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Dave

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Posts posted by Dave

  1. Hi Everyone, Sorry to hear about your MixPre 10T bootup firmware issue. I'm the original poster about this issue, I think.

     

    Same experience as you.  Sound Devices were/are aware of this and wanted me to send my unit in, which I couldn't do.

     

    I agree that having the MixPre go into an unnecessary firmware update needlessly wastes time booting up, especially if you're needing to record audio immediately...a real pain.

     

    Not sure if there is an underlying hardware problem- Sound Devices kind of avoided this possibility.

     

    Anyhow, here's what I think is the "problem"... kind of : I don't use my MixPre daily or regularly. So it sits in the bag without being powered up for weeks sometimes. 

    When I do power up again, if the internal system battery has discharged quite a bit I'll get the "New firmware detected" message on boot up and false update procedure. If the system battery charge is still somewhat ok, I won't get the firmware issue, but will get the "timecode was reset" message which I believe is normal if unit has been powered off for 4 hours plus.

     

    So, what I did was plug into wall power using the SD hirose wall power adapter and leave the machine turned on. It's essential that you leave the unit "on" when charging the system battery as it won't charge when MixPre is off - I didn't know this and the firmware thing kept happening. Seems weird that you can't just plug a MixPre in and have it charge the battery while turned off. Wish the manual was better and maybe mentioned this. 

     

    As well, forget about AA batteries to charge the system battery... they barely power the unit. Fully charged L-mount batteries on the sled might juice the system battery enough to alleviate the firmware thing but I would highly recommend a good deep hirose wall mount adapter charge for a good few hours or better still overnight...leave the MixPre "on" though.

     

    If you use your MixPre daily and keep your unit fully/mostly charged all the time whether through L-mount batteries or wall power, the firmware thing should go away. 

    It is dumb that a low charge can even cause this error - doesn't make any sense and I agree it should be "properly" addressed by SD.

     

    I hope it's just caused by a low/depleted system battery and not any hardware flaw. Maybe a batch of crappy system batteries were built in but Sound Devices hasn't said anything.

     

    Lastly, when I want info that is very specific to a MixPre or any SD product, for that matter, I absolutely HATE that Sound Devices has no running FAQ or decent troubleshooting info on their website. They rely so much on the horrible Facebook group crapola. This bugs me so much that it would really deter me from buying another SD product if another competitors' product had proper FAQ support. And the manual isn't very helpful as far as use scenarios...no mention of how-to audio for video streaming. Had to dug through Facebook junk to find a skimpy bit of video with zero step by step clarity...blah.

     

    Anyhow, let us know how you make out and if you learn anything further.

     

    Cheers, Dave

     

     

  2. Hi All,

     

    Hope everyone is well :-)  Was thinking about getting/purchasing the Musician Plugin for MixPre 10T from Sound Devices Plugin Store. I see they have a "coupon code" entry in their checkout. Anyone know if there are any current coupon codes for the Musician Plugin right now?

    Thanks kindly and have a great day.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

  3. Hi All,

    Hope everyone is faring as well as can be expected, keeping stress levels down.

     

    With the current events, I am trying to set up the Zoom Video chat app on a recent Samsung Galaxy Tab A to facilitate internet guitar lessons with my students. 

    I wonder if I can improve the audio quality and interface into the tablet using my MixPre 10T?  I have no need to record anything, just want to have a mic for my speech, a direct guitar signal and perhaps a way to bring up my guitar students' incoming audio.  Kind of working on the fly with what I have on hand.

     

    I have no idea about the USB audio capabilities of Android tablets.... will this work at all?   How about a current iPad?

     

    Any fast track tips that you can offer are extremely welcome and most appreciated.

     

    Thanks in advance everyone. Wishing you and your loved ones good health and well being from Ontario, Canada

     

    All the best,

    Dave

  4. Hi All,

     

    I believe I finally have a bit of a handle on the MixPre 10T firmware update error message :  if the machine has been sitting unused/un-powered for an extensive length of time with a low or depleted internal system battery, the firmware update error seems to frequently reoccur. The greyed out timecode menu seems to happen under these conditions too.

     

    If I understand correctly, the small internal system battery only gets recharged when the unit is powered on. I kept plugging the 10T into wall power via hirose overnight or days at a time, but with power turned OFF.    I assume that the internal system battery wasn't getting recharged when machine power state was OFF. Therefore I kept getting the errors. 

