I`m shooting interviews for a documentary with the DVX100A. Im not sure if I really need a field mixer? What do you think? Are the available XLRs with the onboard audio controls effecient? Or should I route through a mixer? What mixers are recommended?

Best Wishes
Tony

MXB1002- check it out at B&H it's cheap ($100 US) - excellent record ability - slightly deficient on the gage. I use the cam for that.

Tony, I'm just finishing up the production phase on a doc shot on the DVX100, and while the DVX has excellent audio and you could get by without a mixer in a whole lot of circumstances (and should avoid the additional hassle IMO is you're a one man band), we used the PSC Promix. And I'm glad we went that route. My boom op/sound recordist was able to make adjustments that just wouldn't have been possible w/o it. It adds another layer of hassle to be sure (and cables to contend with, in and out) but for our purposes, it definitely improved what we were able to capture. Plus, just having another set of ears along, someone just focusing on audio while I was distracted with the shot, was critical for the circumstances we were shooting under as well.

Good luck,
Marcia

I purchased a Shure FP 31 off Ebay. You can get them for less than $200.00. The FP32 on Ebay can go anywhere from $300-$500 but both have good preamps, much better than the ones in the DVX

I was also thinking about getting a small field mixer for my DVX100, but now wonder if I need one. Can anyone offer an opinion and/or experience on the following idea?

I do legal video, which is often taking video depositions. Normally, I take a whole cart load of stuff (mixer, VCRs, audio cassette deck, etc.) and set the camera up on top, and it all works great. For sound, I usually use 4 good AudioTecnica lavaliere mics (one for each person), run though a mixer.

However, sometimes I need a smaller, more portable setup (to depose a prisoner in jail, for example). Could I hook up a Y XLR adapter to each of the XLR inputs on the camera, thereby having 4 XLR mic inputs? Would the sound be ok? Can the camera handle the additional phantom power requirements? I realize that there are only 2 volume controls on the camera, but usually levels are pretty consistent and I could "fine tune" by adjusting the distance of the mic from each person's mouth. This way I could do everything off battery power (I have several high-capacity batteries for the camera).

Thanks in advance for any advice! Jeff