Blackmagic Forum

Hello,

Yes another audio hardware thread. I wanted to specifically ask anyone who has used the Sound Devices 302 and the Sound Devices Mixpre-D about the quality of audio and future use with the Blackmagic camera.

I know the 302 cannot be mounted to the camera other then a roll of gaffer tape, with the upside of having an extra channel compared to the Mixpre-D, any thoughts?

thanks,

Marcel.

I used both.
The quality is very good.
But the handling is why I love these boxes.
With the tone-generator you can quickly setup your rec-level in camera.
You have good limiters preventing digital clipping caused by sudden high-level sounds.
The meters are big and bright enough that I can put the box in the corner of my
field of sight, and still see what happens on the audio part.

So the chance, that you get your audio right, is raised a lot.
I had to try it out to understand, what it does for me.
I´m an audio guy btw.

The mix-pre has a tripod-mount on the bottom, and a camera top mount as an accessories.

I´m still waiting for my BMCC, so I only can guess how it will sound together.
But usually in-camera line level recordings are no problem.

hth
klaus

Marcel, I've used the MixPreD for a few years now with my 7D and now it's mounted on my BMCC. Standby for the Audio Set REVEL and Rig in a few days.

Hi Marcel:

I have a loaner BMCC from DVeStore.com for a few days. The test shoot I did today went really well.

Here are the settings I used with my MixPre (the original version, not "D"):

I set the BMCC to line level input, and set the Ch. 1 Input level to 85%, and "Ch. 2 uses Ch. 1 Input". I set the cam's built-in mic input to 0%.

For this test I disabled the MixPre's limiter & disabled low-freq rolloff (e.g.: flat, no filtering).

When I output the MixPre's tone, the resulting BMCC recording (using the above setting) results in FCP7's VU meters showing -18db, a bit hotter than normal (-20db).

During today's shoot I used a Sennhesier ME64, and the BMCC's audio recording sounds very good to me: No noise that I can hear, and nice rich sound quality.

Let me know if the above doesn't work for you.

- Peter

P.S.: I hope to post the video online soon, but it might not be for a few days.

If you're on set, just hook up your laptop via Thunderbolt. Ultra scope has VU meters. You can set camera audio levels. That's how we've been using it on set.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the great feedback, I think the Mixpre-D works fine with the BMC after various reviews I've read/seen and your great feedback!

Much appreciated Peter, let me know once its up, would be cool to check it out.

Cheers again

I've found that at line level from my 302, I need to set my BMCC audio inputs at around 80-85% to get it to an appropriate level. To me, the sound was very noisy, lots of hiss. I've had much better results feeding it a mic level, boosting the output of the mixer through its menu feature and setting the BMCC audio inputs to around 35. Nice and clean. Here is a link that helped me a lot -
http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?p=13357

Thank you LDS

I also use the MixPre-D - it's an awesome mixer and the quality is top notch. You can also use the tape return output as two additional inputs (I've used for lav mics a few times), so it can be a 4-in 2-out mixer.

- Z

Zack Wilson wrote:I also use the MixPre-D - it's an awesome mixer and the quality is top notch. You can also use the tape return output as two additional inputs (I've used for lav mics a few times), so it can be a 4-in 2-out mixer.

- Z

Thats a great idea, thanks Zack!

A bigger question, do you know how long the battery inside the MixPre-D lasts?

Marcel Beck wrote:

Zack Wilson wrote:I also use the MixPre-D - it's an awesome mixer and the quality is top notch. You can also use the tape return output as two additional inputs (I've used for lav mics a few times), so it can be a 4-in 2-out mixer.

- Z

Thats a great idea, thanks Zack!

A bigger question, do you know how long the battery inside the MixPre-D lasts?

Marcel, Just shot with the BMCC yesterday. You defiantly need to be careful when using the MixPreD and it's Phantom Power. Keep a eye on the flashing power light. I'm now using a P-Tap with my MixPreD.

George E. Kennedy, Jr. wrote:

Marcel Beck wrote:

Zack Wilson wrote:I also use the MixPre-D - it's an awesome mixer and the quality is top notch. You can also use the tape return output as two additional inputs (I've used for lav mics a few times), so it can be a 4-in 2-out mixer.

- Z

Thats a great idea, thanks Zack!

A bigger question, do you know how long the battery inside the MixPre-D lasts?

Marcel, Just shot with the BMCC yesterday. You defiantly need to be careful when using the MixPreD and it's Phantom Power. Keep a eye on the flashing power light. I'm now using a P-Tap with my MixPreD.

Thats what I thought, thanks for the heads up!