Sound Devices MixPre-3 II

What a beast! These preamps are insane! I love love love the Mixpre 3 II! If you’re thinking about either this unit or the F6, I had the same conundrum. I couldn’t decide. In the past I would go for the best bang for my buck (F6), but this time I decided to go for quality and I’m so glad I did. It’s genuinely as wicked as it looks. And customer support is well-known for being top-shelf—not that I’ve ever had to use them. Get this unit. You’ll be glad you did. P.S. The only thing is, if you think you can assign the PiP 3.5mm jack to a lav, you can, but you cannot achieve an additional track, yet. The updates are plentiful and I’m hoping to see it be able to record 4 tracks simultaneously in future. It only does 3 tracks and two additional tracks of a type of stereo bus mix down. It works for my needs.

I had a Tuscan audio recorder - and finally pulled the trigger to buy the PreMix and I LOVE it. Super easy to use. Easy to read interface. All the necessary bells and whistles for the serious film professional. I outfitted with an audio bag and have used it fairly non-stop. I ordered a Sony L-Battery adapter because this unit BURNS through AA batteries like there is no tomorrow. That is a BIG drawback - but get the adapter and you'll be glad you did. one other difficult thing about this unit is the sound card being installed UNDER the battery pack - so you have to pull the whole darn thing apart to take the audio card out... which is also a pain. Also has a nice AC adapter when in locations that allow it. I strongly recommend this unit - it is great.

Not very easy to operate as a first-timer but in a couple of hours I learned the basics. There is no good manual.

The MixPre-3 works pretty well in terms of a recorder. I use it in the field and find the compact size workable given the ability of the product. There are equally good but very bulky recorders and moderately good very small recorders and this small to mid sized unit beats both. I will say that a good mike does help the cause. I would give 5 stars if not for the fact that the thing eats batteries rapidly. I quickly ordered the Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C. Without it our recording time in the field is very limited. In the home or studio, hooking up to 110 volt AC works well. I've only had the recorder out in the field 3 times. I'll update if my position changes. Bottom line, this has started out as a good recorder. If you use it in the field, start with a good external power source and you should be set to go.

I use this for field recording audio for YouTube videos. It has impeccable sound quality and lots of headroom with 32-bit float recording. The build and interface are good, with thoughtful touches (e.g. you can stand it on any of its sides). Works great with a timecode cable to my Canon R5C, recording to the micro SD card. I power it from a USB C power supply.