Allen Rowand

I almost considered building one from a Burley Travoy: https://burley.com/product/travoy/ but I couldn't find a cheap used one to modify. I have one and it's a fantastic little trailer. Perfect for going to the farmer's market, since you can unhook it from the bike and use it as a shopping cart.

Decided to make some proper right angle short XLRs for my bag; I previously had just cut the dust boot off the Neutriks, which shaved about half an inch but was pretty ugly. After a couple design iterations I came up with this: It's a pretty good friction fit, and the inner part of the plug keeps the connector in place in the shell. They fit really well in my bag: I made two versions to dress the cable for right or left exit. The plug is also keyed to the shell so it won't rotate. Whipped up a riser to get my receiver out of the bag so I can see the display. I also printed the camera mount attached to the RX. Finally, I found a mic case someone designed and modified it to fit my preamps and capsules. Much easier to throw the mics in my bag now. I used some of that rubbery expanded foam shelf liner inside the mic cases to cushion the devices.

I've uploaded two new variants to Thingiverse; same basic cap, but the cable exits the top of the XLR instead of the bottom. More options for better cable management…

Like @INARI, I tried to use an Arduino as a keyboard emulator to control my MixPre 6- I want to build a remote that will start and stop the MP6 and my Blackmagic camera simultaneously. Sound Devices is doing something funky with their USB keyboard protocol and nothing I tried would make the MP6 recognize the Arduino; SD's response was that they couldn't give me any info on the USB spec as it was "engineering data." And that's when I got medieval… I found an old USB keyboard that worked with the MP6, then hacked it apart and traced the switch connections to find what contacts needed to close to get the proper keystrokes. I added a couple optoisolated relay boards and this happened: I have a LANC controller that I pulled out of a cheap camera pistol grip; the plan is to build a record button with a DPST switch that will trigger the LANC board and the Arduino at the same time. When I built my camera tether I included an extra line for this, so the switch will live on the camera or tripod arm and the relay box will go in my bag. I need to source a few more parts, then start physical design. More to come soon (hopefully)!

This will probably be the last update for a while, because at this point I think it's done. I designed and built mounts for the record button. The mount is designed for the record button to slide in and be held by friction. One for the tripod head: And one for my shoulder rig: If I'm handheld running audio into the camera I can still use the remote to start and stop the camera without the MixPre. If I'm shooting handheld and carrying my bag then I can start and stop the camera and MixPre with one touch, and without having to move my hand from the shoulder rig grip.

Thanks! It's been a fun project. I made some changes today; I wanted to lay the controller down in the bag so it took up less space where I put my receivers, but that meant not being able to reach the power switch. Designed what's probably my most complex 3D printed item yet: And voilà: Remote power switch, with a three color LED for power, low battery, and charging. It hangs in the bag on a strip of one-wrap: Next up is making a proper mount to hold the record button on my pan arm and shoulder rig.

Video of Paul Issacs at IBC talking about v3, and he drops a major bit of news- MixPre is getting preroll! 10 seconds on the MP10, 5 seconds on MP6 and 3. Also details Ambisonic and fader support. Need to click through, can't embed the video: https://vimeo.com/290032752

I thank you, my wallet is a little grumpy. I downloaded the RX 7 Advanced trial and pulled a couple of old takes that had issues, and was really impressed with what I could do with 7 Advanced. Authorizing now…

Just checked update pricing, which has additional discounts through October 31: - RX 7 Standard for RX 1-6 Standard Owners $149 USD - RX 7 Advanced for RX 1-7 Standard Owners $499 USD I can't see pricing for RX 1-6 Advanced to RX 7 Advanced upgrades. But it does confirm that all versions of RX are eligible for upgrades. Thanks, good guys Izotope! This may push me to jump from RX4 Standard to 7 Advanced.

Put the Bluetooth chip in the device, don't make it an option. Also, would it kill them to support Android? Plenty of companies smaller than Zoom have been able to do dual platform mobile development.

Be careful not to use too much magic marker- the weight of the ink could disrupt the XLR's rotational balance and centripetal force will shatter it into a thousand pieces. Mmm, tarnish.

