Topic: Sound Devices USBPre 2

[jbell]

I grabbed a right angle optical cable of ebay recently for around $6 shipped!  Here is the seller I bought one from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Right-angle-toslink-mini-plug-digital-optical-cable-/230575723759?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35af6254ef

are there any comparisons between the usbpre2 and the 702/722 pre's out there?

I would love to hear this.

Im trying to decide between UsbPre2 > Bitbucket v.s. 702. From what I can tell It will cost me approx 350-500 more (depending on the route of bitbucket I go) If I go with the 702. However, If the UsbPre2 preamp is inferior to that of the 702 then it *may* be worth the extra.

havnt heard it, but I'm guessing is miniscule. I thought about a 702 to gang with my 722 for stuff and I've turned my attention just to the usbpre2>pcm-d50 combo for the same economic reasons.

I thought about the usbpre2>pcm-d50 option. The only question I have is, do they make a right angle Optical cable? I would be running the usbpre2 in a bag and it would be sitting on its back (where the optical out is located.

[page]

are there any comparisons between the usbpre2 and the 702/722 pre's out there?

I would love to hear this.

Im trying to decide between UsbPre2 > Bitbucket v.s. 702. From what I can tell It will cost me approx 350-500 more (depending on the route of bitbucket I go) If I go with the 702. However, If the UsbPre2 preamp is inferior to that of the 702 then it *may* be worth the extra.

havnt heard it, but I'm guessing is miniscule. I thought about a 702 to gang with my 722 for stuff and I've turned my attention just to the usbpre2>pcm-d50 combo for the same economic reasons.

I thought about the usbpre2>pcm-d50 option. The only question I have is, do they make a right angle Optical cable? I would be running the usbpre2 in a bag and it would be sitting on its back (where the optical out is located.

I grabbed a right angle optical cable of ebay recently for around $6 shipped!  Here is the seller I bought one from.

I picked up 2 from them a month ago as well. Only place I've seen them offered without the use of adaptors.

[jbell]

I might grab another one while they are still available. 

[sunjan]

Bump for the RA optical cable!
I've been searching for these since my old one broke two years ago.
Googled all over the place, I thought they went out of production forever.
Everybody running optical gear should grab an extra cable here, you might not find them again.

Sorry about the threadjack, this got me excited! 

[kirk97132]

are there any comparisons between the usbpre2 and the 702/722 pre's out there?

I would love to hear this.

Im trying to decide between UsbPre2 > Bitbucket v.s. 702. From what I can tell It will cost me approx 350-500 more (depending on the route of bitbucket I go) If I go with the 702. However, If the UsbPre2 preamp is inferior to that of the 702 then it *may* be worth the extra.

havnt heard it, but I'm guessing is miniscule. I thought about a 702 to gang with my 722 for stuff and I've turned my attention just to the usbpre2>pcm-d50 combo for the same economic reasons. To me, the question is, will you be ok without the extra power supply or media options as (IMHO) that's the big difference between the two. The 702 can have 2 batteries and if you get a firewire ssd, it can record to 2 mediums simultaniously. The usbpre2 is a single point of failure. Now, I suspect a good 90% or more of the tapers out there work in the single point of failure realm, and there isn't anything wrong with that for the vast majority of gigs. It's just a question of what are you recording and how dependant you are on making sure you get a recording (like doing contract work for a band).

I guess if it is only about a second battery then the ability of having two is an advantage.  The Draw of a USBpre2 is pretty low and you can get some good run times on a single external battery.  And you could always have a hotswap cable made easily enough to give the ability to use secondary batteries if needed so that's really not that big of a deal.  As for a "Single Point of failure"....what about any issue that are not battery related, they happen.  You mention recording to a second unit, in case there is a problem with the 702 right?  The USBPre2 can send out 3 different signals at once, optical, spdif and analog so you could actually be running three recorders off of it.  The example of using a second device feeding off a 702 recorder is still a "single point" of failure.  If the 702 box goes down then you can't record to anything right?  SO same thing with a choke point at the preamp.  That requires one piece of gear to feed others so there is no redundancy. So if you are looking for backup and you need redundancy then that would require two separate rigs in order to be failure proof.  And what about the mic(s) wouldn't that be the 1st thing in line and also a single point of failure.  I guess at some point you have to trust your gear OR run two completely separate rigs if the recording is that important.  I would think that if you are doing contracted work for anyone then AC power would be available, but maybe not.  So you could still get the Sound Devices preamp flavor without buying a 702 less money.  Of course the recorder will not be built like a tank but it can be done.  And since I don't really know I'm assuming that the 702 can hot swap batteries too. 

