Any opinion experience with the Azden field mixers?

Danielvilliers

Danielvilliers

Veteran
Any one has any idea or have used the Azden mixers? I had decided to buy a sound devices Mixpre-D and Sony recoder for my audio for my personal project mainly short films. This seemed to be the most affordable way to buy the SD quality every body craved about. But unfortunately you cannot buy the mixpre-D outside from America from BH. So now I am back to square one.


I have seen those mixers from azden but they don't have a lot of reviews on the net. One like the 4 channel FMX-42a has some very good feedback on BH and I have seen this review http://www.anythingsound.com/2012/01/25/azden-fmx-42-a-field-mixer-review/ which is very positive. There is another 3 channel FMX-32a which is in the $ 450 (a review of the previous model http://www.eventdv.net/Articles/News/Feature/Review-Azden-FMX-32-3-Channel-Field-Mixer-37893.htm) that seems to be better than the previous model reviewed above.


So if any people had any feedback for me it would be nice. The price are very affordable and would be interesting even to the people who have bought recorders with not so great preamp like the zoom. I find it strange that we don't have more people talking about them because they seem to be real step-up from those low end recorders with better preamp, sound control, built etc.
 
I have little direct experience with Azden products, except for an early model VHS wireless, which was, for the most part.. useless. In my 25yr tenure, they have never been highly regarded by pros.
 
Sound Devices is pretty much at the very top of the hierarchy of respected brands of audio production equipment.
Azden is pretty much at the very bottom. You will find few (if any) people here (or similar forums) with anything good to say about Azden.

Now it is not impossible that Azden could start making good gear and try to reverse their reputation.
But it will be a very uphill battle because most respected reviewers of legitimate equipment never even look at Azden.
 
Danielvilliers said:
I had decided to buy a sound devices Mixpre-D and Sony recoder for my audio for my personal project mainly short films. But unfortunately you cannot buy the mixpre-D outside from America from BH
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Hey Daniel,

Are you from Canukistan like me? :-)

If so, you may want to buy a Sound Devices MixPre-D from TrewAudio, which has a Canadian store right here in Toronto, and another store in Vancouver. ( see bottom of linked web page )

TrewAudio's price is the same as B&H Photo, so I don't see any problems buying from them. ( they are motion-picture audio experts, carry lots of cool pro audio gear, and can do all kinds of handy customizations for you )

Sound Devices MixPre-D : $749 US at TrewAudio
 
I've had a 3 channel FMX-32a for about a year and only just had a chance to use it a month ago. Wow! way better on-board noise filters and kickarse Preamp. I had to use it to preamp a VO set up I hacked together from a Harlan Hogan portabooth, Sennheiser MKH 416 and the recorder as the Zoom H4N. The take with the Azden FMX32 was markedly cleaner than straight into the H4n. I've not had the privilege of owning a SounDevices Mixer yet, but I'd get the Mixpre if I had the $.
All this because I screwed up the live take of the audio on set and decide to try and VO my own video , with limited success I'm afraid.
Levels off on the recorder. All levels are dialed on the FMX32 and yes, the mic is phantom powered (48V) from the FMX32 as well. The Sennheiser MKH 416 is useless indoors, UNLESS you booth it as I did. then I used it like a lip mic with a pop filter in front. worked very well!
Anyway... have a listen...
https://vimeo.com/47553892
 
Do you need the digital out of the MixPre-D? If not checkout a used SD Mixpre or Shure FP-24 (which is almost the same exact unit as a Mixpre, but badged with a Shure logo). You'll save yourself a couple of hundred dollars. Trew Audio has a used FP-24 in Canada right now for $450:

http://www.trewaudio.com/consignment/mixers/

It's not the best used price (I just snagged one w/bag for $350) but it's worth it for sure. Check out the classifieds on here and JWSound, in fact, there's a Mixpre in Toronto for $400:

http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/13301-fs-mixpre/


Good luck!
Zephyrnoid said:
The take with the Azden FMX32 was markedly cleaner than straight into the H4n.
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I dunno if this is saying much as the H4N has really noisy preamps.
 
@Zephyrnoid Curious, were you trying to ADR the sound on that promo? The audio has no room presence so the vocals sound pretty disconnected like voice over. It's also pretty out of sync. I wasn't sure if you were trying to match or just do straight voice over.
 
Danielvilliers said:
Any one has any idea or have used the Azden mixers? I had decided to buy a sound devices Mixpre-D and Sony recoder for my audio for my personal project mainly short films. This seemed to be the most affordable way to buy the SD quality every body craved about. But unfortunately you cannot buy the mixpre-D outside from America from BH. So now I am back to square one....
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I see nothing on the B&H site to indicate they can't ship SD products outside the USA. Have you tried to actually place an order for the MixPre from them?
 
