[Chuck Schilling]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I know nothing of ENG applications – but am totally flummoxed by your preference of using a camcorder as your primary sound recording tool. Even the lowliest Zoom will serve better for this than any camcorder (or DSLR or even any cine camera, for that matter).

You can record at what appear to be inaudible levels on your MixPre-D and will be shocked at how much it can be boosted in post. As long as you’re seeing LED’s at all, you’re getting enough signal. What are you trying to set your peaks at? I try to set it so that I never hit the orange LED’s, much less the limiters.

[Chuck Schilling]

I don’t use dynamic mikes – have no need for them. Which are you using and for what purpose?

I have exactly the opposite problem. I am typically recording in a high SPL environment with sensitive condenser mikes and in order to get to a reasonably adjustable gain range on my MixPre-D have to pad heavily – think -10db on the mike and -20 in an inline pad. Sometimes even more.

I’m curious about the mikes and situations you’re having this trouble with – seems to me such insensitive mikes are going to have all manner of self-noise.

Btw…are you sure you’re even having a problem? Have you tried boosting your levels in post? I usually record with peak gains at a max of -12 db (and usually lower) so I can EQ and normalize in post without having to compress.

[Chuck Schilling]

How can a mixer be “underpowered” for a dynamic mike, which doesn’t use power from the preamp? Are you suggesting that the MixPre-D doesn’t have enough gain available to make the output from your dynamic mikes audible? If that’s the case, I’d suggest the problem lies with your mikes, not the MixPre-D.