Sound Devices 302 Field Mixer

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The Sound Devices 302 mixer is our standard field mixer for most of our interviews and field recordings. You can find details about the mixer at Sound Devices' web site but it has a couple of features worth noting that make it especially useful for the types of sessions that we usually produce.

Each of the three XLR inputs has limiters that prevent a hot transient from overloading the input stage. These have a very subtle action that doesn't have much of an audible effect on the sound but are really useful when we're recording seminars or meetings where you don't have control over how people are using the microphones. The preamps can handle a wide range of input levels and can provide as much as 75 Db of gain while introducing very little noise, which  is really important for a clean recording with the dynamic microphones we prefer for location interviews.

There is a slate mic and tone generator built in along with a very flexible monitoring section. The output section has adjustable output levels and another limiter. It also has two sets of outputs that we use to drive a main and backup digital recorder.

A typical use for the 302 is a seminar or lecture. We typically tie into the house sound with one of the channels, use a second channel for a mic on the main speaker, and use the third channel for a condenser boundary mic to pick up comments or questions from the audience. We route the main speaker to one output and the house feed and boundary mic to another.

Electro-Voice RE16

When we are doing field interviews or location podcast recordings, our first pick from the mic locker is usually the RE16. This mic is a real sleeper now in the general recording community but it's been a staple of the broadcast community since its introduction in the '70s. This is a good sounding dynamic mic that is not too sensitive to room noise and exhibits a bit of presence boost which helps intelligibility of the spoken word.

One of the  characteristics that make this mic so useful for interviews and other spoken word recordings is it's lack of proximity effect.  This is especially useful when working with people who move around in front of the mic. The tone of their voice remains fairly constant as they change their distance from the mic. 

Another advantage of this mic for difficult locations is its supercardiod polar pattern which has a very even response as you move off axis. Again, when dealing with a speaker who moves in front of the mic, this smooth off axis response helps maintain the vocal tone.  The  mic's polar pattern also helps manage the sound of difficult rooms. Reflections and room tone coming in off axis are reduced fairly evenly across the entire frequency spectrum.