[aaroninsf]

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 :/

[the-printer]

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.

[audiothrowaway]

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/

[aaroninsf]

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

[pseudosaid]

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.

[aaroninsf]

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 :)