Sound Devices MixPre-3 User Manual
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Sound Devices MixPre-3 User Manual

Compact audio recorder with mixing & bluetooth
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MixPre-3
Compact Audio Recorder
with Mixing & Bluetooth

User Guide

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Summary of Contents for Sound Devices MixPre-3

  • Page 1: User Guide

    ® MixPre-3 Compact Audio Recorder with Mixing & Bluetooth User Guide...

  • Page 2: Manual Conventions

    A note provides recommendations and omissions and technical or typographical inaccura- important related information. The text cies. Sound Devices, LLC does not accept responsi- for notes also appears italicized in a dif- bility for any losses due to the user of this guide.

  • Page 3: Revision History

    Revision History This table provides the revision history and cross-reference links to “what’s new” in this guide. Rev# Date Firmware Description Version Initial release.
  • Page 4 User Guide...

  • Page 5: Overview Of Panels

    Overview of Panels -3 is made of light-weight and Topics in this section include: MixPre durable metal. Front Panel The front panel features several easy- Left Side Panel to-reach controls and a sunlight-visible, Right Side Panel touch screen LCD. Back Panel Its side panels provide a variety of I/O connections, and the back panel accommodates battery sleds and SD...

  • Page 6: Left Side Panel

    • Green: Signal activity • Amber: Limiter activity • Red: Signal overload (clipping) Power Light Light, showing Sound Devices logo, illuminates when power is on. Transport Controls Illuminated Play, Stop, and REC buttons for controlling playback and recording. Left Side Panel...

  • Page 7: Right Side Panel

    USB-C: • Audio streaming or file transfer to a computer (Mac, PC, Linux) • Powering the Mix-Pre-3 The MixPre-3 must be powered by L-mount batteries to charge iOS devices via the USB-A connection. Stereo Out 3.5 mm output for outputting unbalanced two-channel signals to external devices.

  • Page 8: Back Panel

    SD Card Slot eature escription Battery Mount Battery mounts on the MixPre-3’s back panel are compatible with sleds that hold four or eight AA (LR6) batteries. NiMH rechargeable cells advised. A sled for dual L-mount of Sony L-Series batteries is ®...

  • Page 9: Touch-Screen User Interface

    Channel Settings screen, are described where applicable throughout the guide. Icons The MixPre-3 uses a variety of icons to ease navigation. This quick reference table shows the icons and what they mean. escription Menu icon. Tap this icon to access the main MENU screen.

  • Page 10: Meter Views

    User Guide Meter Views The MixPre-3 displays important metering information at a glance. There are two meter views available by default, and an optional third is avail- able if activated via the System > USB/Aux Mtr menu. SMPTE timecode Power level...

  • Page 11: Accessing The Menu Screen

    Tap the Home icon. See Icons, for more information. Accessing the MENU Screen The majority of the MixPre-3’s settings are configured via the main MENU screen, which provides three pages of settings as indicated by dots. The solid black dot denotes which page is displayed. {REPLACE IMAGE} To access and navigate the main MENU screen: 1.
  • Page 12 Settings related to powering the device. Customizing the LCD and LEDs The MixPre-3 may be used in a variety of environments, including some where lighting is an issue that requires adjustments. With some System settings, you can modify the brightness levels of the LCD and the LEDs.
  • Page 13 TOUCH-SCREEN USER INTERFACE To set the LED brightness level: 1. Tap MENU. Tap SYSTEM > Brightness. Tap LED. Turn the Headphone encoder to change the value from 1 to 10. By default, the LED brightness level is set to 10.
  • Page 14 User Guide...

  • Page 15: Headphone Monitoring

    Connect headphones to the 3.5 mm headphone output, located on the right panel of the MixPre-3. ⚠ The MixPre-3 can drive headphones to dangerously high volumes. Turn down the headphone gain before attaching headphones or selecting a headphone source to prevent accidental high levels.

