What makes the biggest difference, mic or recorder?

slavikb said:
The MixPre can be powered by one rechargeable Sony battery (with the additional Sony battery tray), whereas with the DR60 you will be buying endless supply of AA batteries because you will never want to go into a new shoot with anything less than full batteries, especially after the first time they die on you mid-interview. So, each day, 4 new AA batteries. You can use rechargeables but will still be changing them in between interviews, just to be safe.

Anyway moral of the story, MixPre with any mic is better than the DR60 for the powering alone.
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FWIW, I run the Tascam DR60 MII with an Anker $20.00 USB battery brick, runs all day barely using 25% of the battery. I don't get the mania for people wanting to only use internal AA batteries on small recorders?
I put in AAs for backup, just in case the USB connection gets pulled out momentarily but Anker batteries make life so much easier than sweating running out of power all of the time.
That said, I think I am going to power the Mix Pre 3 with the Sony battery tray and the four Sony NP-750s I have laying around. AAs are a PITA.
 
ggrantly said:
Both the NTG2 and AT897 have the self power option which allows them to be used as a wireless shotgun with a non-phantom powered plug-on transmitter like a G3 system. This is beyond handy when you need it and is the main reason I keep the AT897. Phantom powered wireless is really expensive!
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Good point, I use the NTG2 (w/ battery) + G3 plug-on transmitter for interview style shots (or when it's OK for the subject to hold the mic). Tends to sound better than a lav and no issues with lav rubbing noises.
 
This is off topic mostly.

One of the things I really appreciate about the DR100 recorders is they have a dual battery system built in. There is a Tascam Li-Ion AND a battery tray for AA's. You can prioritize which battery bank you want to use first and then of course, it automatically switches to the secondary supply. I have never run this recorder in an all day phantom powered situation, so don't know the real endurance of it all, but I never do that anyway. It does give you peace of mind that only redundancy can give and this is all built in to the unit, so no external battery hanging off the side which kind of defeats the purpose of a mini-recorder.

Grant
 
puredrifting said:
Ha, ha, you beat me to it!
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And both of you beat me by miles :)... as someone who uses the Tascams (60D, 60DMKII, 70D) for all my sound work, I was all ready to jump in with the battery power observation, and then I saw that others have already mentioned it. Yeah, the Tascams are extremely infefficient power-wise compared to almost any others out there (including all the Zooms), and eat batteries faster than anything - but who in the world relies exclusively, or even primarily on batteries?? You can put in the batteries for safety (I don't bother), but you always, always, always use a USB powerbank, with another fully charged one as back up in your bag - it will last forever and a day, certainly longer than any shooting day. This really is a non-issue.

As to the OP, it really depends on the use scenario. I find that I use lavs more and more, and skip boomed mics whenever possible, which happens with increasing frequency - which colors my views of buying mics. I of course have a bunch of mics that I spent a lot of money on, but lavs are just so much easier to work with, I find myself drifting to their use. I realize that I'm something of a freak in that regard, and everyone and their brother will tell you how much better boomed mics are - and they're right!... except, out there in the real world, convenience is a big and often decisive factor - not having to deal with booming and all the limitations of a boomed mic placement (including for the camera department), it can outweigh any difference in quality. And truth be told, a well placed lav gives you enough quality for the audience out there - the audience out there is not other sound pros, but the general public. It's cheaper, easier, more convenient and less hassle - so I'll take the small quality hit (that is not even perceptible to most of the audience). Now, recording from lavs has its own set of issues and challenges, but on balance I think it's a big win. To each their own. Anyhow, that informs my perspective when thinking about recorders and mixers. But again, that depends on the kind of work you do. YMMV.
 
Thanks all for your inputs and thoughtful suggestions. This is indeed not my final kit. It is simply some foundational pieces. I have had a wireless kit that was Sony UDP knockoffs and it cost me in dropouts. I unloaded those and have been renting a variety of options to get a feel for what I find reliable and provide quality I can be happy with. Typically, I am booming a shotgun (rented the NTG2 and NTG4) or a hyper cardioid (I have rented the 4053 and the MKH50. Have not had access to the Audix yet) and ran those into a DR60II. My interest in the Mixpre3/6 was for the quality of the preamps, the analog limiters (Really nervous about clipping), and the ability for it to be triggered with a camera. An iOS remote app would also help with the latter feature and I could see meters on an iPad screen.

Ideal kit (I think) would be a solid shotgun (Deity Smic 2 was in the running btw), indoor mic (Audix or Senn), wireless kit that I can trust, and a quality recorder that's portable and flexible for OMB operations. So, about $2,500 :)

That is why I thought to start with the recorder and add the other pieces as budget allows.

Thoughts?
 
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George Loch said:
Thanks all for your inputs and thoughtful suggestions. This is indeed not my final kit. It is simply some foundational pieces. I have had a wireless kit that was Sony UDP knockoffs and it cost me in dropouts. I unloaded those and have been renting a variety of options to get a feel for what I find reliable and provide quality I can be happy with. Typically, I am booming a shotgun (rented the NTG2 and NTG4) or a hyper cardioid (I have rented the 4053 and the MKH50. Have not had access to the Audix yet) and ran those into a DR60II. My interest in the Mixpre3/6 was for the quality of the preamps, the analog limiters (Really nervous about clipping), and the ability for it to be triggered with a camera. An iOS remote app would also help with the latter feature and I could see meters on an iPad screen.

Ideal kit (I think) would be a solid shotgun (Deity Smic 2 was in the running btw), indoor mic (Audix or Senn), wireless kit that I can trust, and a quality recorder that's portable and flexible for OMB operations. So, about $2,500 :)

That is why I thought to start with the recorder and add the other pieces as budget allows.

Thoughts?
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NTG2: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/367747-REG/Rode_NTG_2_NTG_2_Battery_or_Phantom.html On sale for $179 ($90 off)
Audix SCX1-HC: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/242661-REG/Audix_SCX1_HC_SCX1_HC_Microphone.html $499
Sennheiser G4 kit with lav and plug-on transmitter for NTG2: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1385592-REG/sennheiser_ew_100_eng_g4_a_ew_100_eng_g4.html $899. Includes $100 gift card.

$179+$499+799 = $1477 (and if you can use the gift card right way, $1377).

Now you'd have an excellent wireless lav that won't likely drop out (my G3's have been solid), as well as a wireless shotgun. I use Panasonic Eneloop rechargeable AA batteries, freshly charged before each shoot for the wireless and the mic. The Audix requires phantom power- could use your existing solution (indoor shots).

For higher quality when you can boom the shotgun and Audix:

MixPre-3: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1333778-REG/sound_devices_mixpre_3_mixpre_3_mic_preamps.html $649

$1477+$649 = $2126 (or $2026 if gift card can be used). This means you can get the MixPre-6 and still be under your $2500 budget: $2376! ($100 less if gift card can be used)

You can rent higher-end mics from time to time into the MixPre when you need higher quality. I went straight from the NTG2 to the CMIT5U when I upgraded (the BP4029 is a mid-side stereo shotgun: specialized function vs. the mono shotguns). If you ever want/need to record 4 XLR sources (e.g. Ambisonic 3D or 4 separate channels from any sources), the MixPre-6 will provide that capability. Again, the NTG2 still gets used as the quality is decent and the battery/wireless capability is quite useful.
 
Looks like a number of used ntg-2 have been selling for 100$ ish on eBay lately. If it doesn't work for your needs or up to specs return or sell it off.
 
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