#mix pre

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First Major Firmware 2018 Update for The Mix-Pre Series

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Last update Jan 18, 2018

Changes introduced in 1.53 include:

Changed

The MixPre-10T transport control’s orange LED brightness is dimmed in stop mode to make it clearer when the unit is recording.

The Take List indicates which file is playing back by displaying it in green text.

Fixed

Limiters were not always enabled when…

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I Chat To Paul Isaacs About The New Sound Devices Mix Pre Series

I am once again graced with an interview with Paul Isaacs from Sound Devices to talk about the new Mix Pre line as they get ready for NAB 2017. Paul is actually heading out tomorrow so was lucky enough to grab him. I've fielded questions from around the internet.First of all Paul, thanks for taking the time to squeeze this in and how is all your prep going for NAB and where / when will be people able to find you and get their hands on some demos?

Thanks for having me Matt. Lead up to NAB is always crazy, but maybe even crazier this year with the launch of the MixPre-Series. We are at booth #C6040 from Monday 24th 'till Thursday 27th next week and of course we are very excited to be able to demo these babies to anyone who's interested.

There is lots of buzz about the new Mix Pre line on various groups and of course all groups try to tailor any new product to see if it fits their needs could you elaborate where it fits in to your other product ranges like the 6 series range:

If you are a YouTuber, Musician, Podcaster, Sound Designer, Videographer, Production Sound Mixer, Educator, or audio hobbyist that cares about great audio quality, the MixPre-Series recorder, mixer, and USB audio interface is absolutely for you.

Having said that, you wouldn't use these in place of your 6-series as a primary mixer/recorder since the 6-Series offer more extensive connectivity and time code options that are important for complex production sound setups. However, the new MixPre makes a great supplement to your sound kit either as a way to add more inputs, a backup, or a simpler second-unit recorder.

 With that in mind could you highlight the main features and uses you see the Mix Pre being suited for:

The MixPre-3 and 6 can record, mix and USB stream multichannel audio all simultaneously - no other recorder in this category can do that. They are super compact so there's no excuse not to take one whereever you go and since they are made of die-cast aluminum, not plastic like so many recorders in the sub $1000 category, these will stand up to the rigors of the most testing environments - pretty much like all SD gear!

One of our main design goals for the MixPre was that we wanted to design it in such a way that less experienced audio users as well as seasoned audio professionals could capture the highest possible audio quality whilst focussing on creating content rather than getting tied down by the tech. To make this happen we needed to achieve two main things:

1. Ultra low noise, wide dynamic range mic preamps with analog limiters that anyone could achieve great noise and distortion-free sound and

2. A super intuitive UI. That is why the interface is so uncluttered and focusses on the most important controls - faders and transport. But don't be fooled - the sunlight readable touchscreen provides access to a vast  range of functionality that'll keep any audio nerd totally happy. Oh and this is probably worth a quick mention - pressing each channel fader knob gives fast access to each channel's settings including input source, trim gain, pan, PFL, arm and more.

Every musician should have one. I'm one and I use it all the time for many things. Ideal for small venue gigging, recording into a DAW via USB, capturing song ideas on the road, teaching and so much more.

Podcasters will love the ability to be able to mix and record on the device whilst receiving USB audio -  route a USB source such as Skype or FaceTime interviewee to one of the faders and mix along with your own voice and other sources - so much more fun and intuitive.

Videographers can capture the best sounding audio to their DSLR whilst simultaneously recording ISOs should they need to go back to the individuals channels to fix a mix. The MixPre's also have a captive 1/4" 20 screw for mounting on any camera or tripod. And with the addition of HDMI TC In and LTC for lip-sync sound, a DSLR/MixPre combo is a very effective videographers package.

There is also lots of excitement about the new preamps, is this build from the ground up?

The MixPre-3 and 6's Kashmir mic preamps are a brand new design. Their ultra low noise, wide dynamic range preamps with 32-bit ADCs will more than satisfy both seasoned audio pros and audio novices.  The input limiters are dual stage; first stage analog, second stage digital. Threshold is approx -3 dBFS. Output limiters are digital. The HPFs are dual stage too - they have an analog filter preceding the preamp entirely for excellent overload performance, followed by subsequent digital filters for adjustability.

Lets talks about the integration with the wingman app and basic and advanced modes:

We've actually included two modes of operation - Basic mode for audio novices and Advanced mode for those who like to get down and dirty with all the other possibilities like flexible digital routing, timecode, multichannel ISOs, HP presets, high sample rate recording (192 kHz on the 6, 96 kHz on the 3) etc

Bluetooth LE is built in so you don't need a dongle to get wireless control of your MixPre -3 from an iOS device. The same Wingman app works with the MixPre or 6-series.

There's so much I've left out here, but I've run out of time and have to pack and catch a plane to Las Vegas. If you can, come to our booth and we'll show you more.

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Week 4, 17th - 23rd Oct

The weeks are slowly becoming busier as the team’s produced show gets nearer and nearer, as well as the live broadcast for Yellow team. 

Friday was the day of crewing CCi Live. The show was not only broadcasting live to Eldon, and the rest of the university campus but also the Big Screen in Guildhall Square. A nervous situation to be in, as was the first time CCi had been broadcast to the Big Screen, so everything had to go perfect, with no muck ups. 

On the day of the broadcast, there were complications with sound beyond my control, when playing the inserts, the audio came out a lot lower than that of the presenters, it wasn’t peaking any where near what it was supposed to, thankfully it was a problem with the TriCaster, which Gary managed to fix. Other than that slight problem, I felt there weren’t really any issues to do with sound during the show. One small situation was had, when you could hear the floor manager cueing in the presenter just as she was going live. 

Next time the team crew a show live, things that could be improved are rehearsal time, being given inserts, scripts and running orders during our rehearsals the morning of the show just wasn’t enough time. A personal goal for me would be to learn to be more professional whilst being in the studio, using the correct terminology when talking to other members of the gallery. 

The group held two meetings this week to begin discussing ideas for our commissioned shows. The first, held at 9am on wednesday morning, wasn’t the best of meetings. None of the ideas we’re working, and no solid idea could be made. The idea of a magic based show was bought up which was liked, but the thought of making 3 shows was tricky as felt there wouldn’t be enough footage to include into 3 different shows. The plan in the end was to re-arrange the meeting when people were less tired and had slightly more time to develop on ideas. 

The second meeting was much more successful. Two show ideas were agreed on. A cooking show, 2 episodes long, with live elements in the studio such as minute long challenges, and a final magic show, featuring street magic, with the magicians being bought into the studio. 

As all of the Producers and Directors for each group meet up each week to discuss the show, one thing that was planned was that each team had their own opening titles.  The idea for our opening titles stemmed from a session in the studio playing around with the green screen settings. The director came up with the genius idea of having the whole of our CCi intro in the style of an old iPod advert, each of the team members in front of the green screen, acting out their role, for example sound holding a boom pole, floor manager counting down, the use of a clapper board, camera man moving the camera around etc.

It was this monday the team went about filming the intro. Above is a video of our main inspiration, the finished edit is still yet to be completed. 

Finally this week, I attended a very useful recap session on how use the MixPre with Steve Whitford. Although I have been educated on how to use the MixPre before, it was nice to go through everything again after a summer away. It was a lot clearer to understand things a second time round, as I understood how the device worked. Hopefully I can use this information when out filming on inserts for our shows.