  • Page 16: Defining Custom Headphone Presets

    User Guide Hp s ource escription LR Mono Master bus summed mono to both ears. AUX in Stereo Aux bus in stereo. AUX in Mono Aux bus summed mono to both ears. USB 1,2 USB signal 1 & 2 to both ears. USB 3,4 USB signal 3 &...

  • Page 17: Soloing Or Muting Input Signals To Headphones

    HEADPHONE MONITORING To customize a headphone preset: 1. Tap the Menu icon. Tap OUTPUTS > EDIT HP PRESET. Tap one of the four customizable preset options, such as Preset 1. The Headphone Preset Editing screen appears. Left HP Assigned source Right HP Unassigned source Decode...
  • Page 18 User Guide Tap SOLO. This toggles the setting between Off and On. The LED around the input’s fader blinks amber when the input is soloed. To solo an input signal via the HP PRESET screen: 1. Tap the Menu icon. Tap the Headphone icon.

  • Page 19: Headphone Warning Bells

    Headphone Warning Bells The MixPre-3 sounds a warning bell in the headphones when starting and stop- ping record and also when there is an error condition, low battery, or low space remaining on the SD card. The level of the warning bell is fixed at -12 dBFS.
  • Page 20 User Guide...
  • Page 21 The Sound Devices splash screen appears briefly before the main HOME screen is displayed on the touch screen. Using External Power The MixPre-3 uses only one power source at a time, with external DC power via the USB-C port taking precedence over battery power.
  • Page 22 USB-C Power Supply Connect one end of the supplied USB Y-cable to the USB-C port on the MixPre-3’s left panel and the other two ends into two USB-A ports on a computer (as shown). When powering from a USB source, such as a computer, the Y-cable is required and both USB-A ends must be attached.
  • Page 23 8 AA Sled Closed 8 AA Sled Opened Release Levers Mount the battery sled in place on the back of the MixPre-3. To mount L-Series batteries: 1. Press the release lever at one end of the battery sled to remove it from the back panel.

  • Page 24: Configuring Power Settings

    USB-C connection. Configuring Power Settings The MixPre-3 lets you select the type of power source to better calibrate the power level indicator (battery icon) according to the type being used. Alkaline AA batteries may be used with the MixPre-3; however, NiMH (or 1.5V Lithium) batteries are the preferred type because they provide for longer run times compared to Alkaline batteries.

  • Page 25: Power Consumption

    1000 mAh to 7000 mAh. Larger amp-hour batteries provide more run time. Power Consumption Many factors influence the rate at which the MixPre-3 uses battery power (cur- rent draw). The following list highlights the larger current drawing functions. • Microphone powering — The main source of extra current draw. 48 V Phantom can draw a large amount of current depending on what model microphone is used.
  • Page 26 User Guide...
  • Page 27 Inputs The MixPre-3 has three full-featured Topics in this section include: audio inputs on XLR-3F connectors Physical Input Controls Inputs may be used as either balanced Accessing the Channel Setting Screens or unbalanced connections. There is no Setting Input Source...

  • Page 28: Accessing The Channel Setting Screens

    User Guide ontrol escription Input Activity Ring LEDs Illuminates and blinks to indicate input signal activity and status. • Green: Signal present on input • Amber: Limiter engaged on input • Blinking Amber: Input soloed in headphone monitors • Red: Signal overload (clipping) ; Input muted in headphone monitors Pan (on Input Setting screen) Controls the Left/Right balance of the input signal to the LR...
  • Page 29 INPUTS To set an input source for channels 1-3: From the Channel Settings screen, tap INPUT to display the list of available input sources. Options include: ◦ MIC – Use for dynamic microphones or mic-level sources. ◦ LINE – Use for analog line level sources. ◦...

  • Page 30: Adjusting Trim And Fader Controls

    User Guide Routing On the MixPre-3, each channel (1-3) is routed to its corresponding isolated track: channel 1 to track 1, channel 2 to track 2, and so forth. Using a Track Name Shortcut Track Names are stored in the metadata of each recorded file. The following list...

