Audient Mico for location recording

[Winter]

Hi guys!
I'd like to ask if there are some Audient Mico users here. As a owner of a Tascam DR-680 i was thinking to get one unit in order to feed the Tascam spdif input and expand the amount of tracks; since it can be battery powered seems a smart way to add two recording channels on the Tascam recorder.
I do mostly work as on location recordist, i'd like to know if the Mico will be good enough for classical, i.e. as a preamp for the main stereo pair.
Any comment will be very appreciated, thanks in adavance!

[dannygold]

Originally Posted by Winter

Hi guys!
I'd like to ask if there are some Audient Mico users here. As a owner of a Tascam DR-680 i was thinking to get one unit in order to feed the Tascam spdif input and expand the amount of tracks; since it can be battery powered seems a smart way to add two recording channels on the Tascam recorder.
I do mostly work as on location recordist, i'd like to know if the Mico will be good enough for classical, i.e. as a preamp for the main stereo pair.
Any comment will be very appreciated, thanks in adavance!

I like mine a lot as a front end into an 003. Seems very clean, but I don't record classical but I think it's clean enough for that.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by dannygold

I like mine a lot as a front end into an 003. Seems very clean, but I don't record classical but I think it's clean enough for that.

Hi,
Thanks for the info! Did you have used it for studio vocal (or acoustic instruments) recording?

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by Winter

Hi guys!
I'd like to ask if there are some Audient Mico users here. As a owner of a Tascam DR-680 i was thinking to get one unit in order to feed the Tascam spdif input and expand the amount of tracks; since it can be battery powered seems a smart way to add two recording channels on the Tascam recorder.
I do mostly work as on location recordist, i'd like to know if the Mico will be good enough for classical, i.e. as a preamp for the main stereo pair.
Any comment will be very appreciated, thanks in adavance!

More than good enough for a stereo pair preamp, yes and a huge step up from the Tascam's preamps (which are quite decent).

HOWEVER, some have had issues with the SPDIF output to a DR-680 (including us!) For some reason there seems to be content in the digital stream that the Tascam cannot handle. It's not clear where the problem lies, but the Audient can pass SPDIF to pretty much anything else so I suspect it's something that Tascam will need to address. I made Audient aware of the issue several months ago.

Don't want to push you away from buying the Mico as it's amazing and easily the best pre/AD combo in its' price range. Just know that some have had issues with the DR-680 SPDIF specifically.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

Just know that some have had issues with the DR-680 SPDIF specifically.

Oh! What a bad news! I suppose that this happens even with last firmware on the recorder, right?
Have you ever tried some other unit, feeding the Tascam, with the same disappointing results? (I was also considering the Sound Devices USB Pre 2)
Thanks also for the feedback on the Mico, that seems a very nice unit!

[JEGG]

Winter-this is a bit off topic of your post, but if you do get the Mico, try it with analogue outs into the 680. You may find it and the 680 (and other gear) sounds better that way. That wouldn't help your track count on the 680, however; but it may mean the other "non Mico" tracks end up sounding better as well.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by JEGG

That wouldn't help your track count on the 680, however; but it may mean the other "non Mico" tracks end up sounding better as well.

Yes, my experience confirms that it's true; most of the times spdif connection are not as good as analog ones.
But there's one point i did'nt understand, why did you said that avoinding spdif connection will help the other tracks on the recorder to sound better?

[Brackish]

Originally Posted by Winter

Oh! What a bad news!

A similar device at a similar price, with battery operation, is the Sound Devices MixPre-D. Have you considered that one?

[Winter]

Originally Posted by Brackish

A similar device at a similar price, with battery operation, is the Sound Devices MixPre-D. Have you considered that one?

I'm still considering the USB Pre2, not the MIXPre-D.
As a stand alone preamp the Audient makes me more confident, sincerely.
But the very intriguing idea could be to substitute my actual (and beloved) RME Babyface with the SD USB Pre2: in this case i'd have a single unit that could works as audio interface for mixing and as preamp to feed my recorder.
This could represent a big saving (well, "big" for me at least...)
But the main issue is: can the USB Pre2, when used as soundcard, equal the real great quality of the Babyface?
I still haven't found any direct comparison on the web.

[JEGG]

Originally Posted by Winter

Yes, my experience confirms that it's true; most of the times spdif connection are not as good as analog ones.
But there's one point i did'nt understand, why did you said that avoinding spdif connection will help the other tracks on the recorder to sound better?

The result has nothing to do with the spdf connection. Many anecdotal reports and empirical evidence indicate that devices often sound better when clocked from their internal clock, even when an arguably better clock is available externally.

If this is true in your own case, then the rest of your tracks on the 680 will sound better as well-when the 680 clock is used. (This assumes, of course, that the Tascam would have to be clocked by the Mico.)

Please note that I'm not presenting this as an absolute, nor am I suggesting that this is true in every case-it's simply a consideration and something to try.

