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Author Topic: Sound Devices New MixPre Series  (Read 107060 times)

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Offline F.O.Bean

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #240 on: May 11, 2017, 09:12:45 PM »
After reading through some of this thread, and realizing the gain knobs can be adjusted in the ISO tracks by pushing the gain knob IN and then adjusting the post-fade gain of that channel, I just listed my Schoeps VMS02IB Preamp and my backup DR-70D for sale :) My plan is to run 4 channels of 60v PFA's directly into the MixPre6 "Kashmir" preamps, and use the 5/6 Channel 1/8" Input for when I get SBD Patches ;D

I don't mind being a guinea pig when it comes to new, HQ looking gear! I bought a V3 and SD 722 shortly after they came out, and I ended up liking them so much that I ran them for many years [722 moreso than the V3]. I'm hoping that the MixPre6 preamps are as good/better than the 7xx Series preamps as SD claims, because I don't plan on running an external preamp in front of it unless I REALLY dislike the new Kashmir Preamps, which I highly doubt if they're of the 7xx quality or better 8)

And a HUGE thanks to the people from SD who joined our amazing site and offered to answer any questions that our small, niche group had! That's VERY cool of them IMO, and just goes to show what a stand-up company SD really is!

EDIT: One question I keep meaning to ask is, how do you control the gain of the 5/6 Channel 1/8" Input when using all 6 Channels?
« Last Edit: May 11, 2017, 09:14:24 PM by F.O.Bean »
Schoeps MK 4V & MK 41V ->
Schoeps 250|0 KCY's (x2) ->
Naiant +60v|Low Noise PFA's (x2) ->
DarkTrain Right Angle Stubby XLR's (x3) ->
Sound Devices MixPre-6 & MixPre-3

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Offline justink

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #241 on: May 11, 2017, 09:26:49 PM »
The iPhone app
Mics:
DPA 4023 (Cardioid)
DPA 4028 (Subcardioid)
DPA 4018V (Supercardioid)
Earthworks TC25 (Omni) 

Pres and A/D's:
Grace Design Lunatec V3 (Oade ACM)
Edirol UA-5 (bm2p+ Mod)

Recorders:
Sound Devices MixPre10 II
Edirol R-44 (Oade CM)
Sony PCM‑M10

Offline Paul Isaacs

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #242 on: May 12, 2017, 07:55:34 AM »

EDIT: One question I keep meaning to ask is, how do you control the gain of the 5/6 Channel 1/8" Input when using all 6 Channels?

Ch 5/6 have to have their gain controlled from their channel screens since they don't have a dedicated knob. You can make a shortcut on the star button for quick access to these channels.

Paul

Offline Mr.Fantasy

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #243 on: May 12, 2017, 08:03:44 AM »

EDIT: One question I keep meaning to ask is, how do you control the gain of the 5/6 Channel 1/8" Input when using all 6 Channels?

Ch 5/6 have to have their gain controlled from their channel screens since they don't have a dedicated knob. You can make a shortcut on the star button for quick access to these channels.

Paul

No star button on the MixPre-3 though?

Do you know when the first shipment will be Paul?
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Offline dpower

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #244 on: May 12, 2017, 08:10:12 AM »
Paul... I'm curious:

Is there a way to make the front panel channel knobs control trim? In all the videos I've seen so far, it appears mic trim is adjusted only in Advanced mode using the headphone / input encoder—making each channel knob a fader rather than a trim / gain control. Is this the case?

Thanks,
dp

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #245 on: May 12, 2017, 09:31:17 AM »
Paul... I'm curious:

Is there a way to make the front panel channel knobs control trim? In all the videos I've seen so far, it appears mic trim is adjusted only in Advanced mode using the headphone / input encoder—making each channel knob a fader rather than a trim / gain control. Is this the case?

Thanks,
dp

This is a quote from Paul Isaacs (I can't remember from where):

"Folks - you can use channel knobs to adjust your ISO levels. To do this, you would select Custom mode and set Record to Advanced and leave Channel set to Basic. When Channel is set to Basic, ISO levels are post channel knob and when Record is set to Advanced, ISOs can be armed. "

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Offline dpower

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #246 on: May 12, 2017, 10:01:56 AM »
@dogmusic... Thanks for your response. I've seen that quote a few times. But "adjust your ISO levels" doesn't make it clear whether you're adjusting preamp gain or post-preamp mix/record level. And those—as I'm sure you're aware—are two very different things.

