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Mix Pre D vs Tascam DR60?

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    Mix Pre D vs Tascam DR60?

    Hello all,

    Apologies for the rudimentary question, but I cannot find any info that compares these two devices online. Can anyone tell me how the internal recording sound quality of the Tascam DR-60 compares to the internal camera audio recording with the Sound Devices Mix Pre D?

    I want the best quality possible but am having a hard time discerning the difference that will be yielded between these two products.

    Recorded sound will be sent to Canon 1DX and 1DC with the Mix Pre D.

    Thank you!
    ~Omar

    #2
    Originally posted by Omar N View Post
    Can anyone tell me how the internal recording sound quality of the Tascam DR-60 compares to the internal camera audio recording with the Sound Devices Mix Pre D?

    I want the best quality possible but am having a hard time discerning the difference that will be yielded between these two products.
    I feel your pain -- it's hard to tell from the literature. But this we do know -- that audio on a stills camera, even one as expensive as a 1DX, is an afterthought. In particular, microphone pre-amps in cameras are notoriously bad and noisy, so much so that even cameras like the GH3 which are slewed towards video require the operator to turn down the pre-amps are far as possible to get acceptable sound.

    Beyond that, comparing the SD MixPre-D, at $900 a field mixer only with no recording capability, to the Tascam DR-60D, at $350 a field mixer / recorder, has to be comparing apples to oranges. The SD's pre-amps and limiters will be much better then the Tascam's. I mean, that's what the SD is all about, they darn well better be good. OTOH, the Tascam's recorder is almost certainly better than the recorder for the 1DX.

    The thing about audio is, it's only as good as its weakest link. If you run a Sanken CS-3e into a Zoom H1, you're going to get $100 sound from a $1500 mic -- disappointing, that. And I think that's what you're looking at here -- both options will disappoint you because you're limited by either the recorder in the camera, or the pre-amp stage in the DR-60D. If it's me, I'm going to want to pair this camera with a better audio chain than either of your options -- at least a MixPre-D feeding a Tascam DR-680. But that's just me.

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      #3
      Your camera will be the weakest link in the SD MixPre-D to camera audio chain.

      When I want the best audio I can get from my own gear, I use my SD MixPre-D mixer and connect the TAPE-OUT from the mixer to the LINE INPUT of a Sony PCM-M10 recorder tucked into the mixer bag. This works quite well, and is only limited by the -75 dB RMS noise-floor of the Sony recorder. I also own an Olympus LS-12 recorder that I sometimes swap with the Sony. Both recorders have a -75 dB RMS noise-floor from LINE level audio. ( to get a better noise floor than this would likely mean buying a Sound Devices recorder which would be in the -100 dB RMS or better range )

      I haven't used the Tascam DR-60, but I expect it will behave a lot like my Tascam DR-100 Mk2, where the mic pre-amps are good as long as you don't go past about 70 percent of it's maximum gain. The Tascam pre-amps are nowhere near as good as the Sound Devices mixer pre-amps, but then you're paying almost one third of the price of the SD mixer. ( SD mixer has an outstanding 2-stage limiter too )

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