Become a Site Supporter and Never see Ads again!

Author Topic: First Outing with SD Mixpre-6 II (with Poly Wav)-now what to do with everything?  (Read 3099 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline adrianf74

  • Trade Count: (10)
  • Taperssection Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 659
  • Gender: Male
I've had my MP-6 II sitting on a shelf since June/July and was finally able to dust it off last night for a small show with 50 people. 

Despite some of the newb issues involved during the opening act (including forgetting the Baby nBox uses MIC IN and not LINE IN after wondering why the levels were so low), I've got some poly wav files to play with. Had the machine do safety copies to a USB drive which I've since copied to my Windows 10 PC.   I've dug around a little but can't find anything definitive so I'll ask for some input here.

As I had board access, it made sense to record in 32-Bit Float but then noticed the exported files separated by Wave Agent Beta had static in them.  I've since read that it doesn't support 32-Bit Float which doesn't quite help me. 

Questions:

A. (not post-processing but will ask here): Can I tell the MP-6 II to *NOT* record the Stereo Mix?  I have no need for this since, in our purposes, there'll always been a delay between the soundboard and the room sound so this is simply wasting space/time.

1. Is there an easy way to extract the ISOs to Stereo Pairs?  In this example, I've got six channels of audio in the Poly WAV (Stereo Mix, 1-2 Audience, 3-4 Soundboard) or is it better to simply work with everything as Poly WAVs in Audition? 

2. What about archiving the files?  In the past, I used to create FLAC backups of everything but obviously FLAC doesn't like the Poly WAV files via Trader's Little Helper.  Next best practice or is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks everyone!
Camera: DJI Osmo Action 4 | Mics: (under construction) Line Audio CM3 | Decks: (under construction) | Power: (under construction)

Offline darby

  • Trade Count: (108)
  • Taperssection All-Star
  • ****
  • Posts: 1357
  • Support artists and venues that allow recording
I've had my MP-6 II sitting on a shelf since June/July and was finally able to dust it off last night for a small show with 50 people. 

Despite some of the newb issues involved during the opening act (including forgetting the Baby nBox uses MIC IN and not LINE IN after wondering why the levels were so low), I've got some poly wav files to play with. Had the machine do safety copies to a USB drive which I've since copied to my Windows 10 PC.   I've dug around a little but can't find anything definitive so I'll ask for some input here.

As I had board access, it made sense to record in 32-Bit Float but then noticed the exported files separated by Wave Agent Beta had static in them.  I've since read that it doesn't support 32-Bit Float which doesn't quite help me. 

Questions:

A. (not post-processing but will ask here): Can I tell the MP-6 II to *NOT* record the Stereo Mix?  I have no need for this since, in our purposes, there'll always been a delay between the soundboard and the room sound so this is simply wasting space/time.

1. Is there an easy way to extract the ISOs to Stereo Pairs?  In this example, I've got six channels of audio in the Poly WAV (Stereo Mix, 1-2 Audience, 3-4 Soundboard) or is it better to simply work with everything as Poly WAVs in Audition? 

2. What about archiving the files?  In the past, I used to create FLAC backups of everything but obviously FLAC doesn't like the Poly WAV files via Trader's Little Helper.  Next best practice or is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks everyone!

in answer to question A.

go to menu #2...
tap Record
tap Rec L,R
then tap Off and return HOME

I'll stay out of the next question...
Audacity even splits stereo pairs, there are a lot of options so I will let others chime in

the last question:
I still save a copy of my WAV files and started saving my cards since they are so inexpensive
I save (2) copies of my finished FLAC files as well

Offline relefunt

  • Trade Count: (10)
  • Taperssection Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 276
  • Gender: Male
  • kindfulness
    • Milwaukee Taper
To save as paired stereo tracks in Audacity, just open the poly wav, delete the 4 channels you don’t want, and export to a properly labeled wav file. Then do not save changes to the original poly wav file. Repeat times two.