     

    If the 10T isn't used or charged/powered up regularly the depleted battery induces the errors. To address the issues, I  charged the unit from hirose wall power with the 10T TURNED ON. I believe doing this overnight "power on" charge, managed to get the internal system battery up to a decent level, and since then I have have not had the firmware update error message or greyed out timecode menu button.  Not sure if charging the 10T internal system battery via L-mount batteries works as readily as hirose charging but will try that just to know.

     

    I'm not sure how long a system battery will hold an adequate charge before depleting or needing another good amount of charging. Once I gave the internal system battery a good charge, my unit has sat unused for weeks but so far no errors when turned on from time to time.

     

    I think it's normal and expected that the timecode is reset after a 4 hour period, so when I power up again on a new day, I do get the "timecode was reset" message.

     

    So, try giving your unit a really good charge for a reasonable  duration, hours or overnight with the machine turned "ON", probably most effectively via hirose power of some sort (wall or battery). Hope that works for your issue.

     

    Curious to see what others experience.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

     

  5. Hi to Sound Devices Users,

     

    I wonder if anyone with a Sound Devices recorder has an idea of how long it generally takes to "recharge" an internal timecode/system battery from a depleted state? I have a MixPre 10T and some functions go haywire when the internal timecode/system battery is low or depleted. I can't find a way to know what this internal battery charge status is in any menu so am having to guess as to when the charge is proper and how long to leave it recharging.

     

    After reading different posts I am told that in order to get this internal battery up to an adequate or full charge, connecting to hirose wall power is recommended. The thing I am finding odd is that since the internal battery can only be charged when the MixPre is turned on, you must hook up to wall power and leave the unit turned on  - overnight recommended by Sound Devices.

     

    Apparently the internal system/timecode battery can also be recharged when the unit is powered by L-mount sled battery power, but once again the unit must be powered on for an indeterminate duration to do so. Would anyone know how long this takes. Is it normal on other recorders that while you are charging the internal system/timecode battery you have to stay powered on and are effectively depleting the main power battery?

     

    Lastly, how long are these internal rechargeable systems batteries supposed to last? Other than having malfunctions set in, is there a way to keep on top of this system battery's status and performance?

     

    Thanks for any tips. As always, much appreciated.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

  6. Hi All,

     

    MixPre 10T - Firmware 3.02    Yes, same here with AA alkaline batteries - pretty much useless except in dire emergency or just to keep a temporary power trickle. I tried "off the shelf" AA alkalines  in my 10T when I first got it - recording one track only as a test - brand new AA batteries depleted completely in 10 minutes with single channel with P48.

     

    Now using L mount sled, usually with one L-mount battery. Good runtime - haven't timed it with continuous long take recording and more than 2 simultaneous tracks, with phantom on - L- mounts and sled are what seems best when mobile, unless you have other main bag power system.

     

    Regarding the "firmware" update anomaly -  after testing, I do agree that the cause of the erroneous firmware update procedure points to a depleted or low internal system battery. My unit didn't produce the false firmware update message when I gave the 10T a long (overnight) deep charge from a hirose wall power adapter. 

    However, after not using the 10T for a few weeks (in fully charged state), the internal system battery must have depleted again and upon next power up, the firmware error message was back again.   I recharged overnight again via hirose wall power and haven't seen the message again.... yet.

     

    Regarding the "timecode generator was reset" message ..... I'm still getting this upon boot up no matter whether unit is fully charged, on batteries or even hooked into wall power. I do have "timecode" currently set to "time of day" and I do recall that the "reset" message might be normal in the time of day mode.

     

    The big issue I feel is that if you are out in the field and don't have access to wall power, you might not be able to rectify the false firmware update message. 

    Question for Sound Devices - is there a problem with the internal system batteries not holding or drawing a reasonable charge even when connected to a fully charged L-mount caddy and being powered off for short or long durations?

     

    I'm seeing this issue appearing with other 10T users over here : see thread started by George Vlad, February 21 at 1:22 AM

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/mixpre/

     

    Hope Sound Devices can keep on top of why a "new Firmware Detected - Updating now... "  message keeps appearing on boot-up even when there is no firmware file present on either the SD or USB cards.... something funky going on with that and does make you nervous when out in the field and not wanting to deal with unexpected anomalies.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

  7. Hi All,

     

    Still think it would be extremely helpful if Sound Devices had product specific FAQs and current status bulletins (and a running archive) where all these kind of questions and solutions could be found on their own centralized manufacturer's official site. For example, all these big and little issues popping up lately with the recent MixPre firmware would be so much more readily and conveniently researched from a central FAQ and bulletin location.... preferably laid out by Sound Devices.