Offline Paul Isaacs

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #247 on: May 12, 2017, 10:21:28 AM »
@dogmusic... Thanks for your response. I've seen that quote a few times. But "adjust your ISO levels" doesn't make it clear whether you're adjusting preamp gain or post-preamp mix/record level. And those—as I'm sure you're aware—are two very different things.

There are various ways to setup the MixPre. There is a way to configure MixPre so that you can use the channel knobs to adjust the levels on the individual recorded tracks i.e. so that channel knob 1 controls the level of track 1, channel knob 2 controls the level of track 2, channel knob 3 controls the level of track 3 etc. Is that what you want to do?

Offline dpower

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #248 on: May 12, 2017, 10:47:07 AM »
Paul... Thanks for weighing in.

I don't want to sound pedantic but my answer to your question is, "It depends what you mean by 'level'."

Thinking about this in a mixer context, each channel has a preamp gain (or 'trim') control and a fader, correct?

What I'd like to know is whether the MixPre channel knobs act as a) preamp gain controls; or b) faders.

Thanks,
dp

Offline Todd R

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #249 on: May 12, 2017, 11:06:16 AM »
Paul... Thanks for weighing in.

I don't want to sound pedantic but my answer to your question is, "It depends what you mean by 'level'."

Thinking about this in a mixer context, each channel has a preamp gain (or 'trim') control and a fader, correct?

What I'd like to know is whether the MixPre channel knobs act as a) preamp gain controls; or b) faders.

Thanks,
dp

If you dig through all the posts, this has been covered, and the answer to your question is that it can be either.  In basic mode, the mixpre only records 2 channels, and those inputs are routed to the LR mix.  In that case, the channel knobs control gain and do not act as faders.  In advanced mode, multiple channels (up to the full set of 6 input channels) can be armed, with a LR mix track recorded and each of the other six channels (if all armed) are recorded to ISO tracks.  In the advanced mode, the faders ("channel knobs") only control the level of the recording to the LR mix track.  The 6 ISO tracks are recorded post-trim, pre-fader:  that is, the gain is set by the trim control (which appears to be the control knob on the side) not the channel knobs, such that the channel knobs have no effect on the recorded level of the ISO tracks, only the LR mix track.

If you wanted to record all channels but instead have the channel knobs control the level of the recording of the ISO tracks, you can set up the mixpre in custom mode, using the advanced mode portion that allows arming all of the 6 channels but instead choose basic recording as part of the custom mode such that the channel knobs control the recorded level of the ISO tracks.  In this setup, the channel knobs act as the preamp gain (trim) controls not as faders.

That seems to address the function of what happens.  If you're asking which of the actual gain stages within the mixpre are being used in the custom mode above (trim/gain stage vs fader gain stage), we'd need a block diagram or have Paul comment.  I'd imagine though as the fader gain stage can only provide 20db of gain that if you choose basic record mode such that the channel knobs act as trim control, then the gain is actually applied at the gain/trim stage providing access to the full 76db of gain.
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Offline Life In Rewind

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #250 on: May 12, 2017, 11:09:19 AM »
Is the recording captured pre or post fader?

Assuming post - but just curious as this seems to be a mixer first and recorder second.

Toggle-able?

Offline dpower

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #251 on: May 12, 2017, 11:18:03 AM »
Thank you, Todd. Your explanation makes things much clearer.

To summarize, the channel knobs can control preamp gain OR fader gain depending on how the MixPre is configured.

Thanks!

Offline Todd R

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #252 on: May 12, 2017, 11:34:37 AM »
Glad to help, esp as I spent a bunch of time trying to figure it out myself.  Didn't help that mixer folks speak a different language. What the hell is an ISO? International Standards Organization? (Got it now, of course.)
Mics: Microtech Gefell m20/m21 (nbob/pfa actives), Line Audio CM3, Church CA-11 cards
Preamp:  none <sniff>
Recorders:  Sound Devices MixPre-6, Sony PCM-M10, Zoom H4nPro

Offline dpower

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #253 on: May 12, 2017, 11:44:21 AM »
It's always good fun trying to figure out how hardware works before anyone's actually had a device in their hands. We're all pounding away at user guides, speculation, and common sense. Thankfully, Paul Isaacs hangs out here.

Offline voltronic

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Re: Sound Devices New MixPre Series
« Reply #254 on: May 12, 2017, 09:09:15 PM »
On a laptop with no headphones at the moment, but here's the first recording of these I've seen posted.  Look who is on piano:
https://www.facebook.com/sounddevices/videos/10155309408816764/
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