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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: hardpan on June 28, 2018, 09:48:41 AM
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Hey everyone. I'm looking for some advice on which recorder to buy a my first. I was initially looking at the Roland R-07, along with Church CA-14s and either battery box or his small preamp, in order to record stealth in the occasional cases I would need to. The band I plan on recording has an open taping policy, so I won't really have to stealth too often. That said, I recently found a set of Nakamichi CM-300s with CP-1, 2 and 4 capsules, at the advice of a taper I was talking to who used these microphones for his entire time recording the Grateful Dead. Having said that, I am looking for advice on a recorder. The Roland along with Church preamp would run me around 400 bucks. For a little more money, I could get something like the Sound Devices Mixpre-3 or Zoom F4. As I understand it, these have preamps built in, and I would imagine would allow me to make better recordings once I learn how to operate them. What would you guys recommend?
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What's your budget?
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Sort of right around the price of the mixpre3 and zoom f4. I was at around 400 with the Roland and preamp, so another 150 could get me one of these or maybe something else if you have any recommendations. Figure 500-550.
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Sort of right around the price of the mixpre3 and zoom f4. I was at around 400 with the Roland and preamp, so another 150 could get me one of these or maybe something else if you have any recommendations. Figure 500-550.
The truth is as your learning curve grows you can make excellent recordings with either the MixPre3, Zoom f4, or the Roland R-07. That said, without >:D being a factor, I'd lean heavily toward the MixPre3. It gives you mic in and line in via XLR and also via 1/8 input which give you great flexibility as you grow your mic collection. Chances are if you like the hobby, you will add mics somewhere down the road. The MixPre3 has many options and is a very nice tool to learn on. If you are looking for a definitive answer, there is none, as there are many excellent decks on the market today.
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MixPre-3 can't do a pair of mics plus stereo soundboard feed simultaneously though right?
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This is a sick rig for what you want to do. Right in your price range.
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=186928.0
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Did you already buy the naks?
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Did you already buy the naks?
Yes I did, should get them in a couple days.
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That said, without >:D being a factor, I'd lean heavily toward the MixPre3.
Actually, the mixpre-3 is small enough to be used in many stealth situations.
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MixPre-3 can't do a pair of mics plus stereo soundboard feed simultaneously though right?
The OP didn't specify anything more than a 2 mic setup which the MixPre3 will do. The F4 would be the only 4 channel out of the 3 decks mentioned but that was not a factor in the OP's post.
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Also trying to figure out what would be better for my application, the mixpre 3 or 3m. The biggest thing going for me for the 3 is that I could control it with my phone, would be nice. But the 3m is a hundred bucks less.
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MixPre-3 can't do a pair of mics plus stereo soundboard feed simultaneously though right?
The OP didn't specify anything more than a 2 mic setup which the MixPre3 will do. The F4 would be the only 4 channel out of the 3 decks mentioned but that was not a factor in the OP's post.
You're right...and looking back at the original post it seems he would like something to also use stealth which pretty much rules out the F4 (of course it is POSSIBLE, but not ideal). If two/three channels is sufficient, and the MixPre-3 falls within budget, that seems like a no-brainer.
Of course, using the CA14 mics he'd still likely need a separate battery box or preamp with either the MixPre-3 or F4. In that case maybe, just maybe, it would make sense to get an even smaller recorder like an M10, R-05, or R-07, and use a separate preamp or battery box as the situation dictates.
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Also trying to figure out what would be better for my application, the mixpre 3 or 3m. The biggest thing going for me for the 3 is that I could control it with my phone, would be nice. But the 3m is a hundred bucks less.
I have given up on using bluetooth control from a phone on my Mixpre6 until the software is updated. There is no way to lock it on hold during recording, so the app brings up one more STOP button that I could hit by accident. Not worth it.
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MixPre-3 can't do a pair of mics plus stereo soundboard feed simultaneously though right?
The OP didn't specify anything more than a 2 mic setup which the MixPre3 will do. The F4 would be the only 4 channel out of the 3 decks mentioned but that was not a factor in the OP's post.
You're right...and looking back at the original post it seems he would like something to also use stealth which pretty much rules out the F4 (of course it is POSSIBLE, but not ideal). If two/three channels is sufficient, and the MixPre-3 falls within budget, that seems like a no-brainer.
