Originally Posted by Steve House (Post 737339)

It would certainly work for some shoots, as would similar priced mixers from Behringer. My comment was not intended to be a sneer at consumer gear but rather a belief that $200 spent on something that does the job right is actually cheaper than $100 spent on something that's a kludge that only does it half-way. Over many years of dealing with technology products, buying cheap has always ended up costing me at least double what I would have spent if I'd bitten the bullet and bought the right stuff from the outset. In previous posts you've mentioned you were working on a feature and a large part of your budget was for airfare and accomodation. Do you want to risk throwing all that money down the drain by taking along a gear kit that's marginal and risk it letting you down when it counts, leaving you with either substandard material or even nothing at all in the can that's usable for your film when you return home? If it's a recreational trip and making a film about it seems like a fun thing to do but is not the real reason for going, then fine. But if the purpose of the trip is to make a movie, make sure you go prepared with what you need to insure you actually come home with a movie. IMHO, you need gear that you can count on to work 'to spec' 100% of the time yet lets you completely forget about the mechanics of its setup and operation so you can concentrate on the important business of filmmaking. Unfortunately it's rare to find that down at the very bottom of the budget barrel (and too often you don't find it even on more expensive gear in the consumer market). A Beach screwed to the bottom of your camera or a Sign Video adapter clipped to your belt will do the job while a cheap mixer might let you down in a crunch.

I don't turn up my nose at bargain gear like on your link - In fact I almost bought a very similar Behringer mixer myself just a few months ago because it looked like I'd need a mixer for a classroom demo in a course I was teaching some teachers on PC audio/video techniques and I didn't want to lug in my larger Mackie desk. But weighting in at 6 pounds and always being tied to a source of AC power is going to seriously limit what you are able to shoot (unless you have a bodacious extension cord collection). Don't forget to add to the price the cost of a couple of inline attenuators to add on the output side to drop the line level output of the mixer down to the proper mic level input for input to the camera. While you can roll your own if you're handy with a soldering iron, off the shelf pads (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...e_Adapter.html) are about $35 and you'll need 2 of them, one for each channel. You'll also need some adapters since the mixer outputs are on TRS connectors, not the XLR of the pads. Once you add everything up - mixer, pads, cables - you're back up pretty close to the cost of the Beach and you still have the AC power issue to contend with when you get on location.

Originally Posted by Brian Boyko (Post 737462)

No, I've been burned by that once already and don't want it to happen again - you're right.

What about the Signvideo XLR Pro? http://www.signvideo.com/xlr-pro_xlr...udio-mixer.htm

It's about $150. Pricy for my budget but might just be possible. Any good?

Originally Posted by Steve House (Post 737473)

I don't have any direct hands-on experience with it but a lot of folks use 'em and I've not heard any serious complaints about them. They seem to be rugged and get the job done.

Originally Posted by Brian Boyko (Post 737459)

Oh, awesome. Though, won't it just mix the two together, recording both inputs on both channels?

Originally Posted by Michael Wisniewski (Post 737524)

It's a stereo connector with two 1/8" mono inputs, one for the left & one for the right. Each mic is on a separate channel.

Originally Posted by Wayne Brissette (Post 737352)

Brian:

I'm teaching a course in Bastrop in a couple of weeks on on-location recording. It might be good for you to come on out. Check the upstart website for more information, or send me a message (I don't know if links to other sites are frowned upon here).

Wayne