     

    Slogging through both the Sound Devices and MixPre user Facebook pages soup for current info is a big PITA when you are needing to know about a very specific product issue asap. I am not looking for "social conversations" when my unit has an issue - I'm looking for accurate timely technical information and solutions.

     

    Thanks for considering going back to the old but efficient FAQ method of information presentation.

    Have a great night.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

     

  8. Hi Allen,

     

    Have you ever tried Sommer Cable USA for mini XLRs?  Martin Ucik and Jed Larson at Sommer Cable USA have been very cool, sending me free cable samples quite frequently. I received a sample of their mini XLR connector and it seems well built. Anyhow, they may be an alternate source for you on the west coast - they're in Santa Rosa CA, if I recall. Phone number  1-707-200-4020     america@sommercable.com

     

    Here's the item on their website :   https://usashop.sommercable.com/en/Plug-connectors/XLR/Mini-XLR-4-pol-HI-XMCF4.html

     

    Enjoying your informative posts :-)

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

     

     

     

     

  9. Hi All,

     

    I have yet to use the Wingman App with my MixPre 10T - need a more current iPad, unfortunately.

    I wonder how tightly linked the timecode shown on the Wingman display (iPad screen) is to the internal running timecode in the MixPre? Is what you see on the iPad screen frame accurate to what is current in the MixPre? Or is it a little "off" due to bluetooth lag?

     

    Could a Wingman enabled iPad act as sort of a basic slate of some sort? Just wondering about that since the iPad is showing the Mixpre's timecode.

     

    Thanks very kindly :-)

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

  10. Thanks kindly guys. Nice to know this is possible. The MixPre does have word clock - any advantage of this over standard timecode?  Nonetheless, I'll hook up the machines and see how I fare. I thought if I was stationary and not working out of the bag, I might run the HD-P2 as a backup linked to the MixPre.... may be overkill, but just curious to see if the hookup functions.

     

    Appreciate all your help.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

  11. Hi All,

     

    I've hung on to my old Tascam HD-P2 as a backup machine rather than retire it completely. I am going to try jam-syncing it to a MixPre 10T. Any tips re: engaging HD-P2 timecode function? Can I just jam, untether and have HD-P2 hold decent sync for a reasonable time?

     

    As always, thanks kindly for your thoughts.

     

    All the best,

     

    Dave

  12. Hi Allen,

     

    Finally had time to visit your low-profile XLR design page - very cool. Thanks for your generosity - very kind :-))

    Our local library has 3D printers so your design will be my first experience with the process - should be fun!

     

    Your Sennheiser G3 riser looks very handy too - can't quite see how you've rigged it. How does it sit up upright in your bag?

     

    Cheers and All the Best From Ontario, Canada.

     

    Dave

  13. Hi All,

     

    Another MixPre 10T question : Can't seem to find the answer - when a USB backup-mirroring card is in the MixPre, is it possible to view the contents of this USB stick from the menu? There has been a couple times when I had the feeling that I should check the USB card to make sure that it was indeed functioning as expected and mirroring the main SD card. Do you have to check files from a computer only?  I'd be pleased if there was some way to confirm the file backup process manually by inspecting the contents of the USB backup card in the MixPre menu.

     

    And another question I saw asked on the MixPre Facebook forum : with the upcoming ability to hook up an external fader panel (Korg nano Kontrol Studio, for example) to the MixPre, do you have to forfeit the USB backup card port?  Are there plans to engage the bluetooth capabilities of the Korg to the MixPre and still be able to use the USB port for a backup card as normal?

     

    Thanks again.

    Regards,

    Dave

  14. Hi Everyone,

     

    Thanks kindly for sharing your experiences re: the MixPre 10T on firmware 2.21.

     

    Here's my latest situation : Re: the following message occurring on 10T bootup (even without firmware update file present - removed SD card) : " New Firmware Detected - Updating" after which unit restarts automatically :

     

    After experiencing this false firmware update routine with L mount batteries and even with being plugged in via hirose wall power, I tried removing all battery power (took the sled right out). I then connected the SD hirose wall power adapter and left it plugged into the wall for just over 24 hours, with the MixPre shut down.

     

    After the lengthy charge, I then booted the unit, still on wall power and I did not get the false firmware update message/routine. I first tried booting with no SD card or USB stick in the machine - booted fine. Inserted SD card and again - all normal. Added USB stick and all ok. Went on L mount battery power only and again - all ok.

     

    I have had the MixPre stored for approx 3 weeks with 1 fully charged L mount battery and sled in place and have booted it randomly a few times every other day or so. Still ok - no firmware update message.  So from what I gather, ever since I gave the unit a deep and full wall power charge, it has been acting normally.

