I think my quibble is simply, "the thing" it does is not my thing :)
Fancy seeing you here, thanks for stopping by.
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]
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 :/