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Sound Devices MixPre II


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The MixPre3 mkII is a great offering right now. A lot better than the previous one. It will sell a well.

MixPre Gen 1+2 Comparison Chart

MixPre II vs Original MixPre

1) 32-bit float recording a All models - NO

2) 192 kHz recording a All models MixPre-6 & -10T only

3) Timecode Generator/Reader a All models MixPre -10T only

4) USB file copy a All models MixPre -10T only

5) +18 dBu output MixPre-10 II - NO

6) Adjustable Limiter options a All models - NO

7) Sample Rate recording All MixPre II models
 (44.1, 47.952, 48, 48.048, 
96, 192 kHz)
MixPre-3 (44.1, 48, 96 kHz )
MixPre-6 (44.1, 48, 96, 192 kHz)
MixPre-10T (44.1, 47.952, 48, 48.048, 
96, 192 kHz)

8. ) Pre-roll duration at 48 kHz All models:  10 seconds

MixPre-10T: 10 seconds
MixPre-3 and -6: 5 seconds

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Had a quick look online as to the Gen1 prices vs Gen2.

MixPre3 Gen2 is the same price as before. But the MixPre6 has a fifty dollar USD price drop, however the 10 has a massive US$400 price drop with Gen2! :-o Whoa. If this has happened a year ago it might have made my decision vs buying the new F8n instead a bit trickier.

 

4 hours ago, Kisaha said:

The MixPre3 mkII is a great offering right now. A lot better than the previous one. It will sell a well.

 

In my eyes the biggest improvements is the MixPre6 Gen2. 

Because internal TC means you can now fully use all Six channels like its name MixPre6 says! Rather than giving up that 3.5mm input any time you want to use TC.

Plus gaining copying to USB thumbdrive helps give that peace of mind you want in your main recorder on a shoot. 

Plus the small price drop is the gravy on top. 

Although the MixPre10T has become the most appealing of them all to me, because of that rather big $400 price drop! Hmmm...  ah well, I won't given into temptation! I've got two lovely recorders already with the F8n and Maxx :-)

While the MixPre3 has remained at the same somewhat high price (hard to buy a MixPre3 when the MixPe6 is only a little bit more), yes it gains internal TC which is great, but it doesn't help the MixPre3 as much as it does with the MixPre6. 

 

4 hours ago, Kisaha said:

Wow! That was really fast, especially for SoundDevices.

Am guessing that perhaps their MixPre series has been more successful than they thought. Thus why they followed it up with the MixPre M series and the big 10T.

Then the MixPres' continued success, which probably has paid off all their initial R&D costs, allowed them to consider rolling out Generation 2 sooner than they thought.

And they know from the MixPres track recorder that they'll sell a high enough volume of them to justify putting a bit more into them, such as a TC generator.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Hey there, does anyone have an idea on if there's a limitation for bit-depth and sampling rate while using the recorder and interface at the same time?

I understand 32-bit interface is out of the question, but can I interface at 24bit/96khz and record to SD at 32bit/96khz at the same time for DAW support? I can't find any documentation of it.

My hopes are to livestream with this: use the interface into OBS (16bit/48k) and get 32-bit backup on SD card.

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  • 4 weeks later...

What are people's preferences for powering the Sound Devices MixPre3? (am planning to run it with phantom power on one channel for a hardwired boom mic, plus a Lectro SR for channels 2/3)

The way I see it is there are four main options:

1) Sound Devices MX-LMount (2x horizontal L Mount batteries. This seems like an awkward choice for a compact bag to have the batteries sticking out at an angle, works with 2x slim NP-F550 batteries perhaps? But the run time would be a little too lean. Yet 2x NP-F970 would stick out too much! I suspect a compromise would be a NP-F550 on my "belly side" so the MixPre3 sits flush against that side of the mixing bag, and a large NP-F970 on the opposite side which a receiver would then sit on top of)

2) Hawk-Woods SD-2 (this is a single NP-F battery in the horizontal orientation, solving the problems with the MX-LMount. But would a single NP-F battery be enough?? Not sure at all. I've read a MixPre draws up to 7.5W? So would a NP-F970 be enough to always get through to lunch break every day? Seems likely, but perhaps the MX-LMount with an extra NP-F550 with the NP-F970 would be the safer bet. There is a low power mode, which seems perfect for what I want! As I don't need HDMI/USB or more than two phantom power channels, however from reading the manual it seems there is no way to turn that mode on yourself?)

3) Hawk-Woods SD-1 (gives you a Hirose input, that I could use with my BDS. However I can ditch the BDS entirely, because I can use a Lectrosonics SRBATTSLED on my receiver, and power that via a NP-F550)

4) USB-C powering (a USB connection seems too fragile to me to handle the hurly burly knocking about during a fast paced run & gun production)

5) something else I'm not thinking about? (don't think the existing AA battery sled would be the best option, neither using the 8x AA option. That's too many extra unnecessary batteries to juggle at the end of each day!)

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7 hours ago, IronFilm said:

5) something else I'm not thinking about? (don't think the existing AA battery sled would be the best option, neither using the 8x AA option. That's too many extra unnecessary batteries to juggle at the end of each day!)

 The  one thing I can contribute is that if you find yourself needing to go with AAs, use rechargeables. That thing eats standard batteries like candy. I thought I had accidentally put used ones back in. For some reason, the rechargeables have pretty decent life.

