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Author Topic: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out  (Read 14774 times)

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Offline capnhook

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #30 on: December 20, 2018, 04:58:36 AM »
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YMMV, but this has been my experience.
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Offline Sebastian

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #31 on: December 20, 2018, 05:16:29 AM »
Yeah, well... To be honest I am a bit disappointed in SD. I recently bought a MixPre-6 and it arrived with a dead RTC battery. No big issue (besides the fact that it can't keep time), but I had to send the new unit in to SD after a week. The firmware doesn't seem to be the most stable, either. How they could miss this file splitting bug is just outside of my imagination - and I work in software engineering. Also, I find the different modes (basic, advanced, custom) to be extremely confusing. It just does not feel intuitive to set Gain to 'Advanced' vs. 'Basic'. Every time I come across one of these settings I have to google what it actually does. Having a setting to set the "Channel Knob" to "ISO Gain" would have been way more intuitive. I actually think the Zoom F8 is more intuitive than the MixPre. Currently, the only improvement the MixPre has over the F8 for me is its size, the possibility to power it from cheap USB batteries and the (hopefully) better preamps.

Offline dogmusic

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #32 on: December 20, 2018, 07:27:23 AM »
Yeah, well... To be honest I am a bit disappointed in SD. I recently bought a MixPre-6 and it arrived with a dead RTC battery. No big issue (besides the fact that it can't keep time), but I had to send the new unit in to SD after a week. The firmware doesn't seem to be the most stable, either. How they could miss this file splitting bug is just outside of my imagination - and I work in software engineering. Also, I find the different modes (basic, advanced, custom) to be extremely confusing. It just does not feel intuitive to set Gain to 'Advanced' vs. 'Basic'. Every time I come across one of these settings I have to google what it actually does. Having a setting to set the "Channel Knob" to "ISO Gain" would have been way more intuitive. I actually think the Zoom F8 is more intuitive than the MixPre. Currently, the only improvement the MixPre has over the F8 for me is its size, the possibility to power it from cheap USB batteries and the (hopefully) better preamps.

Also the analog limiters in the MixPre. Excellent!
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Offline Sebastian

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #33 on: December 20, 2018, 07:46:47 AM »
Also the analog limiters in the MixPre. Excellent!

It's nice that they're there, but to be honest, I usually set my levels so low they'll never kick in.

Offline rippleish20

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #34 on: December 20, 2018, 07:54:23 AM »
Yeah, well... To be honest I am a bit disappointed in SD. I recently bought a MixPre-6 and it arrived with a dead RTC battery. No big issue (besides the fact that it can't keep time), but I had to send the new unit in to SD after a week. The firmware doesn't seem to be the most stable, either. How they could miss this file splitting bug is just outside of my imagination - and I work in software engineering. Also, I find the different modes (basic, advanced, custom) to be extremely confusing. It just does not feel intuitive to set Gain to 'Advanced' vs. 'Basic'. Every time I come across one of these settings I have to google what it actually does. Having a setting to set the "Channel Knob" to "ISO Gain" would have been way more intuitive. I actually think the Zoom F8 is more intuitive than the MixPre. Currently, the only improvement the MixPre has over the F8 for me is its size, the possibility to power it from cheap USB batteries and the (hopefully) better preamps.


I agree. I owned a Zoom F8 and now several Mixpre-*'s. I like the size of the Mixpre and the quality of the recordings and I appreciate that SD has a long history of great products and support, but I find some of the design choice quite odd and their firmware updates have been quite shakey. Meanwhile, I've seen many disparagements of the Zoom products and yet the F series is quite good in my opinion and is a lot more logical design wise to me..
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Offline dogmusic

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #35 on: December 20, 2018, 08:48:14 AM »
Also the analog limiters in the MixPre. Excellent!

It's nice that they're there, but to be honest, I usually set my levels so low they'll never kick in.

No need to set them so low on the MP!

OTOH, the preamps are so quiet, you can even set them lower!

There are design choices on the MP’s I don’t like, i.e., no standard transport controls, not even virtual ones in the Wingman app. And the whole gain setup is clumsy (I don’t think there is actually any analog gain control).

It’s the preamps.
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Offline noahbickart

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #36 on: December 20, 2018, 10:33:05 AM »
the whole gain setup is clumsy (I don’t think there is actually any analog gain control).

I don't understand why Paul (or others) won't answer this question, which has been posed many times.

How does the gain work? When we use the knobs to adjust ISO gain, what is happening?
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Offline voltronic

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #37 on: December 20, 2018, 01:35:55 PM »
Also the analog limiters in the MixPre. Excellent!

It's nice that they're there, but to be honest, I usually set my levels so low they'll never kick in.

Agreed.  If limiters are engaging, I have done something very wrong.  Even good analog limiters are noticeable on music.  Limiters should only be used on dialogue / SFX recording, IMHO.
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Offline voltronic

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #38 on: December 20, 2018, 01:41:16 PM »
Yeah, well... To be honest I am a bit disappointed in SD. I recently bought a MixPre-6 and it arrived with a dead RTC battery. No big issue (besides the fact that it can't keep time), but I had to send the new unit in to SD after a week. The firmware doesn't seem to be the most stable, either. How they could miss this file splitting bug is just outside of my imagination - and I work in software engineering. Also, I find the different modes (basic, advanced, custom) to be extremely confusing. It just does not feel intuitive to set Gain to 'Advanced' vs. 'Basic'. Every time I come across one of these settings I have to google what it actually does. Having a setting to set the "Channel Knob" to "ISO Gain" would have been way more intuitive. I actually think the Zoom F8 is more intuitive than the MixPre. Currently, the only improvement the MixPre has over the F8 for me is its size, the possibility to power it from cheap USB batteries and the (hopefully) better preamps.


