A preamp and my zoom?

[Rick R]

The F8 does not make a very good 'mixer', especially if mixing on-the-fly, and/or sending audio to multiple devices. Outputting a +4dB signal is also not possible. Otherwise it's a decent budget priced recorder.

 

[drapeama]

A) - SD MixPre

B) - Mackie VLZ4 1202

The MixPre would be a very good investment, but so far, I don't think I can justify the cost of it.
The Mackie seems great, I'll have a look at it.

That being said, I just pulled the trigger on an old FP42 from Shure for 75$. I'll see if it's any good. Will probably use it for LIVE event audio mostly.

Do you need to be able to move around or is being tied down to a desk ok? As if you need to move an Mackie VLZ4 1202 is out of the question.
Sound Devices MixPre-D (or 302, or even 442) or all good choices to go with if you want a bag set up with your DR40.
[..]
Thus I'd go with one of these options I list above, unless you find a cracker good deal on a secondhand Sound Devices unit (unlikely as they hold their value well, but you might get lucky).

For Live audio I'll have it tied down to a desk, or a specific location with the camera. Won't be moving, so AC isn't an issue.
For anything that would require to move around, which will be booming the audio, I think I can live with the DR-40's preamp. So far, the sound isn't bad out of it with the AT-875r.
Sound Device would be great, but can't afford, unless I get a really paying gig any soon!

As others have mentioned the field changes a LOT if you can use AC power. There are quite a few inexpensive mixers available (that need AC power).
The other question is limiters, do you need / want them? I would argue that if you are doing anything that may have surprise loud bits you do.

I was wondering for a all-in-one solution, but I think I'll be using the mixer mostly for LIVE audio, where AC power is available.
Limiters, yes, otherwise I'd lower the volume and "boost" it in post most probably. That's what I do at the moment.
As I pulled the trigger on the FP42, I'll try to test it. Maybe I'll find it enough for my needs. Anyway, 4 input with phantom power, for LIVE sound, should be plenty enough. Unless the preamp are really noisy.

*Also, I noticed there's a "ground" post behing the unit. I'm not much knowledgable with audio gear, could someone enlight me? I haven't searched for the manual yet. Thanks!

 

[Rick R]

The ground post is just an option, and for the most part can be ignored, but it's nice to have, if gear needs to be tied together to avoid hum. It could also be used for different studio-type grounding schemes where the AC power cord grounds are floated, typically in the 'star' configuration, which was common in music recording studios.
I had an FP32 (1st generation FP series) which was a little noisy, but acoustical borne BG noise usually masked it in ENG work. I would assume the FP42 to be simular .

 

[drapeama]

Thanks for clarifying it!
I'm very curious about the noise floor of these units. If anything, I'll be using it only for LIVE sound when -10dB are applied so it shouldn't be much of an issue!
Thanks again!