SD442 vs SD302 x 2

Shawn Philip Nelson

Shawn Philip Nelson

Veteran
Here's my dilemma: I'm soon to take delivery of my Red One camera (yay!) and it has four channels on input. For the short term, my SD302 at 2 channels will do me fine, but then I'll want to be able to mix all 4 channels.

I presently own an SD302 and love it. If I sell it, I'll take a loss of a few hundred. I could probably get $1000 out of it, and then add $1500 to it and get the SD442. But, I could probably score a used SD302 for around $1000-$1100 and then use that in parallel!

So, would you buy a second 302 or take the hit on selling the 302 and pony up for the 442? Besides the additional discrete channels out, what advantages does the 442 have over the 302?
 
What? You are getting the Red One? You lucky devil!! What will be your day rate with that?

As to the questions, what about getting a cart mixer for when you need more channels.
 
The only other thing I noticed as an external feature is sweepable low cut filtering.

I'm in the exact same boat with having a 302 in my kit , Red arriving shortly and deciding what my audio upgrade path will be.

I've also been looking at the mini-xlr to regular xlr adaptor issue and I'm going to have trew make a set of very short mini-xlr to standard xlr cables which will have the regular ends mounted on a plate which will bolt to Red so I won't be putting any stress on the mini-xlr connectors.
 
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Yeah Oleg, that's my plan in the meantime, my next $1500 free for audio goes towards a Schoeps.

Mike, my day rate will vary based on package. The camera is very customizable and so will the rental packages. The website isn't up yet (in fact, it was recently registered) but I will be www.redcameranw.com
 
no, but it has it bennefits less humidity problems ,almost zero rf problems
much nerrow pick up
waht i say, that for dialog - every good mic is enouth
5 wiress sytems do better then 5 schopses
so this is matter of priority .
the schoeps logo is very low priority for me
 
Speaking from my own experience... when a scene is lit/framed/blocked so that you can't get the mic where you need to... or projects are on such a crunch that you can't wait for an airplane... or whatever... the gist is in most modern productions, unless you're on a soundstage... any really good mic is good enough... there's not much point in chasing the best because under most circumstances the factors limiting the quality of the sound will be situational and not gear related.

Now about the mixers... it depends on the work you do. For reality shooting 5 channels is pretty much standard (like the Wendt)... but if the choice was 2 x 302 or a 442 I'd have a really hard time deciding. I've used both a fair bit and I really like the 442. I like that you can trim balance left and right... so if you want to dial in just a little of another mic in, you can. On the 302 you can only send output left or right, not a little of both/either. Also I like the little PFL switches on each channel of the 442... verus turning the selector through all the options on the 302... which requires you to watch what you're doing.

But the double 302 can effectively become a 602... and that's pretty tempting also... so there you go... sorry I guess that didn't help much. Personally I like the 442 a lot better then the 302 PHYSICALLY and in operation... but you're probably getting more versatility, options, and resale value in the double 302... not to mention as you say, you can take 4 channels off the mix bag... so I'd be leaning towards 4 channel iso capability.
 
shawneous said:
Do you think the mkh50 is a better use of money than the Schoeps?
Click to expand...

by the way , on a current serial i run a couple of gefells and prefer them to shoeps only for the reason dont need put cut1s
switch to schopses only becouse the swivel for low selling
the setup are booms true the 302 then a@h+ 5 wierless and playback directly to a@h 14/4/2 then to 2 744
 
There isn't a right answer. How many channels do you regularly need? My first SD was the 302 and I briefly went to the 442 but did not sell the 302. After while I found I just used the 302 more. While the 442 has better faders and meters I just didn't find myself needing 4 channels for my work so I would default to 302 for size and weight.

Finally sold the 442 for almost what I paid and just rent if I am in situation that calls for more. Which has been rarely. But that is my situation. Your milage may vary.

If you do go with the 442 I would suggest holding onto the 302 for awhile before selling.

Cheers
 
another factor no one mentioned yet, is that 2 302's actually weighs less than a 442! weird but true, used two 302's last year.

only hassle is that you are not necessarily getting a 4 out mixer with two linked 302's - how do you plan on running the system? linked? independently?
 
far as i know (open to corrections here folks), the linked 302 route will give 6 in, 2 out - basically the link sends the 2 output busses of the slave mixer INTO the 2 output busses of the master mixer.

4 out can be achieved by running the mixers independently, but this will make for some monitoring headaches - unless you run the mixout feed into the return feed on the master mixer - that will let you check the output of the other mixer - but then no camera return feed! bummer. :)
 
I often run into a situation where I have to run two mixers independently. I solved the monitoring issue by making a headphone cable that lets me monitor mixer 1 in the left ear and mixer 2 in the right ear. Double male 1/4" to single female 1/4". May not be the best solution, but I am able to hear camera return from both mixers this way.
 
yeah, not great, but like room tone said, there are ways of making it "ok" in a jam.

This is definitely a feature SD could look into in the future. When the heck are they releasing something NEW?!
 
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