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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Can you suggest a good affordable preamp for sound?

Jason beaumont

Jason beaumont

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Shooting a short film coming up, and right now I just have a NTG 3 running into my H4n. I wanted to get something better but their are a lot of options, I figured id check with the community to see what you guys have had success with.
I don't want to spend more than $700, I know that's not a huge budget but that's what I'm working with. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

edit: looking for it to be a field recorder as well.

Scarlet W
 
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Sound devices is likely going to be right up there in terms of the highest quality recommendations. The pre-amps & limiters are fabulous.

MixPre-3 would be in your budget (Although MixPre-6 seems well worth the extra money), MixPre-D has dual XLR out so potentially better suited as a preamp alone (But costs $949). I would look into one of these!
 
Mohammed Almedfa said:
Sound devices is likely going to be right up there in terms of the highest quality recommendations. The pre-amps & limiters are fabulous.

MixPre-3 would be in your budget (Although MixPre-6 seems well worth the extra money), MixPre-D has dual XLR out so potentially better suited as a preamp alone (But costs $949). I would look into one of these!
Click to expand...

Do you know what the key differences are between the two?
 
The MixPre-D is a bit older, we currently use one. The MixPre-D is solely a preamp not a recorder. As such it has 2 full size XLR outputs, for feeding the signal to your recorder (and perhaps another channel straight to the camera if you like.)

The MixPre 3 & 6 (and the substantially more expensive MixPre 10T) are recorders. You could use them as preamp’s, but the MixPre-3 & 6 don’t offer full size XLR outputs like the MixPre-D does. But being a recorder is quite valuable of course!

They all feature Sound Devices pre-amps and limiters which are excellent quality. The analogue limiters have an incredibly soft clipping response.

Let me know if you have more questions!

— Just saw your updated post, I would recommend spending the extras for the MixPre-6, unless you’re sure you won’t need the extra channels.
 
Would you run the Mix Pre- D to the camera? Like Mic to Mix Pre- D To camera?
 
Would you run the Mix Pre- D to the camera? Like Mic to Mix Pre- D To camera?
 
I'd go with what Mohammed said and go with MixPre-6. It's a great all around recorder for those times when the productions doesn't hire a sound recordist. It doubles as a preamp too. I've been on shoots where I'd just use the Mixpre-6 only as a Pre-Amp. Mics go into the Mixpre-6, and line out goes to Camera. No issues.
 
http://www.reduser.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?32-Audio

Better to post this to the dedicated audio forum on reduser :-)

As for a recorder with better pre amps (as honestly the H4n is total piece of SH*T, no one worth their salt should seriously consider it alone, especially not in 2018), I wrote up a list last year:

http://ironfilm.co.nz/which-sound-r...various-indie-priced-sound-recorders-in-2017/

New additions since I wrote it to consider:

Sound Devices MixPre10T (the only new MixPre from Sound Devices I'd seriously consider, as MixPre3 or MixPr6 is never an option for me. Only having four inputs with the MixPre6 when using TC in the bag, is just too limiting for my work) and Marantz PMD-706.

Personally in my eyes the Zoom F4 is a beautiful sweet spot of performance and price (if you can't afford the likes of 600 series or SX-R4+ / Maxx / etc). And is what I use myself at the core of my system: http://ironfilm.co.nz/sound/

Jason beaumont said:
Would you run the Mix Pre- D to the camera? Like Mic to Mix Pre- D To camera?
Click to expand...

MixPre-D was amazing for its time, but in 2018 I wouldn't buy it now instead of a dedicated mixer/recorder (as we're spoiled for choices now!), not even for its low secondhand prices it goes for.
 
Jason beaumont said:
Shooting a short film coming up, and right now I just have a NTG 3 running into my H4n. I wanted to get something better but their are a lot of options, I figured id check with the community to see what you guys have had success with.
I don't want to spend more than $700, I know that's not a huge budget but that's what I'm working with. Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated. edit: looking for it to be a field recorder as well.
Click to expand...
You could spend a lot less if you just rented the gear, provided you're in a major city like NY or LA or Atlanta or Chicago or Orlando or Dallas. You could easily rent $5000 worth of gear for a lot less than $700 for a week, and it would be far better than a Rode mic and a Zoom recorder.
 
Yes we've used the MixPre-D direct to camera, and hands-down if one wanted to record straight to camera, having a Sound Devices pre-amp in front of the camera is some of the best you can ask for. Of course feeding into a recorder and having that recorder feed the cameras is even better as recorders offer you a host of features to help guarantee you get the audio you want. But I'm a big fan of having as high quality an audio feed running into camera as can be conveniently managed. It helps the quality of the director's on-set performance review, and allows rough-cut editing right away with a real feel for the footage recorded.

But there's no reason that signal to camera can't come from a recorder and let you get the best of both worlds. When crew & space were at a premium, we've got perfectly good audio from the MixPre-D straight to camera combo. You need to get the levels on each end right, and you need to be monitoring audio right to avoid any metallic clipping from the RED / still have a strong enough signal.

