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Re: preamp quandry

Subject: Re: preamp quandry
From: "natureguyusa" natureguyusa
Date: Wed Dec 5, 2012 7:53 am ((PST))
John,

I replied to you off list about my preamp due out in the Summer that will b=
e almost half the cost of a MixPreD while having the same features, and bet=
ter in many ways. I thought I would add that you might consider a Tascam DR=
-100mkll. For $275, this recorder has an SPDIF input that will bypass all t=
he preamps or line inputs. Paired with the right preamp that has a SPDIF ou=
tput(like the one I will be manufacturing), you will achieve the best recor=
dings possible at a fraction of cost of say a Sound Devices 722. I have alw=
ays used digital outputs/inputs to bypass any preamp issues all the portabl=
e recorders have. This is currently the lowest cost recorder with a SPDIF i=
nput that I have found, and it would be my choice if one of my older M-Audi=
o Microtrack 2s fails.

Does anyone have test information on the preamp performance of the Tascam D=
R-100mkll?

Bruce Rutkoski
Owner
www.natureguystudio.com

--- In  John Crockett <> wrote:
>
> Greetings All,
>
> I've been saving my pennies for a Sound Devices USBPre2, the only SD
> device in financial reach for me, only to discover that the price has =

> recently jumped a couple of hundred dollars. Yikes. It no longer
> seems reasonable given that I am not a pro. I use my recordings in a
> professional capacity in a concert setting, but played over a concert =

> PA system, recording noise levels are not really an issue once we're
> in the mid to upper echelon.
>
> I only need this for powering a pair of AT3032 mikes in a PBBA. All
> my other mikes are PIP or self-powered and not so quiet (NT4, ME66,
> EM172). I am currently using a ART USBDualPre preamp because it is
> what I have on hand. It has an EIN of about -120dBu, and it is
> clearly adding noise to the mikes, but 3032/dualpre combination is
> still a couple of dB quieter than my Rode NT4, which is the mike I
> use most often.
>
> For recorders, I have a LS-11 and a Sony MZRH1 Hi-MD. I sort of wish
> I had bought the LS-100 instead of the LS-11, but I was saving
> pennies for the sound devices, so that is as it is. My thinking also
> was that recording technology, storage media, powering capacity, may
> all improve. For instance, SD cards are clearly replacing CF, and may =

> themselves be replaced. But mike preamps  are pretty much at their
> theoretical limit. They are not going to get much better. Spend the
> money on a good external preamp that will work with any recorder with =

> a line input, for a long time to come. That was my thinking until
> this price jump.
>
> So, what would you do in this case?
>
> Stick with the ART USBDualPre and accept the 1 - 2 dB of extra noise
> compared to the best?
> Buy a portable Phantom unit (ART or Rolls) and use it with the LS-11
> or Hi-MD?
> Look for a used SD MixPre on eBay for <$600?
> Buy a mid-cost recorder with decent preamps (LS-100)?
> Continue saving even more pennies for a Sound Devices unit and hope
> the price doesn't become an ever-receding horizon?
>
> If you have experience with any of these, which do you think would
> yield the best results for the price? My recordings run the gamut
> from individual species close and at a great distance, to both noisy
> and very quiet soundscapes.
>
> I am somewhat inclined toward getting a Phantom supply and seeing how =

> much benefit that brings. I've also been happier with the EM172 array =

> than I expected to be and perhaps should stop questing after the holy =

> grail!
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> John
>
> John Crockett
> Westminster, Vermont
>
> Let us live in harmony with Earth
> And all creatures
> That our lives may be a blessing
>
>
>
>








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