MIXPRE and the HVX200

John Froton

John Froton

Well-known member
Would there be some considerable benefit to using a mixpre microphone preamp/mixer with an AT4073a boom mic?

I am not familiar with the preamp settings in the HVX and would like to know if using a mixpre would offer improvement.

Thanks.
 
yes , you will ne able use normal limitter and better preamp
0dbu ton on your mixer= -20 dbfs on your camer a line level input , place the limiter aroun 16 dbu
run your preamp that normal conversation will pick to +6-10 dbu
make sure you have return from the camera to monitor the recording , the best is to use the rca outs , much cleaner signal and it leave your camera man aditional headphone out .
 
SD preamps much better than the HVX's preamps. As Oleg said go line level in, but setting Odbu - 20dbfs on the camera might be a little low for certain situations. S/N is key and so is dynamic range. For TV production (not episodic TV), setting tone to -12dbfs seems to be popular here in LA and editorial would agree. That doesn't leave much dynamic range though and is very good for music recording.

Limiter setting of 4 db to brick wall is good for that camera with the any SD mixers. -20dbfs is very safe and is standard for pro cameras but the prosumer ones, including the HVX, may produce better sound with a hotter signal. There is a lot of debate on this one. I am pretty sure Jay Rose advises 0dbu - 12dbfs on the DVX100.

Just my opinion, experiment with both and decide which situation is best. Also, you will need a (2) male RCAs to (1) female stereo Y cable. Hosa makes one for 5 dollars. Headphone amp sucks.
 
Dean Wuhl said:
SD preamps much better than the HVX's preamps. As Oleg said go line level in, but setting Odbu - 20dbfs on the camera might be a little low for certain situations. S/N is key and so is dynamic range. For TV production (not episodic TV), setting tone to -12dbfs seems to be popular here in LA and editorial would agree. That doesn't leave much dynamic range though and is very good for music recording.

Limiter setting of 4 db to brick wall is good for that camera with the any SD mixers. -20dbfs is very safe and is standard for pro cameras but the prosumer ones, including the HVX, may produce better sound with a hotter signal. There is a lot of debate on this one. I am pretty sure Jay Rose advises 0dbu - 12dbfs on the DVX100.

Just my opinion, experiment with both and decide which situation is best. Also, you will need a (2) male RCAs to (1) female stereo Y cable. Hosa makes one for 5 dollars. Headphone amp sucks.
Click to expand...

the-12 db setting for 0DBU have nothing with s/n ratio You get .
these setting came from music recording when you did mastering after compression so had very small dinamic range .
when you deal with dialog recording which could be at least 10-15 db dynamic
its better have more space till you hit the camera brick wall ( or betetr say A TO D limitation in the camera ).
the most problematic is to get used to sd miter since it isnt acurate and ditailed so i sudgest when you record make your + 12 dbu led dance from time to time e ven it is a red led :-) that would correspondent -8 dbfs on your camera . exactly where you want to be and still get aditional 4 db till your mixer limiter starts work( to adjust it right you will need connect the camera and set it, since there is no way to know when you ride the limiter potensiometer)
 
John Froton said:
Would there be some considerable benefit to using a mixpre
Click to expand...

Thought i'd just chime in here with a quick point.

If you are a camera guy, The considerable benefit to you is mainly the fact that the audio is controlled away from the camera. Even if the MixPre, or any other mixer, had exactly the same pres and limiters as the camera, the advantage of having it controlled live, and you being free to frame, focus and all that camera-mallarchy, is well worth the spend alone.

If you asking in an audio forum, you'll get the audio advantages (and the mixpre is definately a nice peice of kit IMO). I bet if you asked a similar question in a DoP forum, you'll be told that the considerable advantage of having a mixer is that the sound department can be away from the camera department, so each can concentrate on thier jobs.
 
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