Why no one noticed Sound Devices USBPre 2 here?

ajcourtney said:
The pre's are really, really good - arguably just as good as the SD pre's based upon both the #'s and some anecdotal testing over at taperssection (I'm coming from multitrack event filming, not PBS nature shoots). We were wondering if Tascam used the same mic pre's as those in our DM3200/DM4800. We also have a couple of Yammie 01V's and the 680's pres are much better. Yes, you have to go into one menu, but it's relatively simple - hit the Rec Trim button and then select the channel(s) you want to change by pressing the round button beneath each channel # and turn the front-mounted knob. Very quick and very painless. And if you do pick one up, don't freak out during tracking when you monitor via cans because the headphone amp sucks. But when you drop the tracks into your NLE, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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Man... ANOTHER box with crappy headphone amps? Why do they do this? Monitoring is so important! All the fostex boxes are like this. Everyone uses sony mdr-7506s to monitor and when I had a fostex fr2 one day I crapped my pants at how bad it sounded then I calmed down when I got home.
 
this is the same sound card we use at work for room analysis (running smaart live)

its clean and dependable
 
SD USBPre 2 wasn't discussed much because the maker just began shipping. I'm waiting for more detailed hands-on reviews.
 
I read it from DR-680 forum. So I guess it's less likely to be biased. It seems they r excited to connect DR-680 and USBPre 2 over SPDIF. http://www.gearslutz.com/board/remote-possibilities-acoustic-music-location-recording/457094-new-portable-multitrack-recorders-tascam-8.html

"Same here, except the headphone out sounds quite good. A little thin and top-heavy compared to the USB Pre 2 headphone output which, by the way, sounds just awesome."

For discussing primarily for USBPre 2, http://taperssection.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=139081.0 click Print, and search for "headphone" keyword.

"By default, the outputs of the USBPre 2 only carry signal from the computer. There is a DIP switch that configures the USBPre 2 to send whatever signal is going to headphones to the outputs. This is how the USBPre 2 can be used as a preamp / converter in Stand-alone mode. When this option is engaged and the Monitor Mix knob is turned all the way to "PRE", the signal path from analog inputs to analog outputs is fully analog. So good thing I asked!"

"There is a lot of headroom on the headphone output and it is very clean. It is fully capable of driving even some of the really high-impedance headphones to very high levels. It will feel familiar to anyone who has experience with the headphone amps in our other products."

"The stereo signal from the internal bus is sent to all outputs simultaneously. You can send 2 channels out S/PDIF optical, 2 channels out S/PDIF coax, 2 channels out balanced XLR, 2 channels out unbalanced RCA, and 2 channels out both headphone outputs all at the same time."
 
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Vitaliy Kiselev said:
Btw, with added MicroTrack II (using it's digital input) you can get good solution :-)
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Genuine question. Why would you go to the lengths to buy something as robust as the USBPre 2 which will take bumps and scrapes in the field, but record to something that would shatter if you sneezed on it? All review point to the m-Audio MicroTrack II being made of glass.
 
Danielvilliers said:
I was more interested in the Sony pcm-m10, which has very good reviews and built quality. Would it work with the USBpre 2?
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You can input into the Sony using a stereo mini jack. The beauty of the M-Audio MicroTrack II is that it has S/PDIF input, which will yield better results. For its price point, it's looks a great little device, but there's quite a lot of reliability issues posted out there on the net. Which kind of makes me think the USBPre and it might be a bit of a mismatch...although one that will certainly work.
 
sam mallery said:
one of the reasons that the new sound devices usbpre didn't generate a lot of excitement is that it isn't a silver bullet solution for budget independent film making. The better sound devices product for production sound is still the mixpre.

When i think of the usbpre's place in production, i see it as a great option for mobile post production set-ups. A great way to record voice overs away from the studio. A great little mobile editing/utility interface. Not a great way for capturing sound on set.

In my opinion, you're asking for more trouble than it's worth to make your rig dependent on a computer. In stand alone mode, you are essentially just using the computer as a battery.

If you have a boom operator, they will need to turn their head away from the action to look at their level on the meters. Because the usbpre is tethered to the computer, they won't be able to adjust the level.

If you're using the mixpre on set, the boom op can strap it to their body, and they can adjust the levels on the fly if need be. You can plug the tape out into the line input on one portable digital recorder, and you can plug the xlr outs into the inputs of a second portable digital recorder so you get two copies of everything. If the batteries die, you swap them out quickly.

