Oh Sh*t I forgot it had WC input, gonna play with that!

Yes, Ray, you can use the Musician plugin or normal (audio project) mode as you wish. I've had the plugin since it came out many years ago, but only ever use it for times when I want overdubbing: the normal (audio project) mode is much better for straight recording. For example, you can't do MS linking in Musician mode. In Musician mode you also get lower max sampling rates, no TC, no ambisonics support, no metadata support via Wingman and no record start-stop trigger.

Cheers,

Roland

You can use them interchangeably. It asks you which type of project you want to start. If you are in Musician mode and want to start a regular Audio project, it'll reboot. Same if you are in Audio mode and want to start a new Musician project. No reboot occurs if you make a new project in whatever mode (Audio or Music) you are currently in.

You can record start and stop via Wingman in Musician mode; I just hauled out my MixPre to verify this as I know I've started and stopped recordings via Wingman plenty of times in Musician mode in the past.

The other thing that should be mentioned about the Musician Plugin is that the levels display is less optimal (to me) than in Audio mode, but if you use Wingman you'll get a much better view of the levels that way.

That's not what I, or SD for that matter, mean by record trigger doesn't work in Musician mode: record triggering is from timecode or HDMI flag from camera.

Cheers,

Roland

Yes, I agree with that: another good reason to use Audio mode, unless overdubbing etc.

Cheers,

Roland

Thanks for these insights Roland and bradh...it's great to be able to hear of your 'in-field' experiences with these operating parameters !

In regard to the TA3 mini-xlr connector, I just found this adapter…see link below. It would do the job, but a potential downside is the mechanical leverage force it would exert on the recorder’s connection socket, if the cable were pulled….not to mention the space intrusion it would cause for in-bag use. Nevertheless, it’s ‘a solution’…!

https://www.altronics.com.au/p/p0979...emale-adapter/

Ray, I would avoid such adapters and use short tails. These are easily (and cheaply) available, not least due to the need for TA3F to XLR male for outputs and TA3F to XLR female for inputs on some recorders such as the SD 788T and 888. And with the TA3 sockets on the MixPre-10 being limited to the two outputs, surely you would want a TA3F to XLRM not TA3F to XLRF anyway?!

Cheers,

Roland

EDIT: i.e. this sort of cable for outputs on MixPre-10: https://pinknoise-systems.co.uk/products/pncc-ta3-xlr-m

Yes I’m of the same mind…I already have the relevant connectors and cable, just need some quiet time, good lighting and magnification to do the soldering deed ! The gender-changing (apologies to Proj ‘25 !) at the large xlr end is easily accomplished with commonly existing adapters (eg as below)…but in this case short tails definitely rule over the clunky changers such as the one I cited 2 posts above…

https://www.altronics.com.au/p/p0980...e-xlr-adapter/

Ray, I'm confused: why post about the clunky connectors if already realizing TA3-XLR tails are a better solution? And if using such tails why do you need gender-changing adapters as well? Just solder the correct (male) XLRs when making them up. Like many, I have a clutch of TA3F-XLRF and TA3F-XLRM tails/short cables to cover use for inputs and outputs, without having clunky gender-changing adapters (which also add yet another connection in the cable runs).

Obviously, if you always need the same length of connection from your TA3 outputs on the MixPre-10, then it may well be worth having much longer TA3F-XLRM cables to suit this, rather than short tails: what are you using the left & right TA3 outputs on the MixPre-10 for?

Cheers,

Roland

I simply posted them as "an alternative solution" for people wanting a quick and instant adaption strategy from TA3 to XLR...not necessarily with Sound Devices recorders in mind at all.

As we've both concluded, for the MixPre recorders short tails are the more desirable fix, if for no other reason than the potential for damage to the recorder housing, if sideways force is applied accidentally.

Ah: that wasn't clear. Still not quite certain why you are making up TA3F-XLRF tails then using gender-changers, rather than making up TA3F-XLRM tails, but, evidently, that's your call! Have fun soldering: at least the MixPre-10 only has two TA3s vs ten on a 788T or 888!

Cheers,

Roland

The screen on my MIXPRE 10 has suffered some ingestion of damp or water, as about 1/3 is black (bit of an issue with touch screens, tiny ones too.)

Apparent SD want £750 to fix it!

That seems well high.

Any experiences of this??

