1221

I just received a MixPre 6ii. So far it’s an amazingly satisfying piece of gear.

I’m excited to record in 32bit float, so as to not have to worry about clipping, but the thought occurred to me: are there times where I’d prefer the sound of hitting the hardware limiters on the way in (in 24bit) vs trying to do that later with the 32bit files in post? Curious for thoughts from people that have taken the dive into 32bit field recording.

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1222

My understanding is that even with 32bit converters, you can still hit the mic pres hard and they will saturate…

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1223

Interesting. I know that the limiters are turned off in 32bit mode so I’m guessing it would sound quite different even if that was the case, no? I’ll do some tests at some point…

1224

that’s probably because the limiter is digital, so it’s after the mic pres? i’m just speculating here … but the mic pres should have an analog headroom, as do the mics, which will still do something when pushed hard…

1225

Huh… I took this from the Sounddevices site:

What are my limiter options?

In 16- or 24-bit operation, the MixPre II offers analog/digital limiters similar to the original MixPre recorders. These limiters have been improved to give control over ratio, release, and threshold. In 32-bit float mode, the multi-stage A-to-D converters are active to capture the full dynamic range of the incoming signal; no limiters are needed.

I wonder what “analog/digital” means?!

1226

there are three limiters, one at each gain stage - the 1st limiter is analog, the others are digital.

6-series-limiters-and-indicators-diagram
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EDIT: that’s for the v1 of the mixpre series (i don’t have a v2), and the XLR input max input level is +14dBu. should be at least the same for the v2.

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1227

It looks like the input and limiter setup is the same in v2. Thanks for this!

1228

Happened to stumble on this wonderful list today (and it reminded me that some of my best field recording has been in the kitchen):

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1229

I got a lovely recording of our gas stove running.

Unfortunately, I remembered to put away the field recorder, but left the burner running until my wife saw it! She was not impressed.

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1231

Talks about the Mixpre limiter/ compressor, I first bought the device because of this, but little by little I realized that it’s more tailored for dialogue, not ambient sounds (i.e. sudden car bark/ siren), so now I turn it off all the time.

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1232

anyone have the official Sony AC adapter for the PCM-D100 and can tell me what the specs are on it? All I could find in the user manual was 6V. no mention of amperage or polarity. thanks.

1234

I don’t have the adaptor but on the side of the D-100 itself it says DC 6V centre positive

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1235

According to the official manual:

Output Voltage: DC6V
Output Current: 800mA
Polarity of the plug: Center-positive

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1236

Field Recording Meetup: Thursday Dec 10 @ 7:30 pm EST

The new field recording meetup group will have its 2nd meeting at 7:30pm EST this Thursday. If you’d like the link, please message me. The group meets monthly (2nd Thursday) to discuss field recording techniques, equipment, and share recordings.

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1237

won’t be able to make the meeting, but sure do love that picture!

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1238

thank you for posting this picture of Hildegard Westerkamp.
It’s from one of her travels to India in the 90s. From this trip she made recordings for the composition From the India Sound Journal. However, very remarkable are the three soundscape compositions that comprise her Into India album. Highly recommended listening experience!

here is a short interview of her talking about her recording/composition approach:

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1239

Thank you for posting the background info and these great links about Westercamp. I have some listening and study ahead. I only recently came across her work, and am excited to learn about her.

1240

you can give a look at Linking Soundscape Composition and Acoustic Ecology
and if you like to dive more deep into studying her music you can also read Sounding Places PhD, by Andra McCartney.
Of course, listening to her beautiful music comes first.

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1241

Back again in my fave thread on lines!
I‘ve finally made my dream come true and bought a mixpre 10 :fist:t2: So many things i always wanted to record with a really nice sounding setup…it doesn’t deceive! What i love abt it is the no BS approach to menues and submenues-this is all very straight forward and does not need any rtfm at all. Go out-switch on-record! I‘ll be going down rabbit holes for mobile power solutions and carrier bags but that was expected…

One thing i will be doing intensely in the future is taking my music out in the field and record it back via speakers and microphones. Or record reverb impulses for my altiverb. I realised that for this i‘d need a separate player with my sounds or impulse sweeps to play over portable speakers. In theory its not possible with the mixpre (play and record played sounds) and its something that i haven’t tried yet. Maybe feeding audio from a laptop via USB into the mixpre? Will dive into its USB capabilities shortly :smiley:

Anyway, is anybody on here doing playing and recording with one machine? What are your best workflows?

PS: i was blown away by Bana Haffar‘s Intimations on the Touch: Label. I knew the sounds were gonna be good when i saw the selfmade Dummyhead and Ambisonic rig on her Instafeed. I hesitated because its a subscription only release…i stopped hesitating, subscribed and its its really nice!

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1242

That’s actually the fun thing I fell in love with the Mixpre 6 I bought from a fellow member some weeks ago: for this particular head I have, it’s just so logical and fast to use for something as versatile as it is.

I hear you about the accessory madness, that always happens with things like this. I now have the 6 set up in a Strut bag designed for the model (highly recommended if you can stand a lot of velcro) with a pocket size 10 000 mAh USB-C power bank and the 4AA battery sled attached. The bag nicely fits a pair of in-ears inside in the headphone side (might still start using HD25s I now have instead as they seem more comfy on the long run), and a pair of mikroUši Pro mics in the side pocket ready to go - and I have a little case for a pair of hydrophones and a pair of contact mics I can throw into the backpack with me.

For my current lack of focus / time it seems to be essential that I can just grab something, go, and use it without being frustrated due to something being so complex to use that it’s only fun if you use it daily / weekly. This certainly fulfills those expectations.

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