I'd be more interested if they built a standalone mic, although they might be doing some DSP voodoo to correct their capsules…

SUCCESS! Sorry for the potato cam, just wanted to show it off quickly: If I decide to use a fader pack once v3 is released I should be able to repurpose the relays to do contact closure on the transport buttons (assuming they're supported). Kind of a drag that none of the compatible fader packs have a footswitch input… But for the moment I'm just happy I got this silly thing to work! The control "brain" has a built in LiPo battery and charger, next step is to give it a full charge and see how long the battery will go. It's 1200mAh, so it should be able to run the microcontroller all day. If not I can plug in an external USB battery (the charger will load balance the internal battery and external power while it charges). Woot!

I've uploaded bus probes of a keyboard that works with my MixPre 6, as well as a Teensy LC microcontroller programmed as a HID keyboard. The Teensy worked as expected with my computer but not the MP6. I decided to stop banging my head against the wall since I couldn't get usable info from Sound Devices and went down a different road as discussed here: http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/32035-mixpre-6lanc-remote-control-project/. That might work to my advantage with the upcoming v3 firmware- if the USB controller support includes the transport keys, I could put relays across the record and stop buttons on a NanoKontrol2 and have remote transport control via my design as well as faders and encoders. USB Bus Probe KB.txt USB Bus Probe Teensy.txt

You can't create or rename projects from Wingman (unless I'm missing something) and you can't rename presets. It's not a show stopper, but it would be nice to be able to rename anything on the unit using a larger touch keyboard on my Nexus 6 instead of the tiny onscreen keyboard.

When I asked them to elaborate on the USB descriptor the MP6 was looking for so that I could control it with a keyboard emulator I was told that was "engineering data" and that I should use a recommended keyboard. That doesn't really work for me, as I'm building a remote to start and stop the MixPre and my Blackmagic camera simultaneously. I agree it would be great if they'd publish the protocols and let people get creative. The other issue is that the MixPre 6 doesn't work with a USB hub between it and the keyboard, meaning we'll have to choose between a controller and keyboard. It'd be nice if Wingman was updated to act as a virtual keyboard to get around this…

Got an email from Sound Devices this morning: View this email in your browser Come See Us in Amsterdam for IBC 2018! Sound Devices is celebrating 20 years of excellence at this year's IBC (stand 8.A32). We'll be exhibiting our highly portable, extremely versatile MixPre Series of audio recorders, mixers, and USB audio interfaces. Both Classic and M-models in the multi-faceted series will be showcased, along with the Professionals' standard, Sound Devices' 6-Series mixer/recorders and Audio Limited's A10 Digital Wireless System. In the spotlight is the upcoming, highly anticipated MixPre version 3.00 firmware, which adds: Support for a new Ambisonics plugin for MixPre-6 and MixPre-10T Full MixPre Series integration support for four 3rd-party USB fader controllers Wireless remote transport control & monitoring of M models & Musician plugin via Wingman App on iOS &/or Android mobile devices Stop by Stand 8.A32 to see what else we unveil! Hopefully v3 will also fix a couple of bugs…

So many great ones, but this is my all time favorite:

Right there with you on 4 Standard. You can currently upgrade from RX 1-5 to 6, so I'd hope that will be the case for going to 7. Also hoping one or two Advanced modules slide down to Standard as they add new features. Probably not, but a guy can dream…

@INARI, I tried the same thing using an Adafruit ItsyBitsy (which has a proper USB implementation) and had the same issue. The problem is that the MixPre is using a strange USB descriptor for the HID interface, which they won't disclose. I corresponded with someone that writes USB libraries for Arduino and we couldn't get the MixPre to acknowledge the chip. I have another approach, which I'll be writing about soon…

I've been using Ety Plugs for ages. Concerts, using power tools, even wore them under my helmet when I still had a motorcycle. Have to protect what hearing I have left…

And here's the (mostly) finished product: Don't mind the tripod head, fluid head will be here next week. Plenty of room left to add quick fists for stands and/or a boom: Really happy with the way the 3d printed tubing caps turned out. I also printed the shelf corner protectors. This should make my one man camera/audio gigs much easier to deal with, and the recorder bag is a good height for when I'm standing at the camera. She's not pretty, but for $100 all in (not including the Pelicans I already had) I can't complain much. Maybe some paint down the road, after I do a couple jobs and make sure I don't want to change anything.

Congratulations! Wish I could attend one of your odd lectures…

Story, please!

More progress! I replaced the top handle of the Pelican with a couple brackets that support the lower shelf. Next comes the upper shelf and accessories…