  • Page 31: Adjusting Pan

    0 dB to 20 dB. For the USB input, trim level is adjustable from 0 dB to 20 dB. Adjusting Pan The MixPre-3 has virtual Pan pots, which enable routing of inputs to the left (L) and right (R) channels of the stereo Master Bus. To adjust an input’s pan (1-3): 1.
  • Page 32 User Guide Linked inputs have connecting background Odd pan controls odd input (left) and even input (right) Right fader disabled. For MS linking, virtual Left fader controls both inputs pan also disabled When inputs are linked, trims are also linked, but any offset between the channels that existed prior to linking is retained.

  • Page 33: Enabling Phantom Voltage

    INPUTS Enabling Phantom Voltage On the MixPre-3, phantom power is off, but may be turned on when using microphones that require phantom power. When on, phantom powering is a fixed DC voltage of 48 volts. This voltage is resistively applied to pin 2 and pin 3 of an input’s XLR-3F connec- tor, relative to pin 1.
  • Page 34 User Guide...

  • Page 35: Output Connections

    MixPre-3 is up to the task. Output Connections On the MixPre-3, the stereo output (3.5mm TRS) and Headphone output (3.5mm TRS) are unbalanced stereo connections. See Specifications chapter for full details on the electronic specifications of the var- ious output connections.

  • Page 36: Configuring Stereo Output Sources

    User Guide Configuring Stereo Output Sources The Stereo Out (Left or Right) Routing screens consist of boxes that indicate sources available for routing to the chosen output. To configure output sources via the Routing screens: 1. Tap the Menu icon, then OUTPUTS. Do either of the following: Tap St.
  • Page 37 OUTPUTS Sending Tone to Outputs The MixPre-3’s internal tone oscillator can be used to send a predefined tone or pulse to aid setup of proper gain staging with other equipment, such as camer- as. The Left Indent pulsing tone is useful for identifying the left channel of the stereo pair on the receiving device.
  • Page 38 User Guide...

  • Page 39: Using Media

    Before recording anything, install and format the SD card you intend to use in the MixPre-3. The slot for an SD card is located on the back panel behind the battery sled, which is held in place with a release lever.

  • Page 40: Using The Transport Controls

    Reformatting a card will erase all data on the card. To (re)format an SD card: 1. With the MixPre-3 powered on and an SD card inserted, tap the Menu icon. Tap CARD > EDIT > FORMAT. When asked to confirm the command to format the card, tap OK.
  • Page 41 Interface. Playback of any previously recorded take may be initiated at any time, except when the MixPre-3 is recording. Unless playback is initiated from the Take List, the current active take on the SD card will be played. The name of the active take is whichever take was recorded or played most recently.
  • Page 42 User Guide Arming or Disarming Recording Tracks The MixPre-3 features 5 recording tracks. Each of the three XLR inputs is permanently routed to its associated ISO track. The LR mix can also be armed for recording. When recording in Mix mode, only the L and R mix are armed by default. When recording a project in Multi-channel mode, each isolated track (1-3) may also be armed for recording.
  • Page 43 RECORDING menu escription ptions Sample Rate The internal sample rate and sample rate • 44.1kHz of recorded WAV files. • 48kHz • 96kHz The default is 48kHz. Bit Depth The bit depth of recorded WAV files. • 24 • 16 The default is 24.

  • Page 44: Setting The Sample Rate

    R) is armed, then the range is 0-60 seconds. Setting the Bit Depth The MixPre-3 records 24 bit WAV files by default. Bit depth defines the digital word length used to represent a given sample and correlates to the maximum dynamic range that is represented by the digital signal.
  • Page 45 RECORDING The bit depth value is stored in file metadata.
  • Page 46 User Guide...

  • Page 47: Creating Projects

    Take List Overview Accessing the Take List Creating Projects When the MixPre-3 starts, the last selected project is loaded. If recording is started with no project loaded, a default project folder is automatically created for the recording. The default folder is named with the current day’s date, based on the format set via DATE/TIME >...