If you don't have a sound person, you won't have to worry about setting up a computer every time you need to shoot. This is the most critical distinction for me. It's trouble enough to worry about camera, light, and talent. Throw a computer into the mix and you're going to end up over your head needlessly.

Sure, on larger productions the sound department will often use laptops and audio interfaces, but that's not what we're talking about here. This thread is about the benefits of having two channels of sound devices for on-set audio in budget indie productions. The mixpre is still the much better choice here.

The one benefit of buying a usbpre that i haven't heard here yet is that in addition to being able to use it for mobile production, you will also be able to use it at home as the sound card for your editing computer.

And... As much as i'm excited about the gh2, don't forget you have a perfectly good audio forum here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/v6/forumdisplay.php?29-audio
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+42 agree

Shouldn't this thread be moved to the audio forum though?
 
itimjim said:
You can input into the Sony using a stereo mini jack. The beauty of the M-Audio MicroTrack II is that it has S/PDIF input, which will yield better results. For its price point, it's looks a great little device, but there's quite a lot of reliability issues posted out there on the net. Which kind of makes me think the USBPre and it might be a bit of a mismatch...although one that will certainly work.
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Do anyone know of any other budget recorder that has the S/PDIF input that can match the USBpre 2?
 
Ok... xmas is here. Today! I got ones for kids. So I need one for myself unless Santa gives free gifts.

USBPre2 isn't so portable because it needs a 5V power source and a recorder. I could buy Li-on battery and Sony MicroTrack II... but I doubt if I'm going to carry them all the time.

For run & gun setup, GH2 + Tascam DR-07 + windscreen. Just keep it simple.

For studio setup, a laptop + USBPre 2 ($650) + Azden SGM-1X ($160) + 7701B tripod boom mic stand ($19.99). I got M-Audio AV40 for reference speakers. Can someone recommend a studio headphone to monitor live-sound off the USBPre 2?

Since I already have CS5, I plan to learn SoundBooth.
 
Hi,

I am interested in this device since from what I understand it is very good for film dialogue which is my main interest. I already have a rode videomic and access to my schools numerous ntg-1 and I was about to buy a zoom h4n or dr100 for narrative film work but this is what I thought: If I can save money by not buying one of these recorders-300$ and by not buying a decent pc sound card 80$ and if i get a product that is miles better in quality for doing film dialogue, that is built like a tank and will serve me for many years to come, I could pay the difference. As I said I'll mainly be doing fiction with carefully planned shots so I would rather get the purest sound than get a more practical but worse sounding device like the dr100. That isn't to say that I'd be comfortable lugging around a laptop so I'd be really interested to hear pros and cons of different solutions for a portable recording solution that combines with USBPre 2. is there an alternative to the m-audio microtrack 2? any reccommendations on a decent pc tablet that operates win 7 and what would be the right size for one. I think the 10" ones are definitely not suitable for portability but i'm thinking if even the 7" might be too big? I know that the usbpre 2 with a battery and a 7" tablet isn't gonna be very confortable but i could come up with DIY case to hold them all neatly together and as i said for the kind of work i'll be doing if it's a package that is altogether about the size of a 7" fat book I wouldn't mind.

thanks a lot and i would really appreciate any input on this!
 
I wouldn't use a laptop for field recording. Too cumbersome. H4n, DR-100, MicroTrack II is alternative and portable. Add external USB battery. Then it's kinda bulky package. USBPre2, external battery, and audio recorder. BTW I don't have none of the gadgets.

Clean live audio monitoring seems possible. Post production voiceover recording is a nice feature. It can hook up to reference speakers during post-processing editing. Support for Windows got better. http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/...2_interface_with_asio_drivers/#When:18:00:32Z

It's all nice and versatile only if you can set up a nice rig to carry all gadgets. Some posted USBPre2 can get pretty hot so I guess you can't stack other components directly on it.

I realized I don't really have audio sources that are worth going through so much trouble. So I'm going to settle down on either rode videomic pro or DR-07.
 
I'd carry one even if I wouldn't get paid, if it were my film! usbpre2 looks really really good but it's just very hard to pull the trigger, especially when here in the UK it costs a bit under 600 british pounds!!!! that's about 950 dollars!!! yep you heard that right. man this europe price thing is really tiring me.
 
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