Sound Devices Mixpre 6 - Review of custom settings, USB power and a couple of (now fixed) problems 

Try emailing Sound Devices, i don't have a 3 so can't check it

yes me too

You're welcome, glad you liked it!

any USB-C to USB-C cable should work. I get all day out of it. At least 8 - 10 hours with a couple of phantom powered mics

@@nuancedfilms5133 Thank you so much for that information. That'll really help me find some power options for my Mixpre 6. The included 4 battery caddy is totally inadequate. I wasn't too enamoured by the 8 battery caddy or NP-1 options either.

With some regular enaloops i'm not getting long. Couple of hours max without powering 4 mics. I don't think the phantom is where it will be used much anyway, its the processing and screen IMO. Short interviews or SFX gathering maybe ok with 4AA but otherwise by the time you've set up you'll need to change them. I'm not disappointed much though as can't expect miracles.

And have you tested with the Portable Power Bank you featured? Better than 4AAs I imagine?

used it for about 3 hours the other day with 2 phantom powered mics plus it partly charged the batteries that were in the wireless receivers and it went down to 3 out of 4 lights on the indicator. Should last all day

Nuanced Films Nice, thanks for sharing this. It's very helpful!

Its an old bag MX-C51 also says 11/00 on the label but not sure if that's a date or something else. Can't be sure what it was made for but It fit a Mixpre-D but was too small for a 302.

Thanks for the quick answer. Seeing the color, I thought it is a Portabrace model... Will get the MixPre-6 next week, still searching for a suitable bag.

Hi, can you please update which bag you bought? I'm looking at K-Tek Stingray Junior and orca 28 for mixpre 6 with access. and 2 wireless lavs. K-Tek Stingray MixPro I don't like, its just too small.

Yes it's ok now, i added that it was fixed to the description but youtube no longer allow annotations unfortunately. Left the video up for the other info

Np Thanks for the video! Ended up getting a 6 :D

good decision. with the latest firmware update its delivered just about everything people have been asking for. Great company to buy from

no i've been powering 4 mics no problem. If the mixpre is in the lower power mode it will only do 2 so i guess his battery isn't powerful enough or he's using the USB-C to USB-A cable into a non-USB-C battery. The battery i link in the description works fine.

Hmm, yeah, the battery pack I'm using is USB-A, and I'm using a USB-A to USB-C cable. Nice catch though, I'll get myself a USB-C battery pack!

It records up to 6 ISO tracks plus a stereo mix track if you want it. There are ways to turn off the mix track and have only the ISOs or you can put it in basic recording mode and it won't record ISOs only the mix track. You can have it however you want it. The only anomaly i found with that is you can only record without the mixtrack when gain is in the advanced mode. Sure that will be fixed soon though. It only records a multi track wav file, no option to record individual mono files. I use Devinci resolve and it can handle up to a 5 track file, putting them onto individual tracks, gets confused with more than that though and puts all of the tracks onto one. Plenty of options for splitting the files in other software though not least Sound Devices free Wave Agent software www.sounddevices.com/products/accessories/software/wave-agent

Thanks for that very full answer - tells me everything I need to know. I go between Final Cut and Logic Pro for totally different usages. I understand Logic handles multichannel audio files no problem, though I've never used that facility. Final cut has some limited capability of handling of multi-track wavs, so I will probably use the Wave Agent to split the wavs when needed.

@@nuancedfilms5133 Wave Agent Software link (Jul 2021) www.sounddevices.com/product/wave-agent-software/

you have huge flexibility in monitoring, pick which inputs to which headphone side and either pre or post fade (that is pre-fade is iso and post-fade is the mix track in advanced mode) settings to be found in the headphone settings

No.

Anker PowerCore 20100 works well. Some folks need to use the USB-C cable that comes with the MixPre, plug power and data ends into the Anker and the USB-C end into the MixPre. Should last 10 hours plus.

USB A

Yes mine is the same, I think it's normal, it's amplifying itself. If you put it in advanced gain mode and turn the gain up and the faders up so you get the same full 96db amplification you'll find its about the same white noise. When a mic is plugged in you should find it's gone. In fully basic mode all the channels are armed by default so it's important to make sure any empty channels are set to "off" on the faders or you'll be recording noise to the mix track. The pre-amps are good but if you turn them right up of course there is self noise though how much is the mic and how much the pre-amps I can't tell.

