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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: HealthCov Chris on May 01, 2017, 11:55:54 AM

Title: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: HealthCov Chris on May 01, 2017, 11:55:54 AM
Given the new MixPre series, is there any advantages to buying a MixPre-D or USBPre2?  Seams like they may be obsolete for our purposes now.
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: HealthCov Chris on May 02, 2017, 02:31:45 AM
touchy subject?!
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: drewloo on May 02, 2017, 07:14:33 AM
Apples and oranges, really.  They both do different things that the new mixpre units don't, and we haven't even heard the new units yet.  Perhaps a better comparison might be w/ the 702/722/744.  Except for some accessories, like the DVD drive, IMO if it says "Sound Devices" and still works then it ain't obsolete.   ;)
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: HealthCov Chris on May 02, 2017, 11:59:43 AM
Apples and oranges, really.  They both do different things that the new mixpre units don't, and we haven't even heard the new units yet.  Perhaps a better comparison might be w/ the 702/722/744.  Except for some accessories, like the DVD drive, IMO if it says "Sound Devices" and still works then it ain't obsolete.   ;)

Ok.  Well, I'm just considering some sort of upgrade or addition to my current rig.  I have been considering a USBPre2 for awhile.  Obviously, it has 2-channels, where as, the MixPre-3 has 3 channels, is smaller, records, and costs less $.  I guess I'll wait awhile until there is real world experience of the new machines.
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: Bruce Watson on May 02, 2017, 04:47:08 PM
Given the new MixPre series, is there any advantages to buying a MixPre-D or USBPre2?  Seams like they may be obsolete for our purposes now.

Too different to compare really. The MixPre-D is aimed at dialog recordists who need a good mixer. And it is a excellent mixer. I use mine to feed my camera directly basically shutting down the nasty mic preamps in the camera. The MixPre-D works beautifully for this duty. The quality of the MixPre-D's micpres is (way way) beyond any camera I've ever come across, the analog limiters are amazingly good, and the meters are excellent (even if they are showing you dBu and not dBFS like the new MixPre-3/6 boxes). Everything a dialog person needs. Clearly not aimed at music, let alone tapers.

The new boxes are not just mixers, but full fledged recorders. As such they aren't really designed to feed a mix to a camera, they are designed to record the mix themselves. This is a completely different ball of wax. And something that would be much more interesting to a taper.

As to what the new MixPre-3/6 sounds like for music recording, I'd be willing to say that they sound at least as good as the MixPre-D, and probably better than any of the 7xx recorders. But we really won't know until someone does some comparisons with a 788T will we?

I'm thinking they really aren't targeted at the 788T crowd anyway. More at the Zoom F4/8 crowd. And I think they will sound better than the Zoom boxen. But perhaps not by as much as people might think. Again, we won't know without some comparisons, and I'm sure there are comparisons coming. There always are.  :lol:
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: Chilly Brioschi on May 02, 2017, 08:39:13 PM
I think I need to hear that limiter curve in action before I like / dislike / buy it.

Mediocre limiters have been the bane of field recordings since they were first included on portables.

My guess is that from this lineage, there is a great chance that it will be outstanding.
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: F.O.Bean on May 11, 2017, 07:41:40 PM
I certainly have HIGH hopes for the new MixPre6! As long as the nice, big gain knobs are "post-fade" instead of "pre-fade", and they control gain at the recorder end, I'll be buying one soon hopefully to test out as my new main deck! The MixPre6 is about as small as the 70D, and I have honestly been dreaming about a small, SD version of the 70D, which is the MixPre6 IMO 8)

I used to run an SD 722, and it was BY FAR the nicest deck/all-in-one I've EVER had/owned. I have been thinking for awhile now that I WISHED that SD would come out with something new/cheaper than the 7xx units, as well as updated mic preamps, since the 702/722/744 have been out since 2005, so 12 years old! LOTS has happened technology-wise in that area in the last 12 years, so I'm REALLY hoping that the new MixPre 3/6 are an SD 7xx killer ;D I guess only time will tell!

I might even sell my VMS02IB and just run 4 Channels of 60v PFA's->MixPre6, if the preamps are good enough :) And if anyone can point me in the direction of SD updating the MixPre6 FW allowing the gain knobs on the front of the deck to be used "post-fade", I'd really appreciate it! I just don't feel like reading through all of those posts again!
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: waltmon on June 01, 2017, 04:50:28 PM
Bean - what do you mean by post fade?
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: DSatz on June 11, 2017, 01:53:30 PM
waltmon, the issue is whether the knobs control the input to the whole recording process, or just the output that feeds the headphone circuit.

Typically a professional mixer will let you switch the headphones between "pre-fade" and "post-fade" listening, so that you can (a) make sure that a signal is coming in to the mixer on a given channel at all (= pre-fade), but also (b) note the contribtion what that input is making to the total mix (= post-fade). Without that, the only way to check if a given input is working is to turn the fader down and back up, or up and back down, either one of which can spoil the recording.

"Fade" in this parlance is short for "fader" which is simply any kind of level control, be it linear or knob-like.
Title: Re: New MixPre vs ?
Post by: waltmon on June 11, 2017, 03:34:32 PM
Thanks for that detailed response...clears my fog considerably :)