  • Page 48: File Structure

    Can deleted folders/files be retrieved from the TRASH? If so, how? File Structure The MixPre-3 records polyphonic or monophonic audio files. Polyphonic record- ings have multiple audio tracks within a single file. Monophonic recordings have a file for each audio track. The Take List displays all tracks recorded to the SD card in the current project folder.
  • Page 49 The numerical track designators are associated with the MixPre-3 tracks. This differs from track names which may be edited and are covered in depth in the Metadata section of this guide. By default, the scene name is set to <none>, so when a recording is made, the file name will begin with the take identifier, such as T01.wav or T01_1.wav.

  • Page 50: Take List Overview

    User Guide The change will apply to all future files; it does not affect existing files. Setting the Scene Name By default the scene name is set to <none>, but that may be defined for the next take and all those that come after. Additionally, scene names for recorded takes may be added or edited later.
  • Page 51 PROJECTS AND TAKES The Take List screen appears. Turn the Headphone encoder to highlight takes and view details in the right column. Press the METERS button to exit or close the Take List screen.
  • Page 52 User Guide...

  • Page 53: System Settings

    This section provides information for key settings not already covered elsewhere. Selecting Modes The MixPre-3 offers two modes: Mix and Multi. The Mix mode is intended for simple 2-channel mix applications. It is ideal for simple interviews, vlogs, podcasts and similar audio applications.

  • Page 54: Using Bluetooth

    Smart technology that enables integration ® with the Sound Devices Wingman app, an iOS-based wireless interface that lets users monitor and control some MixPre-3 functionality from an iOS mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad. To turn Bluetooth on: 1.

  • Page 55: Setting Up Date And Time Parameters

    Setting the correct GMT time zone and daylight savings values is also vital for correct data stamping on the exFAT file system. The MixPre-3 has several settings related to date and time parameters: arameter escription...

  • Page 56: Using A Usb Keyboard

    GMT+6:00, according to the following chart. Tap SET. Using a USB Keyboard A standard USB keyboard may be connected to the MixPre-3 and used to enter metadata, such as take name and notes. To use a USB keyboard with the MixPre-3: Connect the keyboard’s male USB A plug into the supplied USB A jack on...

  • Page 57: Viewing Shortcut Information

    SYSTEM SETTINGS Viewing Shortcut Information While this guide provides a section on the various shortcuts available with the MixPre-3, there is also an abbreviated list provided as a quick reference on the recorder itself. To view shortcut information: 1. Tap the Menu icon.
  • Page 58 User Guide To update firmware: 1. Download the free firmware from the Sound Devices website to your com- puter. Extract the ZIP file, which will contain a folder with a .prg file and related documentation. Copy this .prg file to the root level of an approved SD card. Do not place the file in any folder.
  • Page 59 SYSTEM SETTINGS...
  • Page 60 User Guide...
  • Page 61 SYSTEM SETTINGS...
  • Page 62 User Guide...

  • Page 63: Quick Setup

    Saving Settings After you have configured the MixPre-3’s settings via the Main menu and Channel Settings screens, you can save the configuration as a Quick Setup file. To save settings as a Quick Setup file: 1.

  • Page 64: Loading Previously Saved Settings

    All Quick Setup files are saved as XML files. Loading Previously Saved Settings For fast reconfiguring of the MixPre-3, previously stored Quick Setup files may be easily loaded from internal locations or SD cards inserted into the recorder. To load a Quick Setup file: 1.

  • Page 65: User Interface

    Connecting to a MixPre Recorder that provides wireless remote control Using Transport Controls and monitoring of any MixPre Family Designating Circle and False Takes of audio recorders—the MixPre-3 or Using Meter Views MixPre-6. Editing Track Names Arming/Disarming Tracks Wingman also works with 6-Series mix-...
  • Page 66 User Guide Status Bar Viewing Area Tab Bar escription Status Bar The status bar is device specific; therefore, it will vary in appearance based on the type of iOS mobile device being used. It often displays small, informative icons such as Bluetooth, WiFi, and battery power indicators.