I am aware of several Mico and interface trials, but I've not yet read of any DR-680 and Mico trials. So please report back if you use the two together.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by JEGG

Many anecdotal reports and empirical evidence indicate that devices often sound better when clocked from their internal clock, even when an arguably better clock is available externally.

So it's something related to the clocking. Thanks for reply, it was'nt clear but it is

[tnjazz]

This is true, and the Tascam does have surprisingly good sounding A/D. We have run the Mico in via analog a number of times in the past and not been disappointed.

The Mico works fine with the SPDIF on pretty much every other recorder or interface, and the Tascam seems to get along with most every other SPDIF input source as well, so the issue is rather mystifying...

I should have some Mico samples later this week to post for anyone who is interested.

[Winter]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

I should have some Mico samples later this week to post for anyone who is interested.

Here I am, very interested

[Gamelan]

Originally Posted by Winter

i'd like to know if the Mico will be good enough for classical, i.e. as a preamp for the main stereo pair.

Absolutely. It's very clean/clear and the noise floor is super low. The A/D spdif conversion is also very good if you can use it.

[Daniel Stark]

I had one for a while and liked it alot, very low noise and good isolation in different environments (never picked up buzz, hums, etc). Ultimately I sold it because the sound didn't quite knock me out (I had a Hamptone tube preamp that I liked the character of a little more).

[Winter]

It's seems that the Mico is very well regarded by many...still waiting for the samples to listen to in order to say the last word about purchasing one.

[tnjazz]

Still working on getting samples. A lot of ours are using the mics and Mico as ambients in the room. I have a lot of that, but it's mostly rock and electric jazz stuff. I don't have much in the way of close miked instruments or anything though.

Stay tuned! Sorry it's taking so long...

[Winter]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

Stay tuned! Sorry it's taking so long...

I'm tuned! Do you think it's possible to have a simple spoken word sample with a well known mic? (CAD M179, Neumann U87, Senn MKH 416 or whatever else could be very well know here on GS)
I think that the spoken word test (when you know very well the mic) says a lot about the preamp's attitude...

[tnjazz]

Originally Posted by Winter

I'm tuned! Do you think it's possible to have a simple spoken word sample with a well known mic? (CAD M179, Neumann U87, Senn MKH 416 or whatever else could be very well know here on GS)
I think that the spoken word test (when you know very well the mic) says a lot about the preamp's attitude...

We could do that easily - the only real problem is that we don't use any "well known" mics...

Let me see if there is someone in town who might be willing to help out...

[panatrope]

Originally Posted by tnjazz

HOWEVER, some have had issues with the SPDIF output to a DR-680 (including us!) For some reason there seems to be content in the digital stream that the Tascam cannot handle. It's not clear where the problem lies, but the Audient can pass SPDIF to pretty much anything else so I suspect it's something that Tascam will need to address.

Bit late getting onto this. But I have a TASCAM US-144, which can also have trouble with SPDIF in. I tried to use it recently to make a comparison recording between FM and DAB broadcasts of the same program. The DAB tuner had digital outs, and when connected to the TASCAM showed a valid digital stream, but the DAW would not enter record, not matter which program I tried. I ultimately swapped the TASCAM for the trusty FF400 and all was fine.

I then used DigiCheck to look at the SPDIF stream from the DAB, and found that the subcode carried data that showed sampling frequency at44K1, even though the stream (and DAB) was 48K. I think the chip that TASCAM uses may be old school very rigorous and if there is any inconsistency lin the SPDIF subcodes, recording is blocked. This problem was also encountered years ago with Sony DATs - I thought we had gotten over that by now. Disturbing if this logic is still active in the DR-680

It may also be that the stream from the Mico is set to AES/professional mode which the TASCAM, if it is interpreting in Consumer mode, will regard as SCMS being in no-copy mode, and will disable recording. RME DigiCheck is an extremely valuable asset in this regard - and if you have an RME device, it disregards all this troublesome stuff anyway.

[JEGG]

Originally Posted by panatrope

I think the chip that TASCAM uses may be old school very rigorous and if there is any inconsistency lin the SPDIF subcodes, recording is blocked.

If there is inconsistency in the SPDIF subcodes, and *if* this is a problem (which so far is conjecture), one should fault what lies upstream, not the good housekeeping of the 680.

Originally Posted by panatrope

It may also be that the stream from the Mico is set to AES/professional mode which the TASCAM, if it is interpreting in Consumer mode, will regard as SCMS being in no-copy mode, and will disable recording.

The 680 offers both AES and S/DIF inputs and outputs, and auto-detects inputs. Because the 680 or any other gear accepts S/DIF input with a copy protection marker, one cannot assume that it "obeys" and disallows recording. Perhaps it does, but one cannot make that supposition-none of my gear does that, new or very old, including another Tascam product from the last generation.

I welcome correction as I do not know the 680. I am not disputing fact at all, rather questioning suppositions.

I would welcome hearing from 680 owners on their success or lack thereof with using the S/PDIF or AES mode input. It seems to play nicely with various SD products. Others?