I agree. I owned a Zoom F8 and now several Mixpre-*'s. I like the size of the Mixpre and the quality of the recordings and I appreciate that SD has a long history of great products and support, but I find some of the design choice quite odd and their firmware updates have been quite shakey. Meanwhile, I've seen many disparagements of the Zoom products and yet the F series is quite good in my opinion and is a lot more logical design wise to me..

That's the stereotyping against products made in certain countries combined with the experience of some old Zoom recorders which had really lousy preamps.  It's outdated and needs to stop.  Judge the products for what they are.

There's a very respected pro engineer on another forum who refers to Zoom products in a derogatory way as "Chinesium".  Funny that he doesn't have the same disrespect towards Tascam, most of whose whose products are of arguably inferior build quality to the Zoom F series yet they get a pass being made in Japan.  Also, Nagra can do no wrong in his mind.
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Offline voltronic

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #39 on: December 20, 2018, 01:44:19 PM »
the whole gain setup is clumsy (I don’t think there is actually any analog gain control).

I don't understand why Paul (or others) won't answer this question, which has been posed many times.

How does the gain work? When we use the knobs to adjust ISO gain, what is happening?

Pay no attention to that man behind the [gain stage]!

Seriously, it would be very nice to know.  The knobs are ostensibly just digital encoders controlling an analog gain stage, but there are TWO gain stages, and it is not clear how they are working together.
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Offline aaronji

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #40 on: December 20, 2018, 05:18:07 PM »
It's nice that they're there, but to be honest, I usually set my levels so low they'll never kick in.

If you don't mind setting your levels conservatively, you should consider giving advanced mode a try.  It does require a little shift in mindset, but I have found it to work well and I think it is more straight-forward.  It's a little extra effort to change gain (channel knob > gain button > encoder knob), but can still be accomplished rapidly.  An added bonus is that bumping a front-panel knob won't change the ISO gain.

Agreed.  If limiters are engaging, I have done something very wrong.  Even good analog limiters are noticeable on music.  Limiters should only be used on dialogue / SFX recording, IMHO.

You have clearly never made an on-stage recording of Dave King!  The MixPre limiters are very transparent, in my experience (although I have never really slammed them), and they can save your butt in wildly dynamic situations like that...


Offline aaronji

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #41 on: December 20, 2018, 05:23:02 PM »
That's the stereotyping against products made in certain countries combined with the experience of some old Zoom recorders which had really lousy preamps.  It's outdated and needs to stop.  Judge the products for what they are.

There's a very respected pro engineer on another forum who refers to Zoom products in a derogatory way as "Chinesium".  Funny that he doesn't have the same disrespect towards Tascam, most of whose whose products are of arguably inferior build quality to the Zoom F series yet they get a pass being made in Japan.  Also, Nagra can do no wrong in his mind.

Although I have definitely seen this on other forums, I honestly don't remember anyone here doing that with respect to the F4/8.  Maybe some initial skepticism when they were released, but I consider those recorders to be well-regarded on ts.  Maybe there are posts I don't recall, but the general opinion is pretty good as far as I can tell.

Offline rippleish20

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #42 on: December 20, 2018, 05:53:08 PM »
That's the stereotyping against products made in certain countries combined with the experience of some old Zoom recorders which had really lousy preamps.  It's outdated and needs to stop.  Judge the products for what they are.

There's a very respected pro engineer on another forum who refers to Zoom products in a derogatory way as "Chinesium".  Funny that he doesn't have the same disrespect towards Tascam, most of whose whose products are of arguably inferior build quality to the Zoom F series yet they get a pass being made in Japan.  Also, Nagra can do no wrong in his mind.

Although I have definitely seen this on other forums, I honestly don't remember anyone here doing that with respect to the F4/8.  Maybe some initial skepticism when they were released, but I consider those recorders to be well-regarded on ts.  Maybe there are posts I don't recall, but the general opinion is pretty good as far as I can tell.

Actually Nak700 went on a little anti Zoom rant recently in this thread

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=186279.30

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Offline aaronji

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #43 on: December 21, 2018, 08:49:37 AM »
Actually Nak700 went on a little anti Zoom rant recently in this thread

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=186279.30

That's kind of the exception to the rule though, I think, and, to be fair, I didn't see any China-bashing in his posts.  Those posts were also made in the context of replying to one of the most irritatingly over-the-top product fluffers I have ever seen here, a guy who doesn't even have any interest in taping and only comes to prop Zoom.

Offline rippleish20

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Re: SD MixPre Series firmware v. 3.0 (and fix, v. 3.01) out
« Reply #44 on: December 21, 2018, 02:53:31 PM »
Actually Nak700 went on a little anti Zoom rant recently in this thread

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=186279.30

That's kind of the exception to the rule though, I think, and, to be fair, I didn't see any China-bashing in his posts.  Those posts were also made in the context of replying to one of the most irritatingly over-the-top product fluffers I have ever seen here, a guy who doesn't even have any interest in taping and only comes to prop Zoom.

I havent actually ever heard anyone china-bashing the Zoom (I think its Japanese anyways) but I have heard a couple of people bashing Zoom products in general, including the F series, primarily because they have traditionally produced cheaper, consumer level stuff versus prosumer or professional. In the above case, I was not aware of the persons over zealous Zoom promotion, which probably explains naks comments
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