Already owning the MixPre-D, we intend to continue to use its pre-amps for our "Hero Mics", feeding into the Zoom F8 which we recently acquired. With the remaining 6 XLR inputs available for less mission-critical mic channels. I haven't tried this yet, but hope this combo will work well.

But if I was buying one system today and starting from scratch, I would go with the MixPre10T or MixPre6 as budget/scale of production/number of mics required allows. Given the budget specified, I would go with the MixPre-6.

Marc also brings up a good point regarding rental. It does come down to whether this short film is the goal in and of itself, or whether putting the time into skill expansion / producing multiple works is the goal. Not that they need to be mutually exclusive of course.
 
Marc Wielage said:
You could spend a lot less if you just rented the gear, provided you're in a major city like NY or LA or Atlanta or Chicago or Orlando or Dallas. You could easily rent $5000 worth of gear for a lot less than $700 for a week, and it would be far better than a Rode mic and a Zoom recorder.
Click to expand...

I'm not a big fan of renting equipment. I know the NTG 3 isn't a $5000 mic, but the results it provides are really good, especially for the price. I need my own sound equipment so I have it available at all times.
 
Mohammed Almedfa said:
Yes we've used the MixPre-D direct to camera, and hands-down if one wanted to record straight to camera, having a Sound Devices pre-amp in front of the camera is some of the best you can ask for. Of course feeding into a recorder and having that recorder feed the cameras is even better as recorders offer you a host of features to help guarantee you get the audio you want. But I'm a big fan of having as high quality an audio feed running into camera as can be conveniently managed. It helps the quality of the director's on-set performance review, and allows rough-cut editing right away with a real feel for the footage recorded.

But there's no reason that signal to camera can't come from a recorder and let you get the best of both worlds. When crew & space were at a premium, we've got perfectly good audio from the MixPre-D straight to camera combo. You need to get the levels on each end right, and you need to be monitoring audio right to avoid any metallic clipping from the RED / still have a strong enough signal.

Already owning the MixPre-D, we intend to continue to use its pre-amps for our "Hero Mics", feeding into the Zoom F8 which we recently acquired. With the remaining 6 XLR inputs available for less mission-critical mic channels. I haven't tried this yet, but hope this combo will work well.

But if I was buying one system today and starting from scratch, I would go with the MixPre10T or MixPre6 as budget/scale of production/number of mics required allows. Given the budget specified, I would go with the MixPre-6.

Marc also brings up a good point regarding rental. It does come down to whether this short film is the goal in and of itself, or whether putting the time into skill expansion / producing multiple works is the goal. Not that they need to be mutually exclusive of course.
Click to expand...

Thank you this was very helpful, actually the entire thread. I think ill go with the Mix Pre- 6.
 
Marc Wielage said:
You could spend a lot less if you just rented the gear, provided you're in a major city like NY or LA or Atlanta or Chicago or Orlando or Dallas. You could easily rent $5000 worth of gear for a lot less than $700 for a week, and it would be far better than a Rode mic and a Zoom recorder.
Click to expand...

Worth mentioning that Lensrentals has more audio stuff than you'd think, though not the top-end stuff, and you can get it anywhere.
 
Jason beaumont said:
Would you run the Mix Pre- D to the camera? Like Mic to Mix Pre- D To camera?
Click to expand...

So I guess you're going NT3 > H4n now? Yes, you can could change that to NT3 > MixPre-D > camera, although you'd likely get much better quality doing NT3 > MixPre-D > H4n. As a standalone mixer, the MixPre-D is really more of an addition to than a replacement for a recorder.

Although that starts to get frankenrig, especially if you're doing this all yourself with everything hanging off the camera. And a (new) MixPre-D is overpriced relative to the new MixPre recorders and so exceeds your budget. I say your best option is to just replace the H4n with the more affordable MixPre-3 (which is both a mixer and recorder), going NT3 > MixPre-3. And if you need more channels, the sale of the H4n would probably mostly cover moving up from the MixPre-3 to MixPre-6.
 
Not a problem Jason, happy to help!

The next thing you'll probably want to do, sometime in the future - is get a different type of dialogue mic to augment the NTG-3. The Sennheiser MKH50 is a great pick (And one of the stalwart microphones of its type on major film sets), (many recommend the Audix SCX-1 as a lower cost alternative, able to perform a similar function) if you're shooting primarily interiors you'll probably find a cardoid or supercardoid microphone provides a more natural sound in those environments, with less harsh reflections coming off of flat walls etc. If you primarily record dialogue in exteriors or large spaces then the NTG-3 will probably still be a very solid overall pick.
 
I'm going to go with the mix pre 6,and will def look into those other mics.
 
Is there any generic stores that sell the MIX Pre 6 Locally? (like a sam ash ect) Also does it provide phantom Power?
 
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