    Is there a small internal battery inside the MixPre that hold a small charge to preserve settings?  Perhaps an issue with this??

     

    Regarding the "timecode was reset" message upon boot up - if I'm not mistaken I believe I finally read in the manual that this is expected if you are set to "time of day" timecode setting - correct?

     

    I'm going to record some lengthy material this week and run down the L-mount battery and then see what happens. Will let you know.  Thanks Danny for your offer that I send in my unit. I may take you up on that soon but for the moment can't be without my machine right now.

     

    In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the new 3.0 firmware - sounds very cool :-)

     

    Thanks guys. Will chat again soon... keep well.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Dave

  15. Hi All,

    Happy to hear about being able to add an off the shelf fader panel with the new MixPre Firmware Update.

     

    This Korg nanoKONTROL Studio     https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/nanoKONTStu--korg-nanokontrol-studio

    seems like it might be good, as far as connectivity goes. I hope it would connect to a MixPre 10T via Bluetooth which would leave the MixPre's USB port available as usual for the USB backup flash memory. Looks like the nanoKontrol can be powered by 2 AA batteries - hope Sound Devices allows a direct Bluetooth connection similar to Wingman. 

     

    Regarding the new Sennheiser Ambeo features/support, Sweetwater has an interesting series of Ambeo workflow videos here :

    https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AMBEO--sennheiser-ambeo-vr-microphone

     

    The 2 gentlemen in the videos did a very thorough job of showing the Ambeo process from beginning to end - love it when a manufacturer presents workflow so cohesively.... great job on this.  When you watch the clip called "A Proximal Visit - TRANSIENCE", click, hold and drag your mouse cursor around to hear the sound perspective change with the video perspective.... kind of cool intro into the possibilities of VR audio. :-) 

     

    Thanks all---- keep well.

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

     

     

     

  16. Good Afternoon All,

     

    I hope everyone is well :-)

     

    I have an upcoming location session with a solo harmonica player - quite a virtuoso player. I wonder if anyone has any experience or tips that you may be kind enough to share?

    This player is not a "blues harp" player, but a very clean, melodic player who does the classic melodies as a solo artist. His sound is not the raunchier "harp sound", but more of a vocal like, pure tone delivery. He uses an interesting array of approx. 6 mounted harmonicas in various keys, in addition to the chromatic style harmonica with the "plunger" type device on the side. He doesn't use the typical close hand-held mic/amp combo like a blues player would - strictly an acoustic player.

     

    His style is similar to this Toots Thielemans video :

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKnG_9q4crA

     

    I'm using my MixPre 10T and thought I'd use a large diaphragm condenser as the main close mic and record wider stereo tracks with pencil condensers to capture the ambience of the room (a church). There won't be an audience.

     

    Thanks kindly everyone. Have a good evening :-)

    Cheers,

    Dave

     

     

  17. Hi All,

     

    Hope everyone is well :-)

     

    Just a quick check in to see if anyone has experienced this on your Sound Devices units, whether MixPre series or other.

     

    I recently updated my MixPre 10T's firmware to the current 2.21 version. I used the standard method of downloading the firmware update file to my MixPre SD card, using a card reader. I then inserted the SD card back into the MixPre and ran the firmware update - it completed and machine booted up in new 2.21 firmware. I then reformatted the SD card and backup USB card in the MixPre in order to erase/remove the firmware update file and generally reset and refresh the card. So far, so good.

     

    Soon thereafter, every time I would boot up the 10T, usually after a time of being powered down for a few hours or overnight, I would get the immediate pre-boot-up message "new firmware detected - updating now". The machine would then run through a "false" firmware update routine and after supposed completion would reboot itself and start up normally, though with the more frequent additional "timecode was reset" message. Thinking that this is weird because there was no firmware update file present on either of the MixPre's media cards - I had just erased and reformatted them.

     

    Next, I removed both media cards from the MixPre (main SD card and secondary USB backup card). After a period of time, (hours or even overnight) the unit sat in powered off mode with one or both hirose wall power adapter or charged L-mount battery in sled present.   Upon booting the machine for the first time of the day, I still was receiving the message "new firmware detected - updating now" message. Once again, it would run the un-instigated update routine, reboot, briefly display the "timecode was reset" message and then appear to be back to normal.

     

    I wonder why the unit is thinking it detects new firmware when there is no firmware file available to it without any cards being present. Yesterday, I removed the L-mount battery/sled and connected only hirose wall power but this time left it connected (but powered off) much longer, overnight. Upon booting today from the same wall power connection, I haven't yet received the false firmware update message. I have turned the machine off and on quite a few times today at random intervals and have not seen the message reappear, which I believe is good news so far.

