Sound Devices MM-1 - Portable Microphone Preamp - Headphone Monitor - $300

[Philip Lima]

We were using this to get a clean signal from our shotgun mic before we received our audio board upgrade. We no longer need it as we got the upgrade the 48v phantom power is extremely clean now.

It was bought new from B & H last may and has been attached to our red, in it's own custom case, since. It is in perfect condition both functionally and cosmetically. We have the original receipt and blank warranty card. We don't have the original box, but have everything else that came with it when it was new.

click here to see more information about this device from B & H's website

We would like to get $300 for this since it is brand new condition. Shipping is free within the US, if you're outside that, email me and I can figure out a very fair shipping cost.

Thanks.

 

[Philip Lima]

Any Offers? Is any one even interested in this?

Any Offers? Is any one even interested in this?

I will give it another chance on here before I post it up on ebay. Any takers? Any offers?

Thanks,
Philip

 

[Rob Castiglione]

I am not offering to buy it - just saying it is really excellent as I have one. I would still use it in preference to the upgraded audio board.

Rob

 

[Kennan Ward]

Sound Devices MM1

Sound Devices MM1

Rob,

Very interesting as I know you do a lot of sound work, therefore I respect your opinion. I use a Sennheiser K3-U with a ME 80 boom for the rare wolf howl or odd animal sound that sounds phony when they foley it! Most of my wildlife work is telephoto so I needed this older style reaching mic. I used the Sound devices MM-1 to bring in the sound when conditions (..no wind and or people..) were just right. That said, would you coach me to continue to use the amp?
I was hoping to clean up the extra weight and stuff I had to bring.
Thank you for your advice.

Peace,

Kennan

 

[Rob Castiglione]

Hi Kennan,

Having seen your beautiful work, I dont think that I can teach you anything of much value. Also, I know that there are people on this board who are much more knowledgeable about sound than me. I am principally not a technician though I have collected for myself some really lovely gear and have taught myself what works best in real life. I have been struggling with the problem of light weight high quality location recording gear now for some time.

Here are a few comments though. I really understand the imperative to travel light. I need to do this often myself for the strange and wonderful places I have to record!! So, there are different levels of compromise involved. If you just wanted to go microphone level into the camera with a phantom powered microphone it makes sense to go for the very best and quietest microphone that you can afford. I dont know much about the microphone you are using except that it was a well respected mic in the industry some time ago and by today's standards is relatively noisy. You could do much better probably just with a NTG - 3 (or even the incredibly cheap NTG -1 which is great). If budget is not a problem I love the Sennheiser MKH - 60 (some sound recordists dont). The MKH series is incredibly quiet and perfect for nature recording. (also playing with non shot gun patterns might be really interesting for you and give you a much more natural sound. I often record with a MKH40 which has a wider pattern or even a high quality omni directional microphone). So, I guess I am saying that this is where I would start first - trying out a better microphone to see if you can still travel light.

But without a doubt going line level in will give you better results - hence the value of the not so little sound devices MMI preamp. Everything depends upon the integrity of the recording chain from microphone - cable - microphone preamp - Analog to Digital converter. Of course sound devices are masters of putting an excellent preamp and converter into their relatively small sound devices recorders ( I have the 722 which I love). Red just cannot possibly match these components though they have given us a very good audio board now in my opinion.

Personally, I think that sound is incredibly important in the kind of work you do - it really can give you a sense of "being there" in a way that images just cant. I think that sound is more like smell - it is not mediated as much by the intellect and goes straight to the heart/intuition.

Please keep up the good work and I cant wait to see your next Red project.

Warm Regards