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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: AdamHuston on April 17, 2015, 09:49:43 PM
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So I recently bought Ryan's Busman active setup in the yard sale and am still kicking around the idea of putting a preamp into the mix. I wish I had the money to snag his V3 also but it's just not gonna happen right now. I've got a budget of about $500 to work with. I will be running this setup for the summer and I think I'll leave the BSC1's alone with the DR-680. I've been happy with the results. But let me hear your 2 cents on what I should add for a preamp with the actives.
Busman BSC1's > DR-680 + Busman Actives > ???? > DR-680
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Get your 680 modded by Busman. Everything will be very complimentary of each other. Plus you will come in under your budget.
Barrett
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^ agreed.
Also, if you can get someone to part with their LittleBox, I think it pairs up nicely with Busman actives.
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What's the turn around time from Chris on this?
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He got mine in and out in less than 2 weeks. Very prompt. Send him an e-mail to get the ball rolling, ask him then about turn around time. Well worth it! I love the sound of my 680 now. Plus you can run 4 mics and still have 4 channels to play with. Grab a digi cable and patch off of others for different flavors. All you need is more HD space and bigger cards, why not!
Barrett
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That's not bad at all. It'd give me an opportunity to send the BSC1's down to get checked out too. Not that they need it but it'd be more for my peace of mind
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I used to run BSC2s>Littlebox and I always liked the sound of that combo :)
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Personally, I'd save your $500 and get another $300-400 together for the V3. That will allow you to run the last 2 channels (giving you the full 8).
This gives you the option to record:
1. Busman mics > V3 > Digi in on the 680 (Ch 7+8)
2. Stereo SBD feed (Ch 1+2)
3. 4 more individual channels from the SBD or 2 more individual channels from the board + on 2 on stage mics fed through the snake (Ch 3,4,5,6). I'll usually pick up whatever vocal channels I can get on the individual channels from the board. If the venue (and artist) is cool (many are) you can put 2 more mics on the stage. I've sometimes been happy with just the on stage mics + SBD feed and never even used the audience source.
I think the pre-amp in the 680 sounds fine. The Busman mod will make it sound better, but not as good as the V3. You can make some great recordings with what you have now, but the V3 gives you the option to use all 8 channels.
Obviously the downside to the V3 is a bigger bag. If you want to keep it small you can still make some sick recordings with just 6 channels.
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Buy my V3 and keep it in the community! ;D
Seriously though, both of my suggestions have already been noted here. I would either get the Busman mod on the 680, or grab a littlebox.
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I also agree with you that the pre's in the 680 sound fine. I've been very happy with how they perform. Now I guess the question is V3 or littlebox ;D
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Now I guess the question is V3 or littlebox
Never a question of 'or'. It should be a question of "How can I get a V3 AND a Littlebox" ;D
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What about the Audioroot Femto? I searched the site and it doesn't appear that anyone has tried it with Busmans. I've also considered a Sound Devices Mixpre? My problem is V3 out of my price range and Littlebox's are probably not gonna come up for sale to often.
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I'd go with something with a digi out so you can run all 8 channels if needed on the 680. A sound devices usbpre2 I think would be your best bet if you can't afford the V3. The Mixpre-d only has AES out and doesn't play nice with all recorders
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The Sound Devices preamps (USBPre2 and MixPre series) are all excellent boxes but there are a few things to consider. If the used V3's that regularly come up for sale are too expensive for your budget then the SD boxes are likely to be as well, even used. As jbell pointed out, you will also require a preamp with digital out if you want to run 8 channels on the DR-680, which would take the older MixPre (the non-D), Audioroot Femto, and Little/Tinybox out of the running. And while I believe that the USBPre2's S/PDIF output plays nice with the DR-680's digi-in, the MixPre-D utilizes AES and I think there's been some grumbling that it doesn't always digitally lock with the DR-680. YMMV.
To echo what a few other folks have been saying, the DR-680's pres are very nice and I'm not sure running another preamp, analog in, is really necessary. Might as well maximize the number of channels you can run on the Tascam if you're going to spend money on an external preamp. Just my .02.
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I love the busman Littlebox with output transformers combo a lot. It just is as clean and toasty sound, they are tricky to find now though
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I would also suggest the Shure FP24 or the older Sound Devices Mixpre's as suggested. Both of these can be had for reasonable prices, are compact, built like a tank & sound very good. I power mine off of rechargeable batteries & average around 6 hours on the pair.
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I've been watching eBay the last month for a sound devices mixpre or shure but when they come up on there they are to much in my opinion. Maybe one will pop up in the yard sale at some point.