  • Page 67: Transport View

    This section (shown below) provides the current file name, as well as a bar with the following information: • a large Timecode display • a Connection icon bearing the Sound Devices logo • a smaller ABS time display • the timecode frame rate When recording, the background color of the bar turns red.
  • Page 68 When running Wingman on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, the Connection icon is located left of the Timecode display and bears the Sound Devices logo. The color of the icon is significant, because it changes based on the connection status between the Wingman application on the mobile device and MixPre recorder.
  • Page 69 WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION Use the Devices Found list to select a MixPre recorder within range. Devices that are within range but already connected to other Wingman applications are not visible in the Devices Found list. To switch connection to a different MixPre recorder: 1.
  • Page 70 User Guide Using Transport Controls When recording is in progress, the Transport view changes slightly. For instance, the background of the Timecode display appears red as does the center dot on the Record button. Stop Button To begin recording: Tap the Record button. To stop recording: Record Button Tap the Stop button.
  • Page 71 WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION At the bottom of each vertical meter a rectangular label appears with a track identifier, such as L for left mix, 1 for Channel 1, and so forth. The label’s background color changes based on whether a track is on, off, armed or disarmed.
  • Page 72 MixPre recorder line. ecorDer eter escription MixPre-3 LR, 1-3 This meter view shows left and right mix tracks as well as all 1-3 isolated tracks (ISO). LR, A1, A2, U1, U2 This meter view shows left, right, Aux 1 and Aux 2 tracks, plus USB returns 1 and 2.
  • Page 73 WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION To arm/disarm a track: Tap the meter label. When armed the label turns red. When on but disarmed, the label is gray, as shown for inputs 9 and 10 in the example shown below. Meter labels are displayed as a single label to indicate when inputs or tracks are linked.
  • Page 74 User Guide The next and current takes are always at the top of the list and identified by unique icons.
  • Page 75 WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION escription Next Designates the next take, which is always located at the top of the Take List. Current Designates the current take. The current take is the take in the process of being recorded or, if recording has stopped, it is the last recorded take. To view a take’s file information: 1.

  • Page 76: Reports View

    User Guide Reports View Sound report creation is a feature available on 6-Series mixers, but is not applicable to MixPre-3 or MixPre-6 audio recorders. Therefore, the Reports icon is disabled whenever Wingman is connected to a MixPre recorder. About View The About view displays important information and links related to the Wingman application and the 6-Series mixer to which it is connected.

  • Page 77: Track View On Iphone Or Ipod Touch

    WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION Track View on iPhone or iPod Touch Because iPhone and iPod Touch mobile devices have smaller screens, the Wingman’s user interface appears slightly different from the application when run on an iPad. The main differences lie with the Transport view, which on smaller screens does not display track names or the Metadata section.
  • Page 78 User Guide Use the virtual on-screen keyboard to modify the track name. Tap Done when finished to save the changes. Tap anywhere on screen other than the keyboard to exit without saving changes. To arm/disarm a track: 1. While viewing Transport, swipe left or right to display the Track view. Tap the meter label, located left of the meter for the track you want to arm or disarm.
  • Page 79 WINGMAN & MIXPRE INTEGRATION...
  • Page 80 User Guide...

  • Page 81: Limited Warranty

    SOFTWARE PRODUCT remains with you. No liability for damages. In no event shall Sound Devices, LLC or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss...

  • Page 82: Fcc Compliance Statement

    User Guide Devices, LLC product, even if Sound Devices, LLC has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In any case, Sound Devices, LLC’s entire liability under any provision of this evaluation license shall be limited to the greater of the amount actually paid by you for the SOFTWARE PRODUCT or U.S. $5.00. Because some states/jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damag- es, the above limitation may not apply to you.
  • Page 83 ® Sound Devices, LLC Customer Support Product Information E7556 Road 23 and 33 For more information about products Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959 Toll Free: (800) 505-0625 and accessories, visit us on the web at www.sounddevices.com. Email: support@sounddevices.com http://www.sounddevices.com/support Report Documentation Error Phone: +1 (608) 524-0625 http://forum.sounddevices.com...

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