A&H Pres - are they going to give me cancer?

[mohthom]

I've got a recording coming up in which I won't have access to a massive amount of kit. I'm chewing and chewing about recorders and whatnot and wondered if anyone had a better suggestion than the one I'm putting forward. It's for classical location recording.

I've got available; a MacBook Pro with a Saffire Pro (26io, but that's pretty irrelevant as I'll only need 8ch), along with all cabling, good Q microphones (apart from a pair of DPA 4006s or Senn MKH 8020s to be hired in), stands etc. The physical setup is no problem, but I want to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot without a good backup system (as I can't take my backup kit with me).

Will the preamps on an Allen and Heath Mixwizard equal or better those of the Saffire? I'm thinking a 2-mix from the A&H straight to DAT would be the order of the day, with the direct outputs set to Pre-fader level and going to the line inputs on the Saffire. Is there a mixer anyone would recommend aside from an A&H that's readily available in hire shops of a similar size (I don't want to drag out a 48ch Midas for an 8ch recording - my poor back!) that would do the job better? The direct outs would be feeding into an 8ch recording on the laptop to make the primary recording, with the DAT to be the backup.

Any help appreciated,

MohThoM

[mohthom]

Should I pre-book the hospital stay now? (bump)

MohThoM

[mohthom]

bump?

[chadly]

My $.02 is that you'll be fine. That's how I'd do it if I was in your situation. Make sure your AH Mixwizard is a MKII or later as the MKI ships with the directs soldered to post. Not the end of the world, just something to know.

There are better solutions, but I suspect that for the budget you have allocated it's probably the best bet.

I've used the MkI Mixwizards a ton- I think they're the best bang for the buck in that class.

Best of luck!