Of course, using the CA14 mics he'd still likely need a separate battery box or preamp with either the MixPre-3 or F4. In that case maybe, just maybe, it would make sense to get an even smaller recorder like an M10, R-05, or R-07, and use a separate preamp or battery box as the situation dictates.
I think for the time being, I am abandoning the stealth idea. The band I plan on recording allows open recording, and I'm getting the nakamichi 300 mics, so I plan on trying to learn recording openly. Also trying to figure out what would be better for my application, the mixpre 3 or 3m. The biggest thing going for me for the 3 is that I could control it with my phone, would be nice. But the 3m is a hundred bucks less.
I have given up on using bluetooth control from a phone on my Mixpre6 until the software is updated. There is no way to lock it on hold during recording, so the app brings up one more STOP button that I could hit by accident. Not worth it.
Thanks for the heads up on that! I may end up going with the 3M.
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If your plan doesn't involve stealth, why not get a four channel recorder so you can get a soundboard feed in addition to your mics? There are plenty of good options...Zoom F4, MixPre-6, several Tascams, Marantz, etc.
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If your plan doesn't involve stealth, why not get a four channel recorder so you can get a soundboard feed in addition to your mics?
Yeah, if you are gonna be taping openly with permission you may as well learn to do 4ch!?
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If your plan doesn't involve stealth, why not get a four channel recorder so you can get a soundboard feed in addition to your mics?
Yeah, if you are gonna be taping openly with permission you may as well learn to do 4ch!?
If your plan doesn't involve stealth, why not get a four channel recorder so you can get a soundboard feed in addition to your mics? There are plenty of good options...Zoom F4, MixPre-6, several Tascams, Marantz, etc.
The only band I plan on taping is Dark Star Orchestra, and they only allow audience recording, no soundboard feeds. I like the price range of the 3m and zoom f4.
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Always used to listen to soundboards, but I really have fallen in love with the magnificent sound quality of some of the Grateful Dead audience recordings, and I would love to try to learn how to do it with DSO. Have heard some really good audience recordings done of them, and I think I would enjoy taping.
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I know what you mean about the sound of a great audience recording. If that's what you're after, this is a rabbit hole you may find very rewarding: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=184876.0
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I would go with a 4 channel recorder to be safe!! You only plan on recording DSO, but if you really get bitten by the bug you might want to record other SBD friendly bands or maybe want to run 2 sets of mics.
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I would go with a 4 channel recorder to be safe!! You only plan on recording DSO, but if you really get bitten by the bug you might want to record other SBD friendly bands or maybe want to run 2 sets of mics.
This. I commonly run two pairs of Mics (and a soundboard feed if I can get one), and then mix to taste. Sometimes I like hypers better than cards, and sometimes not.
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That said, without >:D being a factor, I'd lean heavily toward the MixPre3.
Actually, the mixpre-3 is small enough to be used in many stealth situations.
Even an ardent F4 fan like myself will admit the MixPre3 is truly astonishingly small! I highly recommend seeing it in person if you can.
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No hold button right? Will the mixpre allow mic in phantom off via the 1/8 when running mics>baby nbox?
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Thanks for everyone's advice. I was really leaning toward the mixpre3m for the price, and that it just generally seemed like a high quality and brand new on the market device. Tiny and cool looking too. Con that it didn't have Bluetooth control and I didn't really want to spend the extra hundred bucks to get it with the mixpre 3, and still only have three inputs in case I do indeed want to run a second set of mics or whatever. Wound up finding a good price on a Zoom F8 this morning and snapped it up, so I am really excited to get out and start recording. Seems like a really nice recorder, lots of inputs, Bluetooth control, quality reviews. Gotta figure out cables, a Mic bar and a stand and I'll be ready to go. Any advice on any of that stuff would be appreciated, unless I should move that over to the other portion of the forums.
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Nice! What did you pay for the F8?
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No hold button right? Will the mixpre allow mic in phantom off via the 1/8 when running mics>baby nbox?
Nick made me a mini xlr > xlr's just for this. Go mic in, no P48 on mixpre3 channels 1&2 Sounds perfect.