[Todd R]

I guess at some point you have to trust your gear OR run two completely separate rigs if the recording is that important. 

 I find myself often doing this.  For most of the last decade as I've taped, I've run two recorders.  First with mini-disk due to the media swap, then with DATs since they always proved to be finicky and unreliable to me, then with the Nomad JB3 since hard-disk recording was so new to me in 2002.  I've just continued since then.

Now I'm either doing an easy two channel rig, or more than likely for the "bigger" shows I run two sets of mics, two preamps, and two recorders (one being the 680).  So I end up with the two sets of mics+preamps going into the 8ch 680, and then run a separate Sony D50 out of the aux 1/8" out from my littlebox.  That ends up being a fully independent rig at that point, with 2ch of mics, preamp, and recorder separate from the other set of mics>preamp>680.  I keep toying with the idea of getting an M10 so I don't have to take along the larger D50, but I have a hard time skipping the 2nd recorder precisely because adding that small recorder into the mix gives me a complete backup system.

Probably makes me a paranoid freak, esp since there are other tapers at almost all shows I record, but I can't help it.

[F.O.Bean]

I guess at some point you have to trust your gear OR run two completely separate rigs if the recording is that important. 

 I find myself often doing this.  For most of the last decade as I've taped, I've run two recorders.  First with mini-disk due to the media swap, then with DATs since they always proved to be finicky and unreliable to me, then with the Nomad JB3 since hard-disk recording was so new to me in 2002.  I've just continued since then.

Now I'm either doing an easy two channel rig, or more than likely for the "bigger" shows I run two sets of mics, two preamps, and two recorders (one being the 680).  So I end up with the two sets of mics+preamps going into the 8ch 680, and then run a separate Sony D50 out of the aux 1/8" out from my littlebox.  That ends up being a fully independent rig at that point, with 2ch of mics, preamp, and recorder separate from the other set of mics>preamp>680.  I keep toying with the idea of getting an M10 so I don't have to take along the larger D50, but I have a hard time skipping the 2nd recorder precisely because adding that small recorder into the mix gives me a complete backup system.

Probably makes me a paranoid freak, esp since there are other tapers at almost all shows I record, but I can't help it.

I'm going to be running 2 separate preamp/recorders here soon.

MBHO>722
MBHO>Lil'Box>R09

A quick question tho, do I need to provide PHANTOM POWER on BOTH the 722 AND the Lil'Box Because I'd be running a splitter at the end of my mic bodies, correct? I'd really like to have the 722 vs. the Lil'Box>R09 sources to comp

[page]

are there any comparisons between the usbpre2 and the 702/722 pre's out there?

I would love to hear this.

Im trying to decide between UsbPre2 > Bitbucket v.s. 702. From what I can tell It will cost me approx 350-500 more (depending on the route of bitbucket I go) If I go with the 702. However, If the UsbPre2 preamp is inferior to that of the 702 then it *may* be worth the extra.

havnt heard it, but I'm guessing is miniscule. I thought about a 702 to gang with my 722 for stuff and I've turned my attention just to the usbpre2>pcm-d50 combo for the same economic reasons. To me, the question is, will you be ok without the extra power supply or media options as (IMHO) that's the big difference between the two. The 702 can have 2 batteries and if you get a firewire ssd, it can record to 2 mediums simultaniously. The usbpre2 is a single point of failure. Now, I suspect a good 90% or more of the tapers out there work in the single point of failure realm, and there isn't anything wrong with that for the vast majority of gigs. It's just a question of what are you recording and how dependant you are on making sure you get a recording (like doing contract work for a band).

