#70

Haven’t used the field mixers but have a Mixpre 6 II. It sounds crystal clear, truly. I will assume any gear made in the last few years sounds the same in quality.

#71

I hear great things about the mixpre line, I’m just curious where the price difference is coming from and it’s not clear to me what the value proposition is supposed to be for the higher end stuff. Figured someone here might have an opinion.

#72

Some of the difference is size / ease of use (remember these are production sound mixers first and foremost). The more expensive mixer/recorders (eg 633, 644) still have features Mixpre does not have that are necessary for proper film work.

The new Mixpres are also surprisingly small devices. I think the preamps, limiters and recording quality are the same though, anyone know for sure?

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#73

well the 442 and 552 are primarily mixers with outputs and knobs to easily do stuff that needs to be done working on a shooting. And a locking connector for external power.
The Mixpre3/6 are not really mixers (hence the name…) in the sense that the signal path pretty much ends in them. But i suppose they are fine recorders.

As far as comparisons, i found this video comparing MixPre6, SD 633 and Zoom F8 quite revealing.

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#74

The straight field mixers (442, 552) are older products and have a few features that are useful for production sound work. Those mixers were usually paired with SD recorders, but production mixers have mostly moved to the 600/800 mixer/recorders and in some cases, the MixPres. For most field recording and studio applications, I think the MixPre’s are superior products with improved preamps, mixing, multichannel recording, and audio interface functions. I’ve used my MixPre 6 for all my live performances to mix and send audio to the house system. My next step will be adding a MixPre 10 II, so I can have my field recording kit with the 6 always packed and ready to go, with the 10 II cabled up in the studio.

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#75

Hi! Relatively new owner of a Mixpre-6 II and have been really enjoying working with highly dynamic content with the 32bit ADC. Still haven’t figured out the range of the preamps tho which clip very weirdly (limiter?) because I have troubles reading the LEDs (colour blind). Here are some of my findings:

  • Ableton doesnt accept multichannel (32bit?) files. I use Sox, a command line tool, to split the file using the remix effect like this: sox in.wav out.wav remix 1
  • I’m using Ikea’s LADDA 2450 mAh AA NiMH batteries, but it seems that they drain really quickly. So I added a Anker Powerbank PowerCore Slim 10000 PD in combination with the AA batteries which gives me hours more.
  • The LEDs on the front are not colour blind friendly as they indicate clipping of preamp and adc through red, green and orange. Luckily the indicator on the screen is better, but they are not described in the manual (iirc). I’ve written with SD support’s about this and they said they want to find a solution.
  • Playback controls feel very immature, no scrubbing back and forth easily in longer recording and I wish could set the individual level volumes during playback.
  • Only used it as a usb audio interface a couple of times and I couldn’t figure out how to get more channels than regular stereo into the computer yet.

I’m also still looking for a good field bag for it, any pointers?

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#76

Designed and 3d printed a holder for the Anker slim powerbank on top of the Mixpre. (Was out of black filament)

IMG_0537-1
IMG_0537-11300×867 308 KB

powerbank2
powerbank22000×1217 127 KB

IMG_0540-4
IMG_0540-41300×867 300 KB

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#77

I just picked up a peak designs everyday sling bag, which luckily is an almost perfect fit. Able to plug in mics, power and headphones and zip It closed again. And being like 1/5th of the price of a real sound bag it definitely gets the job done.

#78

Oh! Do you have photos of it packed? I have an Orca OR 270 on preorder, but it’s taking ages and it’s ugly :dizzy_face:, so I’m interested in something else!

#79

IMG_20200817_134235510~2
IMG_20200817_134235510~22448×3264 1.74 MB

IMG_20200817_134315463~2
IMG_20200817_134315463~23264×2448 1.59 MB

Can’t fit mics on both sides inside the bag, but works great for two on the headphone side. Also big enough to keep two usipros, a backup battery, small pockets for sd cards, a notepad etc. And best buy stocks em on the shelf. Which is handy I guess.

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#80

Is that the 3L or 6L?

#81

That would be the 3L.

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#82

Thanks for all the info and photos! Much appreciated!

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#83

You betcha! I was stoked when I got it home and it worked, so glad to help spread the word.

#84

This looks cool! Does the Anker slim 10000 PD work well? Do you know roughly how many hours you could record with it?

Wondering if the Anker 20000 I recently ordered is a bit overkill. I orobably won’t be recording more than a few hours at a time maximum.

#85

It’s almost perfect for me! Never had it run out of battery while recording so don’t know really. You’ll surely be able to do a few hours, I think I’ve read somewhere it’ll do 10h (also depends on phantom power ofc). The biggest problem I have with the powerbank is that if you leave it plugged in to the mixpre is slowly discharges.

2 Likes
#86

Thanks - then it will be more than enough for me. I want to save some size/weight too, so I canceled the 20000 PD and will try the 10000 :).

#87

I posted this on the field recording thread but I think it fits here too since it is about the Mixpre.

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#88

Great find. I just picked one up. I probably have enough portable battery packs to fill a storage unit but most don’t live up to real world strain and use cases. I’ve been looking for something like this!

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#89

Has anyone here had success using the first-generation MixPres as USB-C autio interfaces for iPads?

SD published compatibility notes for the second-generation products, but suggests that the configurations “may work” with the earlier versions. I just picked up an iPad, but my M-series MixPre’s back home and I won’t be there for a month or so.

Thanks!

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