dangit, im just reading this thread, i bought a sound devices mixer. But from reading this thread it seems like i dont really need one. I will be by myself mostly shooting sporting events and run and gun.

I was of the impression that if you wanted broadcast quality sound you needed a mixer. I will be using a lectro wirelesss lav and a mkh 416 (mounted on camera). Should i sell the sound devices mixer or use it?

I'd say it depends on the situation and your camera. A lot of cameras have marginal mic input circuitry so if you're looking for high quality recording of music and such and the camera offers line level inputs, a mixer might give better results. Than again, it might not. Which SD mixer did you get and what camera are you using? Will you ever have the shotgun on a boom and a sound person with you to take care of levels, mic aiming, etc? I would say for sure that more important than getting a mixer is figuring out how to get the shotgun off the camera and close to the scene. Getting the high quality "broadcast sound" is first and foremost a matter of proper mic placement before anything else.

thanks steve,

bought the sound devices mixpre compact mixer.

i wil lbe using a z1u

i doubt i will have a sound person with me. If i get lucky i might get be able get the mic of the camera. But i will be in germany and will need to get a boom.

sidenote they have a "wal mart" down the street i could use a broom stick in the worst case scenario. Do you think the broom stick is better than just leaving it on the camera?

How it's being supported, by an "official" boompole or a broomstick, is not the primary issue. Distance is the key factor. Boompole or broomstick, someone is going to have to hold it close the the subject. Even shotgun mics like the 416 need to be close to the subject, 18" or so is best to give really clear sound. Any mic on your camera is going to be much farther away than that and only do a decent job recording ambience and the like.

You sound like you're having a bit of "buyer's remorse" about the MixPRe. Don't. It's a very good unit and feeding the mics to it and then to the Z1U as a line level signal islikely to give better results than feeding the mics directly into the camera. It will give you good metering and a bit better control of levels, a nice slate tone for aligning levels, headphone monitoring for a audio assitant if you press one into service, all a round a good tool to have in your kit.

ok I was having doubts about the mixpre, very informative . Good lookin out

With the Z1 IF shooting in HDV I'd suggest keeping your levels on the hot side of things, with mpeg-1 layer 2 encoding having to wind in a lot of gain in post is best avoided.