Topic: New Sound Devices MixPre II-series coming?

[Gordon]

Spotted this on FB today. Posted byPaul Isaacs of SD...

You may be interested to know that Wave Agent WILL import, edit, and split 32 bit float files now BUT it will NOT playback 32-bit float audio.

I saw that I tried it with a 4 channel 32bit poly. While it did combine and split the resulting files were nothing but distortion with a square wave form.  Same file split with iZotope was fine. Will post screen shot when I get back from Thanksgiving...

[rick.lang]

The latest version of Wave Agent 1.20 says that it does not support 32-bit float audio.  Also will not run on macOS 10.15 Catalina.

[Gordon]

The latest version of Wave Agent 1.20 says that it does not support 32-bit float audio.  Also will not run on macOS 10.15 Catalina.

right but Paul Isaacs who works for SD posted the above quote.  He followed it up with this....

Generally we prefer not to make official statements on our website until things are 100% fully supported.

But as I said it did not work for me properly.  Here is the file (same one in both pics).....

first 32bit float split and combined with wave agent and the second done in izotope....

[shijan]

Earlier i described strange problem with headphones output here https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=189692.msg2314998#msg2314998

So today i got replacement package. I really i appreciate for SoundDevices support.
I updated new device to firmware v5.01 and tested things again. Unfortunately i got the same results as before
This time i done more scientific test with fixed frequency audio files. When i playback those test files from computer and increase MixPre-3II headphones volume, starting from some fixed value i can hear additional parasitic frequency noise layer. This happens in volume range of 45-65 and depends of headphones Impedance. (Tested with headphones: AKG K272HD, MEE M6 PRO, old basic Apple Earphones)

Here is a link to test audio files https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7idet23874sbc8/test_audio.zip?dl=0
I really hope it is not a build-in headphones preamp limitation and hope SoundDevices could find a way how to fix this problem.

[shijan]

Here is video example of that parasitic noise layer that appears starting from headphones volume 58 when use AKG k272HD headphones.
MixPre3II connected as sound card to computer. 40_Hz_-6dB.wav played back from computer.
Headphones connected to MixPre3II headphones out. I put headphones very close to smartphone microphone during recording to record that sound.

https://youtu.be/U2iDKTKM6dE

UPDATE. I played back file from computer and also uploaded file to MixPre3II file system and play it back from there. USB powered or battery powered all exact the same. No any changes in noise sound.

I also found that in addition to headphones impedance, parasitic noise appears at different volume depending of different sound frequency:

40_Hz_-6dB.wav start to produce noise starting from headphones volume 58
100_Hz_-6dB.wav start to produce noise starting from headphones volume 62

Also today i had quick attempt to timecode jam MixPre3II with BMMCC. I still not sure if i do things right, but it seems it don't do nothing. I can not see same time indicated on the BMMCC screen. Should it show same time numbers as MixPre3II freerun when jammed?
I switched on timecode input in BMMCC settings, switched to BMMCC audio input to line in, volume set to 100%, switched both devices to same framerate. Have no idea what else i can do. Maybe timecode also somehow related to problem with headphones out? I don't know...

UPD. It appears that timecode is limitation of BMMCC itself. It can't Jam synk timecode. it can only record timecode to audio track when cable is connected.

[dogmusic]

Apparently the preamps in the MixPre series I and II are identical but is the AD conversion in series II superior?

[Chuck]

Bravo for approved media list!

the 32GB sandisk pro card (as well as its micro counterpart) was the most reliable in my testing

the 64 and 128GB sandisk card (and, well, every single other 64 and 128GB card i tested) ultimately failed

in general even cheap 32GB cards worked more reliably than

I would venture to guess that 95% of TS users havent seen or ever heard of Integral, Amplim, Freetail, and Wise brands, i heard of Wise and Integral from other TS users (and i think Wise was recommended to that user by Sound Devices.) As Integral is almost impossible to find in US, and the other 3 are considerably more expensive than average cards,unfortunately i dont see a large data pool of user data developing from these

Only by sheer luck did I happen to buy the 32GB Sandisk Pro card when I got my MixPre 6. It's the only card I've used and I've had no problems with it.

[dogmusic]

Is there anyone who used the MixPre Series i but now has a Series ii unit? I wanted to know if you hear any difference in quality of the recordings (in 24bit not in 32bit float).

