It's a lovely piece of kit, on brand,

but as an actual practicing field recordist who also does home recording, some critical information (or features?) are missing,

namely,

- the availability of plug-in power for electret microphones on any of the inputs;

- whether the analog inputs are line-level only (no mention is made of integrated preamps)

- whether the 3x analog inputs can be configured for 4-channel recording (e.g. A-format for Ambisonics)

If there were four high-quality preamps providing plug-in power... you could use this for recording surround in the field, and transcode to B-format and then deliver via the Ambisonics ecosystems in AR/VR. E.g. record single-point surround video with a 360 camera, with surround audio—now you have a pocket kit that can give you surround video with audio that tracks etc.

But I don't think this does that. I think it's very pretty but would require external preamps (maybe this is provided on their companion mixer?) and mic power... :|

If anyone familiar with their line can comment I'm curious, I am in the rare subset of people interested enough in this specific area to drop coin on lovely gear...

...but I don't really want to carry two or more devices no matter how pretty when uglier single-device solutions exist already :/

You know I’ve come across your quiet american website exploring marginalia.nu in the past and never thought to actually see what the content was about, so now I don’t need to ask you to tell me more about what it’s like being a practicing field recordist, because it looks like you’ve done that already.

Fancy seeing you here, thanks for stopping by.

In regards to the B-format processing, if it’s got DSP it would not be hard to implement, it’s simple matrix math. I would be happy to give them the filter set for the AMBEO VR Mic.

But there are a range of mixers on the market, not as beautiful, from Zoom (F4 and F8) and SoundDevices (MixPre 6, 8, 10) that have integrated A to B format converters. With the SoundDevices also having a binaural renderer integrated into the headphone out.

The larger issue is the one you have already identified, the lack of pre-amps. IIRC the field mixer they sell does contain preamps and DSP, but unsure if it can provide 48v that most Ambisonics mics from any manufacturer will require.

EDIT: In looking at the site for the field mixer they make [0] it appears it doesn’t have pre-amp except for a headset input. I was confused because their large diaphragm condenser that they have coming out will absolutely require a pre and power to operate, but it looks like it has an 3mm out with integrated battery operated pre-amp in addition to XLR and 48v phantom. [1]

[0]https://teenage.engineering/store/tx-6/

[1]https://teenage.engineering/store/cm-15/

There are people doing Ambisonics 4-channel recording with electrets, so phantom is not necessarily required...

Core now does second-order...

https://www.core-sound.com/products/octomic

its supposed to be used with their new microphone. any further mixing needs are supposed to be carried out via their field mixer. Are there better options for cheaper, yes. Does it look or feel as good? No. Does it still do the thing? Yes.

Yeah. For their imagined target applications it's on brand for being delightful.

I think my quibble is simply, "the thing" it does is not my thing :)

As of late, their industrial design has been just beautiful. You want to have it, even if you have no use for it.

People will complain about the price, as per usual, but keep in mind that this is a small company making low volume products for professionals.

With that said, I certainly won't be buying one :)

> products for professionals

Certainly not :)

Most professionals I know will stick to their Sound Devices, Zoom or Cantar.

Yes, I don't doubt that there are more affordable products which offer the same, or (probably) better, quality, for a better price.

Nevertheless, some people just prefer to use products that spark their creativity, however irrational it may be. This can easily turn into a never ending discussion :P

It doesn't matter how good it looks... Not at $1500.

Even people with serious disposable cash had issues withe 'op1 field'. This is a far larger price differential with competing products in the same quality/feature bracket

There are, read the comments

In similar price range Tascam trumps Zoom!

It's like Apple but for musicians. If you need to care about the price you are likely not the target audience.

Thanks but I will stick with my Zoom field recorder.

earlier discussion today: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35906292

I would not call it "earlier" if it was posted 10 hours after this ;)

But indeed, the other post gained more traction and is worth checking.

Thanks, I even doublechecked before commenting... must have been looking at another thread!

$1500 USD. Good lord, no thank you. This is actually just too much for something that has its bases covered by phones and a laptop. You can get some serious portable and studio kit for that money.

It's not for me either.

I don't think that makes it bad.

Just built to a price point that makes economic sense.

And for market segments where $1500 is not a non-starter.

Its priced appropriate unfortunately. Where mixers run $10-40k, and 16 channels of preamps can run upwards of $5k. They are going after a niche pro audio market that has the rare ven diagram needs of form and function

My old Mackie 1604vlz didn’t cost nearly that sort of coin. True it wasn’t neve or ua… but it had very quiet and clear pre amps and more than enough channels and routing. For $350 used in the early 2000s.

Sorry for not being clear.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with the price. It’s not a lifesaving drug or something like that.

Yeah I have a Sony field recorder which is really nice, but was about a sixth of the price.

These seems like a dumb question, but what's the ergonomics for left handers or people who don't have a right hand?

At $1500, I would like to see symmetry or ease of use for the opposite hand.

It seems slightly more designed to be held in the right hand, but is there anything about the design that cares whether that hand is dominant or not?

I think my issue is that the marketing reeks of this being an ergonomic triumph.

But then they forget about people who are left handed...

One use case might be holding the device in one hand and taking notes with the other... It's designed to be held in the right hand, but do you write with your right hand too?

Remember the iPhone 4?

"You're holding it wrong"