Topic: Sound Devices MixPre-3 and 6, Part 5

[morst]

Has anyone found a protector for the touch screen?  That could be useful.

When I bought mine from SOS he had one on it.  Maybe he can chime in with what he used.

The screen is a little bit curved, so it is slightly convex. Regular screen protectors from mobile phones work fine if you cut them to size. They will only stick in the middle but you can click the screen right through them out to the corners.
I have found a three-pack of screen protectors from discontinued units like iPhone 3 or 4 for $1, shipped, on ebay. Cut to size and apply to the MP screen.

[zorba]

Is it possible to record a standard stereo wav file? Recording with 2 mics and disabling the stereo mix (or disabling iso tracks) the result is a stereo wave file?

[dogmusic]

Is it possible to record a standard stereo wav file? Recording with 2 mics and disabling the stereo mix (or disabling iso tracks) the result is a stereo wave file?

Yes.

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Is it possible to record a standard stereo wav file? Recording with 2 mics and disabling the stereo mix (or disabling iso tracks) the result is a stereo wave file?

If you disable all but 1 pair of tracks you will get a standard WAV file so you won't have to use WaveAgent to split your files.

[IronFilm]

Mine also vary by a bit

What I meant was that they do not have the same physical position although they are set to the same numerical value.
They all have a slightly different position at any given value except at lowest or highest.

They are off a hair.
Which means I can not look at them and trust their physical relationship to each other. And is forced to nudge them to get the true numerical relationship.

It’s annoying and I believe they should not be that way.

Does anybody know the reason yet? As this seems odd, is it just poor quality control on their cheaper units?

[borjam]

Does anybody know the reason yet? As this seems odd, is it just poor quality control on their cheaper units?

My Mixpre 3 aligns pretty well, although I keep gain in "basic" mode (which means the dB range is in the 90's) and there can be a 2 dB variation between apparently, almost equal positions. The faders are physically very small anyway which doesn't help accuracy.

Can it be some variation in one encoder? I think the knobs are not potentiometers, but encoders. I would be worried if there were "jumps" in the dB range. But as long as it's continuous it shouldn't matter much.

That said: if you need perfect alignment between two tracks you must link them so that a single knob will do the job ang guarantee matched gains. And if you are mixing on the spot your ears and maybe metering will tell you what you are doing, not the numerical dB levels.

[Chuck]

The Plug In Power provided by 3.5mm input 5/6 on MP-6. Is that robust enough to power electrets like the Church, Audix CPS-MICRO and Nakamichi mics without distortion at loud concerts? I've successfully used that 1/8" input with PIP turn off and a 9v battery box powering the mics.

The spec on the MP-6 is:

Mic 3.5mm: 3V @ 3k source Z

I assume 3v isn't enough?

[checht]

I assume 3v isn't enough?

Chris confirmed its not enough for his mics.

[Chuck]

I assume 3v isn't enough?

Chris confirmed it's not enough for his mics.

Thank you checht.

[junkyardt]

yeah, not sure why they bothered adding 3v PIP to the aux in jack. seems like given how much power the unit requires in the first place and the fact that it can do 48v phantom on 4 channels, it wouldn't have been a big deal to make the aux in jack capable of 9v PIP, which would've been much more useful for many different types of mics. i've just been using it with PIP turned off and using my 9v batt box.

[junkyardt]

had the mixpre-6 running in my closed camera bag at an outdoor show last night on a really hot, humid night. was recording 4 channels and phantom powering 2. between sets i checked and the mixpre seemed unreasonably hot. like, almost so hot i didn't want to hold it for extended periods. changed the arrangement of the top cover of my bag so that everything was still mostly covered in case of people sloshing beer but that air could now vent a little to let some heat escape, and it didn't get nearly as hot in the next set. could just be a one-off problem i won't encounter again that the ambient air temp on such a hot, humid night was much hotter than at an average indoor show. still, has anyone else encountered this?

[Chuck]

had the mixpre-6 running in my closed camera bag at an outdoor show last night on a really hot, humid night. was recording 4 channels and phantom powering 2. between sets i checked and the mixpre seemed unreasonably hot. like, almost so hot i didn't want to hold it for extended periods. changed the arrangement of the top cover of my bag so that everything was still mostly covered in case of people sloshing beer but that air could now vent a little to let some heat escape, and it didn't get nearly as hot in the next set. could just be a one-off problem i won't encounter again that the ambient air temp on such a hot, humid night was much hotter than at an average indoor show. still, has anyone else encountered this?

I did with my DR-680! Not with the MixPre though.

[borjam]

I have noticed mine (MixPre-3) getting quite hot while recording birds in Summer, of course with the recorder in a camera bag.

Anyway I wouldn't worry much, I imagine that Sound Devices design their equipment considering that it will be inside a bag.

[jcable77]

Just got my mix pre 6 today. Only had a few minutes before work to mess with it. Im guessing Ill have a few questions. Just ordered this for pickup tomorrow with an A>C cable. Anyone use this?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/anker-powercore-20000-mah-portable-charger-for-most-usb-enabled-devices-black/5948567.p?skuId=5948567&cmp=RMX&extStoreId=536&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1255843&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiJncBRC1ARIsAOvG-a7DpqqShnIKRCBHyDEjbYb79cGtdsukqFNVSFF3JgnZd0Anb9nRl2gaAuIGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Also was going to go with my lowe pro nova 140 bag but that seem a bit big, although with 4 channels of cables and mics it will probably be a good fit. I dont want to be the lazy one, as ive already got a great deal of info from these threads, but has anyone put together a settings link or spreadsheet of some sort for situational presets for this thing yet? The thing is tiny! Im excited to try it out friday.

[relefunt]

Just got my mix pre 6 today. Only had a few minutes before work to mess with it. Im guessing Ill have a few questions. Just ordered this for pickup tomorrow with an A>C cable. Anyone use this?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/anker-powercore-20000-mah-portable-charger-for-most-usb-enabled-devices-black/5948567.p?skuId=5948567&cmp=RMX&extStoreId=536&ref=212&loc=1&ds_rl=1255843&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiJncBRC1ARIsAOvG-a7DpqqShnIKRCBHyDEjbYb79cGtdsukqFNVSFF3JgnZd0Anb9nRl2gaAuIGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Also was going to go with my lowe pro nova 140 bag but that seem a bit big, although with 4 channels of cables and mics it will probably be a good fit. I dont want to be the lazy one, as ive already got a great deal of info from these threads, but has anyone put together a settings link or spreadsheet of some sort for situational presets for this thing yet? The thing is tiny! Im excited to try it out friday.

I’m not an expert, but I have read a LOT of posts in these threads about people having problems with powering their MixPre3-6’s with various USB-A batteries. The last I looked, Sound Devices was very particular about which batteries these units can utilize so I bought the exact USB-C portable battery which Sound Devices recommends on their website. I personally did not want to take a chance, despite there seeming to be some people who said their battery worked.

https://www.sounddevices.com/tech-notes/mixpre-3-mixpre-6-powering-options