L batteries.  Free shipping just like everyone else selling these machines, BUT I had to ask for the free shipping.

Did you order the L battery sled or did they throw it in with the purchase?

I ordered the L battery sled.  It was not a freebie.