Unless I am reading it wrong, the linked chart shows the repair at $345 for a MP10

https://www.sounddevices.com/support/

Never delegate any work, even to your boss!

Thanks for that. Boss must have seen top left corner and assumed.

That is really useful as I was about to buy a replacement (not a MixPre but a different RME solution)

At least the MixPre user club is friendly!

I’m needing to go back to basics, in terms of creating a pre-concert setup workflow sequence for the MixPre 10II….

In other words, because my concert recordings vary so much in setup complexity from one to the next, there’s no applicable ‘basic setup template’ I could usefully store in memory for quick recall….it’s easier to start from a blank slate each time.

To do this, is the best first step to go to Advanced mode and lock that in, or to sequentially go through setting and arming each input, after selecting Project > New and naming it via date ?

It seems that to omit selecting either Basic or Advanced or Custom mode initially, can very quickly lead a user down a rabbit hole of locked-in and unwanted or limited-functionality options ?

Last week I diligently set about arming each track, assigning them as mic or line etc…and then activated inputs 9 and 10 as line-ins. I disabled slate tones and made a test recording of the rehearsal.

When I commenced the concert recording, and briefly flicked the spring-loaded “star” lever above the transport joystick, I activated and recorded a loud blast of 400hz tone across all the armed channels, until I released the “star” spring-trigger !!!

Not what I was expecting, nor great for my client’s recording …and how did that become the default action for this button push, after I’d disabled tone for inputs 9/10 in the menu ?

Presumably I’d failed to lock-in, store or select the rehearsal’s settings ?

I’m finding this to be an unforgiving, pedantic and tedious to set-up recorder….not assisted by the ergonomically impossible touch-screen. I know it’s entirely a case of user unfamiliarity on my part….but I think if I can just crack this ‘initial setup procedure’ each time (knowing what to select, store, disable, and in what sequence)….I’ll regain confidence rather than approaching each recording gig with dread and apprehension !

Oh, that's a bummer. :(

I don't own a Mix-pre 10 of any sort but SD recorders have always been a bit "fussy". I think it comes with the "lots of options in a small package" territory. Not that that makes your discovery any less traumatic.

I have owned my 788T for almost 20 years and every once in a while, I discover some "feature" that I had never known existed. Mostly these are good, or at least interesting, discoveries. Knock wood but I have never had a problem that was anything more than a minor annoyance with my 788T. But after 20 years, I suppose there are still a few traps I haven't discovered.

All said, the 788T and a few mics are still on the "NEVER SELL" list.

D.

Sorry to hear that you are still struggling with the MixPre-10, Ray.

I don't think the MixPre recorders are difficult to set up at all; the last settings you used will be there when you power up again anyway (unless you select a preset). I can't see any reason to use other than advanced mode, so would take that variable (i.e. switching mode) out.

What were you using before that makes this seem such a difficult field recorder? It's a lot easier than, say, a 788T: better menu structure and, of course, fewer routing options etc.

Cheers,

Roland

I’m encouraged that your experience is different from mine with the device, but explaining that someone shouldn’t have difficulty, since you don’t, isn’t progressing down a productive road ?

The Zoom R16 I used previously was ready in seconds, but, unless you’re particularly familiar with it, is an unhelpful and irrelevant comparison…I’m dealing with a different recorder now.

If there are any simple steps I’m omitting that users typically employ when starting up the recorder and making project settings, they would be most appreciated. Perhaps you immediately reach in to stored preset templates you’ve made ?

Do I need to go directly to Basic/Advanced/Custom before doing anything else…to set the operating parameters ?

To repeat…a simple skeletal summary of the initial settings you’d (Roland or any MixPre II user) make after switching the recorder on would be helpful.

I typically want the following features to be in action:
Channel pairing active on some…not on others
Phantom power active on all mics
Mostly mic inputs, but at least 2 line-ins also.
No M-S pairing, no plugins, no timecode
No recording of L/R mix, ISO’s recorded alone is fine.
No limiters active, no slate tones
Headphone monitoring

I’d call that ‘basic’ recording….SD clearly calls it ‘advanced’…I’m happy to differ with them on those semantics…but perhaps I should be making settings in Custom mode instead ?

Having made your settings, do you typically make a short 3 seconds dummy recording, simply to lock these in…or would you store them as a preset template ?

