It has been a while since we’ve seen an innovative new handheld recorder with professional level pre-amplifiers and other features. The CEntrance MixerFace R4 and R4R, however, have done just that.
These are very compact mixer (R4) and recorder (R4R) that is very small, yet very rugged and sounds really great. They include an in-built Li Polymer batter that lasts up to 8 hours (nearly 7 hours phantom powering microphones in my tests) and provide several outputs including line and mic level, unbalanced and balanced. It includes 2 XLR microphone inputs and a 3.5mm line level input. There’s no screen, which means longer battery life, and there are physical controls to do everything you need to do.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at https://school.learnlightandsound.com including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.
Links to gear used in this video:
CEntrance MixerFace R4 (this is JUST a mixer and audio interface to record to camera, iOS, Android, Mac, or PC)
CEntrance MixerFace R4R (this is a mixer, microSD card recorder, and audio interface to record to camera, iOS, Android, Mac, or PC)
Apple Lightning to USB 3 Adapter (Amazon) - You’ll need this if you want to record to an iOS device from the MixerFace R4 or R4R
USB C to Micro OTG Cable (Amazon) - You’ll need this if you want to record to an Android device with USB C input from the MixerFace R4 or R4R
Shure SM58 (Amazon) Dynamic Handheld Microphone - The quintessential handheld dynamic microphone
ElectroVoice RE20 Dynamic Broadcast Microphone - great for podcasts and voiceover
DPA 4017b Shotgun Microphone - This is the shotgun microphone I use for my paid production sound jobs when shooting outdoors
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K - I used this to record this episode
Aputure COB120dmkII (Amazon) - Key light in the talking head clips
Aputure Light Dome II (Amazon) - Newer version of the big soft box with faster setup and gel holder
Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 - RGB 1x1 panel light
Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 (Amazon) OIS II Lens - Used on the BMD Pocket Cine Camera 4K
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 (Amazon) Lens - Used on the BMD Pocket Cine Camera 4K
Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd
Music Copyright 2018 by Cary Judd. Used with permission.