building a field mixer
 

I'm toying with the idea of building a three channel field mixer. My understanding is that it's the higher quality preamp that improves the audio, is the TL 072 or JRC 4558 a higher standing integrated circuit than might be found in a JVC HD100?

Are there other factors besides the preamp the help field mixers improve the sound?

thanks.

I gave some serious consideration to building my own mixer. Then, in the end I bought a Sound Devices 302.

If you are going to build you own, please consider the preamps available from "THAT Corporation". This is not a pun, the name of the company is actually "THAT".

I had choosen their 1510 or 1512 audio preamp as part of my design.

http://www.thatcorp.com/1500desc.html

I am very pleased with my decision to go with the Sound Devices 302. While I could have designed a mixer, the amount of work to design, build, and test it to Sound Devices quality levels would have taken too much time. The feature set of the 302 is very good.


"Are there other factors besides the preamp the help field mixers improve the sound? "

Yes, you will need very good power supplies with careful consideration to avoid noise getting into the audio circuits.

Since you will be building a field mixer, the size of you design will matter. Getting it as compact as possible, while including all of the inputs, outputs and controls will be a challenge. When you consider all of this, and examine the Sound Devices 302, you may understand my decision to purchase the 302.

Pretty much everything in the mixer can impact the audio, so all of the filters, faders, pan pots, etc. need to be considered as well. Oh, and don't forget features such as line/mic level switchable, phantom power, etc. Couple that with the need to make it compact, power efficient, and robust, and it looks hard to me to build something of the same quality for less than you can buy a good mixer.