I guess if it is only about a second battery then the ability of having two is an advantage.  The Draw of a USBpre2 is pretty low and you can get some good run times on a single external battery.  And you could always have a hotswap cable made easily enough to give the ability to use secondary batteries if needed so that's really not that big of a deal.  As for a "Single Point of failure"....what about any issue that are not battery related, they happen.  You mention recording to a second unit, in case there is a problem with the 702 right?  The USBPre2 can send out 3 different signals at once, optical, spdif and analog so you could actually be running three recorders off of it.  The example of using a second device feeding off a 702 recorder is still a "single point" of failure.  If the 702 box goes down then you can't record to anything right?  SO same thing with a choke point at the preamp.  That requires one piece of gear to feed others so there is no redundancy. So if you are looking for backup and you need redundancy then that would require two separate rigs in order to be failure proof.  And what about the mic(s) wouldn't that be the 1st thing in line and also a single point of failure.  I guess at some point you have to trust your gear OR run two completely separate rigs if the recording is that important.  I would think that if you are doing contracted work for anyone then AC power would be available, but maybe not.  So you could still get the Sound Devices preamp flavor without buying a 702 less money.  Of course the recorder will not be built like a tank but it can be done.  And since I don't really know I'm assuming that the 702 can hot swap batteries too.

Lots of valid points, I'm just looking at what I've experienced as the two failures that are most likely; power and media. The 702 can send to a CF card and external hdd (much like my 722's internal and cf card) so if one croaks, the other keeps going. It's actually this feature that allows me to run the 722 in peace; I dislike hdd recorders. Similarly, there is one battery and on the 7 series, if the external fails, it properly routes to the other one without interruption. Is that worth the extra $400-700 (depending on whether you count the D50 in the cost)? Probably not since I already have a 722 as the "daily-driver", and even without it, I'd still be pressed since you're right, SD gear is built sort of like a small tank. What makes me paranoid is doing a location recording for a band, and at the end of the show saying "sorry guys, my stuff died" because that's embarrassing. Yes, my mics could go, the pre-amps in the 7 series could go, any number of other things could go, but it's much less likely in my experience compared to the stuff that SD has redundancy features for.

[johnw]

Bump for the RA optical cable!
I've been searching for these since my old one broke two years ago.
Googled all over the place, I thought they went out of production forever.
Everybody running optical gear should grab an extra cable here, you might not find them again.

Sorry about the threadjack, this got me excited! 

went to grab one and they're now sold out. Don't need one at all but these are very hard to find!

[page]

Can anyone verify if there is a power-pop through either of the headphone outs or xlr outs when power is terminated?

[kirk97132]

Not positive but I do believe that there is a pop/snap when you unplug power and still have mics plugged in.  I seem to remember that happening when I powered down the USBPre2 with my deck still recording.

RIGHT ANGLE OPTICAL cords back again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Right-angle-toslink-to-mini-plug-digital-optical-cable_W0QQitemZ230583087187QQcategoryZ137919QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D230575723759%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7063842521268406834

[page]

Not positive but I do believe that there is a pop/snap when you unplug power and still have mics plugged in.  I seem to remember that happening when I powered down the USBPre2 with my deck still recording.

In a lot of ways, I'd expect that. I'm curious on a playback end. I'm thinking about either using it as a DAC or a DAC/headamp and replace my headamp with the added benefit of being able to use it in recording.

[johnw]

RIGHT ANGLE OPTICAL cords back again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Right-angle-toslink-to-mini-plug-digital-optical-cable_W0QQitemZ230583087187QQcategoryZ137919QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D230575723759%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7063842521268406834

nice! got one this time.

[AB52]

Anyone actually tried it with the Tascam 680 which I believe has a spdif input for tracks 7 and 8?

Between that and Bushman modding the Tascam unit - it is very tempting.

Best,
AB

[tracker]

on custom inear monitors, there is a click/pop when unplugging and plugging in but its not that stupidly loud unlike my previous ultralite.

this was with no mics plugged in.