It needs a Load. My older MP2 (no longer made) does the same thing.

Hi, its the sony uwp d11 set

Thank you

N Shea you can, but I would prefer using the headphone encoder since you can change levels faster

I should have mentioned that's an option but its only really good for fine adjustment as it's one up or down per click, pressing and holding doesn't make the number keep changing as long as you keep pressing it.

Yes I too would like to know your experiences with your Sony wireless. I actually didn't know there was a model that can be powered via USB. What model is this?

They work great. There is a review of range and there are a few other reviews on youtube ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7jqK2qJVUIg.html

It's the UWP-D11 set. You can choose USB power or internal AA as the preferred power supply. It will run from USB alone, it will recharge the loaded AAs from USB if they need charging (something the Mixpre doesn't do) and if the USB is disconnected or runs out it will swap seamlessly back to the AAs. The build quality and range is better than the Sennhesier G3, some reviews on youtube. eg ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7jqK2qJVUIg.html

Any experience powering it up via PSC Power Star Mini Triple Play hooked to an NP-1 style battery? PSC BDS mentioned has three USB outputs; each outputting 2A. There is no mention of voltage across the USB outputs, I'm assuming it's standard (5V yes?). According to manual of UWP-D11, the micro USB B connection needs a 5V supply, but no current indicated. Thanks for the links.

No experience but if each socket is outputting 2A there shouldn't be a problem. These receivers are operating on 2x AAs normally and run for 6 hours (roughly) so it can't be as much draw as the mixpre which burns through 4x AAs in under 2 hours and that will run from 1.5A. Yes all USB is 5v.

thanks! It's a Porta Brace MX-C51, I used to use it with the Mixpre-D but it was too small for a 302. It's only just fitting when the USB lead and headphone jack are on. A bag for a Sound Devices 302 might be just right. For the Mixpre-3 a bag designed for the Mixpre-D would be ideal.

Tanks a lot. I'm trying to find a bag for it. I'm not going to use it that much in the field. So i'm trying not to spend that much money on the bag. Though i have a question regarding the powerbank! Is it necessary that it has to be USB C - USB C. Or can it be USB C - 2.0 into a powerbank and still operate fine?

I just checked on the powerbank I have and it's in restricted mode when going from USB-A to USB-C even though the USB-A ports are rated 2.1A and 3A. I can't check the power output though so not 100% sure. Seems like USB-C to C is the best way and they seem better connectors anyway.

Thanks. Not yet. Will do that though. You can probably use a DTap to USB adapter as well and just run it from the included USB-A to C cable. $10 solution.

Nuanced Films also was told about this www.gothamsound.com/product/hirose-usb-c-power-cable

cool! A bit $$$ though

Nuanced Films agreed. I think most will go with a USB battery pack with outputs that are strong enough.

with so many different sizes and capacities of power banks available to suit run times and bag space, they're cheap and can be used for many other things, it seems by far the best solution. With the 4 AAs in the caddy in case of failure there is no worry that the USB cable isn't captive though USB-C is a much tighter fit than USB-A is anyway.

it's working great, recommended still

Because I really don't want to say there is a problem if there isn't I just now triple checked this. Currently, on my device anyway, there is a problem with recording ISOs in custom mode with basic mode for gain (ie where the faders change the ISO levels) if you are not also recording the mix track. It looks like everything is fine on the meters, on the headphones it seems fine, but then when you play it back there's almost no volume. The gain trim minimum in advanced mode is 6db and I think it reverts to that for some reason. It's clearly a fault in the software so no doubt will be fixed with firmware. Until then you can adjust the gain on the ISOs using the faders as long as you have not switched off the mix track. Then all tracks are with correct volume.

I really appreciate you checking this out. There's no way to know this from reading through the manual. Let's hope for a FW update. I might badger SD a bit myself about these issues. No more questions. Good luck with your work.

no worries. I think they have deliberatly tried to keep the manual simple as they are aiming it at the sub pro market and wouldn't want to put people off. Bit of a balancing act to get that right.

Urbo, must be a new one. Seemed better spec'd and cheaper than the Anker version and got good reviews www.amazon.co.uk/Urbo-UR-P4X1-Power-Bank-Silver/dp/B01LXCRPI3

Yes