I know the Kashmir preamps are identical in both series, but since the series ii has a different A/D converter configuration, I wondered if there was a difference in sound as a result.

I have a MixPre 6 original and am attracted to 32bit float for field recordings, so thinking of trading up. However I find the Kashmir preamps, although quiet, clean and smooth, a bit less defined for nature sounds and sound effects than what I can get from my SD USBPRE2.

Does anyone notice a change in the second series?

[dallman]

Is there anyone who used the MixPre Series i but now has a Series ii unit? I wanted to know if you hear any difference in quality of the recordings (in 24bit not in 32bit float).

I know the Kashmir preamps are identical in both series, but since the series ii has a different A/D converter configuration, I wondered if there was a difference in sound as a result.

I have a MixPre 6 original and am attracted to 32bit float for field recordings, so thinking of trading up. However I find the Kashmir preamps, although quiet, clean and smooth, a bit less defined for nature sounds and sound effects than what I can get from my SD USBPRE2.

Does anyone notice a change in the second series?

I have not noticed a difference at all, but I also have not used 24 bit, only 32 bit. I know the limiters are more adjustable on the MP6 II, but as they are not available or necessary at 32 bit I have not tried them out. Being analog limiters I did have them armed on my original MP6 deck. Would I set them differently and would that make a difference in sound quality? Hard to speculate.

[dogmusic]

Is there anyone who used the MixPre Series i but now has a Series ii unit? I wanted to know if you hear any difference in quality of the recordings (in 24bit not in 32bit float).

I know the Kashmir preamps are identical in both series, but since the series ii has a different A/D converter configuration, I wondered if there was a difference in sound as a result.

I have a MixPre 6 original and am attracted to 32bit float for field recordings, so thinking of trading up. However I find the Kashmir preamps, although quiet, clean and smooth, a bit less defined for nature sounds and sound effects than what I can get from my SD USBPRE2.

Does anyone notice a change in the second series?

I have not noticed a difference at all, but I also have not used 24 bit, only 32 bit. I know the limiters are more adjustable on the MP6 II, but as they are not available or necessary at 32 bit I have not tried them out. Being analog limiters I did have them armed on my original MP6 deck. Would I set them differently and would that make a difference in sound quality? Hard to speculate.

Thanks for that feedback. I wondered if the new AD converters might affect the quality of the recordings even at 24bit. They would be newer and there are more of them.

[shijan]

Can't compare to MixPre3 first gen, but i can report that even in 24 bit mode MixPre3II preamps produce less self noise than original two channel MixPre preamp connected to MixPre3II line-in. Also noise structure itself sounds different. MixPre3II preamps have less high frequency noise. It sounds less like ssssss. More like bassy hhhhh noise sound.

[jerryfreak]

prob because old mixpre is transformer based, its a totally different sound

[Popmarter]

Quick question here, I got the unit now for a few days.

Trying to figure out the 'tapermode' that suits me the best. (2x mics 48p). From what it looks I think I end up with having channel 1-2 linked and use the front knob #1 as the knob to set gain. Correct me if I am wrong, but in that case knob #2 needs to be in C all the time right? There is no way to switch it off or anything? In sneaky mode I am afraid of this knob being moved. Is ducktape the only solution for this?

[dogmusic]

Quick question here, I got the unit now for a few days.

Trying to figure out the 'tapermode' that suits me the best. (2x mics 48p). From what it looks I think I end up with having channel 1-2 linked and use the front knob #1 as the knob to set gain. Correct me if I am wrong, but in that case knob #2 needs to be in C all the time right? There is no way to switch it off or anything? In sneaky mode I am afraid of this knob being moved. Is ducktape the only solution for this?

Others will correct me if this is wrong, but I think once you link the channels, moving knob #2 has no effect on level.

[Popmarter]

Quick question here, I got the unit now for a few days.

Trying to figure out the 'tapermode' that suits me the best. (2x mics 48p). From what it looks I think I end up with having channel 1-2 linked and use the front knob #1 as the knob to set gain. Correct me if I am wrong, but in that case knob #2 needs to be in C all the time right? There is no way to switch it off or anything? In sneaky mode I am afraid of this knob being moved. Is ducktape the only solution for this?

Others will correct me if this is wrong, but I think once you link the channels, moving knob #2 has no effect on level.

Correct, but it has effect on the balance (left, center, right). Atleast how I have set this at the moment