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I shoot concert video. I have a kind of unique model - I do a multicam shoot with only myself and one other operator - fixed wide shot, medium and close-up by myself and a 4th camera with the second operator. And I carry every bit of equipment in a single backpack. So I'm constantly working at trimming the weight and bulk of my equipment. I've managed to get it down to less than 50 lbs. This has meant swapping RG-59 video cables to RG-174, or regular mic cables for lighter ones like Canare L-2E5.
So, the next thing I'm looking to trim is my mixer. Right now I have a Tapco/Mackie 6306. It has the feature set I need, but the steel case and the external power supply is too heavy. And honestly, I don't use all the features. I only really need:
2 XLR inputs with trim and phantom voltage
Headphone monitor (preferably with substantial gain - I'm shooting concerts)
TRS out and hi-Z out
And before anyone suggests it, a Sound Devices USBPre 2 is lovely, but way out of my ballpark. I just need to pad down board outputs and monitor them, and occasionally use the same input for a pair of mics.
What haven't I looked out that is *light*. An aluminum case, switching power supply - anything to trim a piece that is currently more than five pounds down to something a lot more reasonable.
Any suggestions?
Follow Ups:
Browsing at Markertek turns up the Azden FMX-20 2-Channel Portable Mixer. And other things. Or maybe the cheaper ART Promix will do the job.
Looks right to me and its British to boot
If you go with the Soundcraft, wait for the price to drop. I got one at Xmas and love it but only paid $99 vs. $179 it`s listed at now. Check Amazon.
I was going to suggest the Audio Developments AD071 but it costs about the same as the Sound Devices you mentioned. It weighs 400gr or just under a pound so you can wear it on a belt or mount on the camera though.
Pretty much anything intended for film recording is going to be way out of my budget. But I see all sorts of 2 mic in boxes for recording to laptops. Do any of them have decent headphone monitoring circuits? Do they have an analog line out?
Have a look at Echo Audio, they make cheap&cheerful (as opposed to cheap&nasty) interfaces.
Sound quality is about as good as Apogee, never heard a bad thing about or coming out of an Echo unit.
May be they have something you can make to work for you (GinaG3?), especially if you use a laptop on site anyway as the mixer part could prove a problem in hardware.
Looks cool, though I think their AudioFire 4 might be a better fit, with a separate power supply. I'd hate to be locked to the laptop, which is busy recording HD video from my big camera.
Is the M-Audio Fast Track Pro decent? It seems to have more physical switches, better in a situation where the laptop may be busy. For some reason, they don't have a weight on their web site or in their manual.
My FastTrack Pro weighs 583 grams (not counting cables or power supply).
Admittedly I am not fully au fait with the M-Audio Fast Track so I can't say much about its quality, be it sound or build.
You could join gearslutz.com and ask there, 'nuff members with experience of all sorts of recording equipment and techniques. Just don't ask in the High End section!
I'll check it out, thanks.
I found a piece by Rolls, the MX34C. Is it total crap, or passable?
At $100 I'd give it a go.
If its unusable for you you can always sell it and I'd be more inclined to try this than any possible Behringer jobs.
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