The MixPre6 is my favorite piece of any kind of audio gear I have ever purchased. Enjoy it!
« Last Edit: September 27, 2021, 06:26:53 PM by relefunt »
AKG c414xls, Beyerdynamic MC930, Line Audio CM3 and OM1. Superluxe S502mk2
Sneaky: Church CA11+14, Audiotechnica AT853.
Preamps: Shure FP24, CA9200.
Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6, Roland R05, Sony M10.
my local taping blog: milwaukeetaper.com

Offline justink

  • Trade Count: (4)
  • Taperssection All-Star
  • ****
  • Posts: 1973
  • Gender: Male
I've had my MP-6 II sitting on a shelf since June/July and was finally able to dust it off last night for a small show with 50 people. 

Despite some of the newb issues involved during the opening act (including forgetting the Baby nBox uses MIC IN and not LINE IN after wondering why the levels were so low), I've got some poly wav files to play with. Had the machine do safety copies to a USB drive which I've since copied to my Windows 10 PC.   I've dug around a little but can't find anything definitive so I'll ask for some input here.

As I had board access, it made sense to record in 32-Bit Float but then noticed the exported files separated by Wave Agent Beta had static in them.  I've since read that it doesn't support 32-Bit Float which doesn't quite help me. 

Questions:

A. (not post-processing but will ask here): Can I tell the MP-6 II to *NOT* record the Stereo Mix?  I have no need for this since, in our purposes, there'll always been a delay between the soundboard and the room sound so this is simply wasting space/time.

1. Is there an easy way to extract the ISOs to Stereo Pairs?  In this example, I've got six channels of audio in the Poly WAV (Stereo Mix, 1-2 Audience, 3-4 Soundboard) or is it better to simply work with everything as Poly WAVs in Audition? 

2. What about archiving the files?  In the past, I used to create FLAC backups of everything but obviously FLAC doesn't like the Poly WAV files via Trader's Little Helper.  Next best practice or is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks everyone!

in answer to question A.

go to menu #2...
tap Record
tap Rec L,R
then tap Off and return HOME

I'll stay out of the next question...
Audacity even splits stereo pairs, there are a lot of options so I will let others chime in

the last question:
I still save a copy of my WAV files and started saving my cards since they are so inexpensive
I save (2) copies of my finished FLAC files as well

Piggy backing...

I record all channels as ISO files, then use Audacity to "stereo pair" my pair mics and sbd channels together.  Then I normalize and align.  Export to 24bit for raw archival FLACS (until another option like being able to FLAC 32bit float comes along). 

Then I mix and process for the final thing.



Mics:
DPA 4023 (Cardioid)
DPA 4028 (Subcardioid)
DPA 4018V (Supercardioid)
Earthworks TC25 (Omni) 

Pres and A/D's:
Grace Design Lunatec V3 (Oade ACM)
Edirol UA-5 (bm2p+ Mod)

Recorders:
Sound Devices MixPre10 II
Edirol R-44 (Oade CM)
Sony PCM‑M10

Offline morst

  • I think I found an error on the internet; #UnionStrong
  • Trade Count: (2)
  • Needs to get out more...
  • *****
  • Posts: 5950
I record all channels as ISO files, then use Audacity to "stereo pair" my pair mics and sbd channels together.  Then I normalize and align.  Export to 24bit for raw archival FLACS (until another option like being able to FLAC 32bit float comes along). 

Then I mix and process for the final thing.
That normalization step is not necessary and may be adding noise.
Adjust levels during mixing instead, would be my recommendation.
https://toad.social/@morst spoutible.com/morst post.news/@acffhmorst

Offline adrianf74

  • Trade Count: (10)
  • Taperssection Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 659
  • Gender: Male
Thanks everyone.  @Darby, thanks for the tip on remove the mix record (greatly appreciated).  @Everyone, it looks like best practice, for now, is to store the original Poly Wav files without compression (I've used FLAC for my 24-bit raw files in the past) and then adjust levels and export pairs as needed for post-processing and continue as I have in the past.

@relefunt, I'll agree with that. The MixPre-6 II is a beast and I'm glad I jumped on one (I picked up a gently used one -- used 3 times -- and have zero regrets).  The Zoom F4 I used to own was great but this is like comparing a fine wine to a boxed one.  :)

Cheers.

Camera: DJI Osmo Action 4 | Mics: (under construction) Line Audio CM3 | Decks: (under construction) | Power: (under construction)

 

RSS | Mobile
Page created in 0.059 seconds with 35 queries.
© 2002-2024 Taperssection.com
Powered by SMF