Thanks for any typical concrete hints that you use…rather than simple confirmation that I’m doing things wrong (that truth is already self-evident…)

I can arrive at a concert venue (with short precious setup time) to find variables such as: additional unexpected instruments to mic up, needing to interface with the venue’s gear (eg I’d be using their main pair as a post-mixer line-input, rather than rigging my own mics as same)…so making specific settings at home beforehand isn’t realistic

I’m finding I can be devoting more time to calibrating/setting/verifying the inputs on the recorder than being able to gaffa down cables, setting up cameras, repositioning spot mics etc. It wasn’t this way previously…the only variable is the new recorder and my workflow struggle with it

I’m aiming to persist with mine, past the current toddler tantrum phase, until it reaches that status for me !

Ray, I have given you productive advice (and not I think for the first time), which is to stay in advanced mode all the time. So, on switching on, you don't need to go 'directly to Basic/Advanced/Custom before doing anything else': the recorder will remember you are in Advanced mode so give this no more thought.

Indeed, the recorder will retain settings, even without using presets: so if you are typically doing the same thing, as it sounds as if you are, then you shouldn't have to change much. In your case there should have been no changes from rehearsal to actual recording, and, more generally, it sounds as if all you might have to change from recording to recording is whether a channel is armed (i.e. will record), linked (for stereo pair) or mic vs line, all of which are done by pushing the respective channel knobs and selecting the options on the two simple pages of channel options that then appear (no scrolling down etc.). You don't mention trim/gain setting, but if using 24 bit you can do that there too.

The other settings you use will be set and forget if you typically use the same each time: limiters are in menu>system (p2); and recording LR mix or not is in menu>record (p1), where you can also set the sample rate.

And it is useful to know where you have come from (in this case an R16), since this isn't a field recorder so I don't make unhelpful comparisons saying this is how, for example, a MixPre recorder does x differently from a 7-series recorder. And, incidentally, I also had a similar device (the R8) when I got my MixPre recorder back in 2017.

Cheers,

Roland

And just to add, Ray, since the channel options are quickly changeable via pushing the channel knobs, and the key system variables are in the menu>record and menu>system options, I don't use presets at all: and that is with much more varied swapping of options than it sounds as if you need.

Cheers,

Roland

Yes, that's how I operate it too. Setting up a new project in advance (which I do before each recording session) simply involves arming however many channels I need, enabling/disabling phantom power on each track, enabling/disabling any high-pass filter, and naming the tracks. I have the * menu set up to add markers.

I usually use mine with a control surface for transport, adding markers, arming/disarming, panning, and mixing if I want to do a live mix. That's a lot easier than menu-diving and having to use the little screen.

Have any mixpre10ii users found any nice padded cases for their unit...i do have the orca bag that comes with their thomann deal....but on certain jobs id prefer a smaller padded case that could be thrown into my bigger gearbag...ive looked a few times but never really found something id like for this.

Cheers

This is just a mention of how I setup my MixPre 10ii. Not trying to assert anything-- just giving another data point (which may or may not be relevant to anyone's practice).

I use Custom Mode. I set up gain (because I want the channel knobs to control gain) and output to "basic", and everything else to "advanced". I set up all the channels (except linking) and arm them (because I usually use all or most, and it is quicker to make sure the ones I don't use are unarmed).

Then when I turn it on, all I have to do is set linking for the stereo pairs, and set levels (but I pretty much know where they will be). And because I use 32 bit float, I don't even have to get that exactly right before the concert (in which I am usually a playing member, and frequently am unable to do a sound check).

For me, it's a simple process. But others may experience it differently.

DG

Check out various makeup bags on places like Amazon. Seriously you can get some decent padded stuff for not a lot of $.

I also searched for a while and finally gave up and purchased this:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...lity_Case.html

It's a little large for the mixpre 10 but does the trick and you can throw it in a backpack easily!

Cheers for that....Yeah, had come across these before...i'm surprised there isn't anything better readily available for them these days...i've bought really nice padded cases for my keyboard and mouse and most of my other smaller items too including laptop, batterys, chargers, lenses etc)...small but rugged/waterproof and well padded neoprene type cases....just enough to give a bit of extra protection when in a bigger gear bag.

It kinda annoys me that the orca bag cant actually close...i know it has that palstic cover thingy, but id like to be able to zip it closed when carrying around...i don't want bits falling out or debris/dust covering my mixpre.

I bet there is something perfect out there tho

does that case have any extra support around the edges or any padding?