Double System

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Outkasted

Member
I own a D90 and have been shooting music videos for the most part. I'm about to come up on some $ and me and my friends want to start shooting some movies. Obviously I'll need better audio than the in-camera stuff.

I was thinking about getting a Mixpre or MM-1 than going into a Zoom H2 or H4. Would this work? I can't run the Mixpre or MM-1 directly into the camera, so I have to go into a seperate recording system. I am willing to spend a little more for good audio.

I'd say I'm willing to spend $1000 not counting the mic(s) I'm going to buy. Whatever is the best option that will give me the best sound I'm down for. 2 Channel is fine for what I plan on doing for now. a 302 would be nice and all that, but it's a little over my budget and would be overkill at the moment. I'd still have to buy a recorder on top of that too.
 
You'll probably want a few different mics depending what kind of environments and situations that you are planning on filming. You really can't go cheap when it comes to audio. I know everyone says this, but it really is more important than the video.

For shotguns check out the Rode NTG-3. B&H has a kit with the mic, boom, deadcat, cables, shock mount, etc all for around $1k. If that's out of your budget, the NTG-2 is also quite capable. There are multiple starter kits available for it also.

As for the recorder, if you're considering the H2 or H4, just wait until the new Zoom H4n comes out. It's supposed to be available by the end of this month. It's an upgrade to the H4 and has much improved pre-amps (the old ones are a little noisy).

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1994&brandID=4

Don't forget your monitoring... The Sony MDR-7506 headphones are the standard.

The SD 302 is a good choice for a mixer, which will cover most situations and last you a very long time. The Mixpre also has good quality, but is much more limited. Why spend your money twice, when you can just get it right the first time? Just save up a little longer. In the meantime, work on writing and improving your scripts.
 
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A MixPre would give you more flexibility than the MM-1, since it's two pre-amps rather than one.

As for the Zoom, I have an H4 and use it for double-system. It works very well. But a few things to know:
- the XLR ins are mic-level only (and the MixPre is line-out only)
- the mic pre-amps in the H4 are not the best (really noisy, actually)
- the 1/4" ins are TS unbalanced
- you'll want to get extra SD cards... get the biggest ones that the Zoom can hold
- the built-in XY stereo mics pick up way too much handling noise, so only use them when the unit is stationary
- the included windscreen isn't very effective, and wind is a huge issue with the built-in mics
- despite some shortfalls of the built-in mics, they are fantastic for recording ambient sound beds

If you use the H4 with the MixPre, you'll need to convert the XLR balanced line-level signal out of the MixPre to unbalanced 1/4" TS line. There are cables available that make this conversion. The other solution is to use the 1/8" tape out from the MixPre and get a cable that runs 1/8" TRS>dual 1/4" TS. That frees up the XLR outs for other uses. In fact, you might look at getting a Beachtek XLR adapter as well so that you can run your MixPre to the camera as well.
 
What about the Sound Devices 702 ? If I'm spending over $1000 on a Mixpre and a Zoom h4n or whatever, it might be worth it to just go all the way. I'd get everything in 1 system and be done with it. It'd be a little extra cheese and mics might have to wait until my next Re-Up, but it looks like it'd fill all my needs for sure. Sound Devices 7 series must be capable of some good audio. I'd be tempted to use those pres for vocals in my home studio for music too. They have to be better than the M-Box.
 
Outkasted said:
What about the Sound Devices 702 ? If I'm spending over $1000 on a Mixpre and a Zoom h4n or whatever, it might be worth it to just go all the way. I'd get everything in 1 system and be done with it. It'd be a little extra cheese and mics might have to wait until my next Re-Up, but it looks like it'd fill all my needs for sure. Sound Devices 7 series must be capable of some good audio. I'd be tempted to use those pres for vocals in my home studio for music too. They have to be better than the M-Box.
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The 702 or 702T are fantastic, fully professional, built like a tank and able to hanfle almost any stereo recording situation.
 
There's absolutely no reason not to do that, as long as you have the budget! That's a much better solution all the way around. Will you still have some access, through borrowing/rental, of mics?

And please don't forget headphones.
 
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