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9 hours ago, BrunoCH said:

I use USB-C powering with an Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 USB-C. I add a SMALLRIG Mini Cheese Plate 1598 to the Anker with gaffer. And I attach this on the Mixpre 3 with the 3/4 screw integrated. For me everything works fine.

One of the main reasons I got the MixPre3 is for run & gun productions, so I want a robust setup. Skeptical if USB powering would do that for me. Also that battery you've got seems like overkill? (should last you for 2+ days I'm betting??) I'm wanting this as lightweight as possible! 

 

8 hours ago, Thomas Hill said:

 The  one thing I can contribute is that if you find yourself needing to go with AAs, use rechargeables. That thing eats standard batteries like candy. I thought I had accidentally put used ones back in. For some reason, the rechargeables have pretty decent life.

Don't worry, I learned long ago to always use high quality rechargables! ?

Years ago when starting out I was using the production's gear (oops, first mistake! Never do this) which was a Sound Devices 702 + 302 + 5x G3 + 416 (if you recognize this gear you're already thinking what the fvxk!!! Yes, that was my first thought in the morning when I arrived on set as well. Couldn't a production shooting on an ARRI with anamorphics provide something better than a 702?? Top notch crew too, the DoP was the one Peter Jackson used to regularly use). But it got worse, the batteries were cheap single use alkalines.

I immediately identified that they didn't have enough packs of AA batteries there to last use the whole day, and told the producer a runner would need to get us more ASAP. (we were shooting way out west too, a good solid drive away from civilisation)

By the end of the day I'd used four dozen AA batteries. 

 

Felt like my whole day was nothing but swapping batteries in and out. 

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4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

One of the main reasons I got the MixPre3 is for run & gun productions, so I want a robust setup. Skeptical if USB powering would do that for me. Also that battery you've got seems like overkill? (should last you for 2+ days I'm betting??) I'm wanting this as lightweight as possible! 

I'm using a USB powerbank with my MixPre 6. It's in an old (perfect fit) portabrace bag with a right angle usb-c cable attached. I can't see how it could get disconnected, but if it did the Mixpre6 automatically switches back to the AAs. I could gaff the right angle usb-c cable in place, but haven't felt the need to. It's a smaller USB-A powerbank, so only operates in low power mode: 1-2 48v phantom powered mics.

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1 hour ago, The ghost of squig said:

It's a smaller USB-A powerbank, so only operates in low power mode: 1-2 48v phantom powered mics.

Wish there was an option to intentionally put it into low power mode. 

It is more the fragility of a USB connection I wonder about?
 

1 hour ago, scotchtape said:

I use the Sony NP-F sled... works great...

How much time do you get out of a NP-F970 with it? (is this a MP3 or MP6?)
 

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Changing to a slightly different topic....

Saw a Sound Devices 664 for only US2K for sale recently! :-o

With secondhand prices dropping so low it is enough to make you second guess yourself and question your decision if you're considering buying a Zoom F8n or MixPre10 as your main primary recorder. 

Although, I personally wouldn't buy a 664. Plus the MixPre3 won't be my only recorder, or main recorder, or even secondary recorder? It's for those small shoots I'd know I'd be wearing the bag all the time. 
 

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4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Wish there was an option to intentionally put it into low power mode. 

It is more the fragility of a USB connection I wonder about?
 

In a bag it should never be an issue. A USB-A powerbank does the intentional trick good enough. I carry a spare usb cable and spare AAs just to be on the safe side. What I don't like about the Sony NP-F battery sled option is it won't fit in a bag, unless you get the hirose sled and hook that up to an external Sony sled, which would cost quite a bit more than a usb powerbank. I paid about $60 for mine, and it came with free jump start leads for the car.

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My sessions are never very long so I just use the small NP-F 550.

 https://www.sounddevices.com/mixpre-3-mixpre-6-maxbatteryruntime/

Says 6W power consumption with 4x phantom and recording.  So for Mixpre3, less than 5W.  2 NP-F 550s is 20WH so about 4-5h runtime.

If you use the bigger 970s it's about 45WH each so, 90WH equals about 18h.

In any case, feels like it runs for longer but I've never done a rundown test.

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12 hours ago, The ghost of squig said:

What I don't like about the Sony NP-F battery sled option is it won't fit in a bag, unless you get the hirose sled and hook that up to an external Sony sled, which would cost quite a bit more than a usb powerbank.

I've got a BDS / battery cup / etc for my other bag rigs, so Hirose is no big deal at all. 

There is a vertical NP-F battery sled for the MixPre, which seems perfect as the MixPre is so small already the height boost might be a good thing. 

 

1 hour ago, scotchtape said:

My sessions are never very long so I just use the small NP-F 550.

 https://www.sounddevices.com/mixpre-3-mixpre-6-maxbatteryruntime/

Says 6W power consumption with 4x phantom and recording.  So for Mixpre3, less than 5W.  2 NP-F 550s is 20WH so about 4-5h runtime.

If you use the bigger 970s it's about 45WH each so, 90WH equals about 18h.

In any case, feels like it runs for longer but I've never done a rundown test.

Quote

The MixPre-3 and MixPre-6 at idle ( powered but not recording or powering phantom microphones) consumes roughly 4 watts. Power consumption increases when the unit is recording and when phantom power is activated. The MixPre-6 can draw close to 6 watts while recording and using four high-performance phantom powered microphones.

Ah perfect, yes of course, 5W/hr paired with a single NP-F970 seems like what I want. Thanks, made my decision now. 

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