Steve House said:
I see nothing on the B&H site to indicate they can't ship SD products outside the USA. Have you tried to actually place an order for the MixPre from them?
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This is something new with the B&H website. I have noticed it with a few brands like Sound Devices, Sennheiser, and Sony Pro video cameras. ( I am sure there are other products too )

I think this is the result of companies protecting their Canadian distributors, so Canadians will have to buy from Canadian sources, which I don't have a problem with as long as we are not being gouged by being forced to buy Canadian.
 
Yep, I see it now. The B&H site doesn't actually say they can't ship to Canada until you add the product to your cart and try to calculate shipping. At any rate, B&H and Trew Audio advertise the same price for the MixPre-D so there would be no advantage for us Canadians to get one through B&H even if it were possible.
 
Chipgreen said:
@Zephyrnoid Curious, were you trying to ADR the sound on that promo? The audio has no room presence so the vocals sound pretty disconnected like voice over. It's also pretty out of sync. I wasn't sure if you were trying to match or just do straight voice over.
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No I wasn't really trying to overdub as I was really rushed and had to simply blind record the post audio . In a proper ADR session, I would have sync'd my overdub but that would have required at least a rough cut video, which I had no time to do. Hence the horrid out of sync. RE: no room presence. Actually I did add some in post but wanted room for the background sound track and really over-emphasized the main voice. Almost like I was speaking a British English on video and translated to North American English in VO. Anyway. The Azden's pre-amp and filter is WAY better than the H4N and the unit is only $400 new. You get what you pay for- maybe. Ever hear or can you cite a Side by Side comparison of the various field mixers? No? ME EITHER ! LOL!
 
I have an Azden FMX 42-4 mixer and have had a great experience with it. It's clean, reliable, and the batteries last a long time. I picked it up with 3 Sennheiser G3 systems and a have a couple of different boom mics to round out my kit and enable me to do sound under certain circumstances. I do narratives mostly.

More often than not, I have hired a production sound person for my projects. Prices for their service have varied from $250 a day up to $800. I wanted to get the sound gear so that I could, when appropriate, offset that cost. My own, less than professional kit, has rendered much better results than I expected.

The value to hiring a professional production sound person is their ability to do the work of aquiring good sound (there's a lot to it), know how to get the best sound for various conditions and very often have the top line gear such as Sound Devices mixers and Schoeps boom mics, Lectrosonics wireless systems and high quality lavaliere mics. They are better and for critical work, you're better off with a sound guy, IF you can afford one for the project at hand. A kit like that can be many times more expensive and for my low budget projects, prohibitive. If I were making my living doing sound, I'd want that gear and when you hire a pro, expect it.

If you can't, or if you choose to experiment yourself with production sound, I think the Azden FMX 42-4 mixer is great for the price.
 
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So I just procured two DSLR mixers from Beachtek and have to add something comparable from Juicedlink to make for fair comparison. I was supposed to run the tests into a Panasonic GH3 but the delivery has been delayed. I may have to rent a camera to do this. I think Juicedlink ought to be fair and include Azden in thier next 'comparison'.
 
Azden gear is not generally not highly regarded by most film audio professions. The sound would probably be of usable quality depending on one's expectations and audio skills.
 
In a few words this product , is the champ of non adopting RFI regulations :
Radiated RFI is usually contolled by providing proper shielding in the enclosure of the
equipment. Conducted RFI can be attenuated to satisfactory levels by including a power
line filter in the system. The filter suppresses conducted noise leaving the unit, reducing
RFI to aceptable levels. It also helps to lower the susceptibility of the equipment to
incoming power line noise that can affect its performance.
 
Two points the unit is NOT emitting RFI, unless you are now talking about your phone, which IS pumping out a ton of RFI.

Second is this is powered from batteries, it's DC, there is no RFI on the power line.
So again what you have quoted here has nothing to do with the unit you are complaining about.

And this is not Azdens site, if you want to complain to them do it but doing it here is not helping.
 
Noiz2 said:
but doing it here is not helping .
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You bet it does help , I got the answer from Azden

Ok guys great news this comes directly from the factory in Japan, MR Mikuriya helped me with the problem , and I'll share with you this valuable information.
The unit is sensitive to RFI because of shielding, the enclosure has 2 metal sides, where the controls and connections are, those do not give problem.
The problem is with the other 4 sides which are plastic sides, so He adviced me to build a case in fabric with foil paper inside the case, I mean between 2 layers of fabric, this has to be
double layer of foil paper, or a thick one, leaving an opening for the controls with metal enclosure.
AND GUESS WHAT it does work I can have a cell phone in my pocket and does not give any noise at all, I tested it just by wrapping the sides with foil paper, and woooorks!
Now will start making the bag or case. Of course now this will be used in my belt, no under the camera.
Hope this helps a lot of people and Thank you for sharing but the real help came from Mr Mikuriya
 
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