     

    I must also mention that early in this testing, I executed a factory "reset" of the unit, as suggested by Sound Devices - no luck - issue persisted.

     

    Tomorrow, I plan on disconnecting hirose wall power and mounting L-mount battery sled with a single freshly charged battery. I will then power on and off at random intervals to see if the anomaly reappears and if there is a pattern of behavior.

     

    I am wondering if there is an internal software glitch in the machine's built-in hardware memory, current firmweare file or an internal system battery issue that may be brought on by not having hirose power applied at regular intervals? I believe that this was a known concern with the timecode selection being grayed out and unavailable.

    The underlying thing is, that in addition to a concern of general operating instability, the delay in being quickly "record ready", due to the extended Firmware update - boot-up routine" is worrisome.

     

    Sound Devices has offered to examine the machine, which is great. After fiddling with my own different tests, I'll probably send it in. I welcome hearing if anyone has any thoughts or has experienced anything similar.

     

    Thanks kindly everyone - keep well:-)

     

    Cheers,

    Dave

  18. Hi All,

     

     Hope all is well.

     

    I've been trying different ways to gain stage a Sennheiser G3 (with DPA 4061 lav) into a MixPre 10T.  I tried "line in" - sounded good but felt level hitting MP-10T was a little low - had to crank the 10T input gain a little bit high. I tried Mic level in and that seemed good as well, after bring the input level down a bit. Either way seemed to sound good but just wondering if you've discovered an optimum gain staging combination of lav into transmitter, receiver out into 10T, and 10T input level.

     

    Thanks kindly and cheers,

    Dave 

  19. Hi All,

     

    Just wondering what your thoughts are about the role of audio mixers/sound recordists in the burgeoning area of video "Live Streaming".   I'm beginning to encounter more need for sound people who can deal with audio gathering for multi-cam live-streaming. 

     

    There are the higher end pro streaming hardware solutions and camera systems which presumably might be easier for interfacing traditional audio devices into. I am seeing the prosumer solutions such as Mevo, Sling Studio, V-Mix, etc which don't have "pro" audio interfaces but nonetheless would benefit from quality audio. Whichever live streaming hardware or software is used, audio has to be dealt with with - do you have any insight about sound capture for this type of production?

     

    I was looking at Sling Studio, for example  : https://www.myslingstudio.com/features

    I see that the suggested camera feeds are WiFi wireless capable, whether pro-cameras or iPhones, etc.  Do you see any merit to having audio mixers/recorders that could supply a wireless WiFi feed?

     

    As all this video technology moves forward, I'm curious about how you foresee audio moving along with it.

     

    Thanks for your input.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Dave

     

     

  20. Hi All,

     

    Did a live to "tape" sports shoot gig the other day feeding mono mix audio from MixPre-10T  into a PC laptop running "V-Mix" video studio software. Just wondering if anyone else has used V-Mix and has any experience about optimizing the audio workflow.  We sent an analog mono mix out of the MixPre 10T via single TA3/XLR output into a basic Roland USB interface into laptop and on into V-Mix software.  The results were clean but final levels in the laptop seemed a little low for my liking. Need to get more familiar with gain staging into and inside V-Mix, I think.

     

    I was impressed with V-Mix generally for it's capabilities and features - too bad it's not Mac based :-)

     

    FYI https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1103266-REG/vmix_scsi_vmixhd_hd_software_download.html/pcur/CAD?c3api=6329%2C109213537993&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk4Sohbj02wIVQtbACh3pTQnBEAAYASAAEgIxTfD_BwE

     

    https://www.vmix.com/

     

    https://www.vmix.com/help21/

     

    I can see the MixPre-10T being useful in that it should be able to stream multi-channel audio via USB into V-Mix - have yet to try this but hope to experiment.

     

    Thanks for any tips you'd care to share. Wishing you all a great day!

     

    Cheers,

     Dave

  21. Hi All,

     

    Just a quick question about updating firmware on Sound Devices recorders :  After downloading a firmware update file to an SD card and completing the firmware update in the machine, do you leave this update file on your SD card or do you delete it from the card? I assume that the file from the SD card updates the internal system in the machine itself?  I have been leaving the firmware update file on the SD card but when I next boot up the machine, it senses that an update file is present and a message indicates that an update will begin - it appears to run an update but nothing actually changes because the update had already been done previously. Anyhow, would you recommend removing the update file from the SD card after installing it?

     

    Thanks kindly for your tips. Wishing everyone a great day :-)

    Cheers,

    Dave

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