I am honestly not an audio expert. I have only used SQN's before that I could borrow fro my former employer and those had a much higher output as far as I remember. EDIT: Which are mixers only, of course, but since the Fostex is adertised as both a mixer and a recorder I use this as a reference.

The Fostex got a mic out on the other side where the XLR inputs are, see pic

@spacewig no, I am using the mic out of the Fostex. the RCA is line out, which I tried with a Sony FS700 but with quite a signal as well.

Just thought i'd mention that as an owner of this unit I can answer any questions anybody has on this, would love to be able to help anybody who has some questions.

Does anyone own the Fostex DC-R302 and could help me out?

I really have problems getting a good signal in and out of that thing when I use it with a Rode NTG-3 or Oktava mic. I have to get really close to the person and if this is not possible I have to boost the signal to the maximum (Gain "H, level 8-10). With Rode lavs, it is significantly better.

Then, when I feed it into my GH3 through the mic out, the signal is again quite low and I have to boost the shitty pre-amps of the GH3 in order to have a decent level.

Similar with the line out going into a FS700.

I hope I am just a dumbass and missed something. Probably it is not intended to be used as a mixer at all....

I agree, Vitaliy, THD, and many other specs, are not that interesting for evaluating gear. You have to listen to it. It is only interesting if you want to guess what the circuit is without buying it.

I'm trying to answer the question that was asked, are they the same preamps? I can buy the box, take the top off and take a look, but is is pretty expensive--so in this case I need only to look at the specs. I don't think it is the same preamps, based on the big difference in the specs, but of course it could be a summing bus issue.

I think I have answered this question as best I can, trying to be helpful. As someone who build preamps and mics, for my own use, I would never design a circuit with a THD that high, and I'm happy for anyone to borrow one of my preamps and try it out. I think you can hear the difference from a noisy opamp, and the circuit is socketed so you can compare different opamps.

I could be totally wrong, but that's my opinion.

The reason the THD number is interesting (at least to me), is because it is ten times greater than the older model. It isn't interesting in and of itself, it simply shows that the circuitry is different--and, presumably, decontented. When a manufacturer specs lower on a successful model line, it simply makes you say, whoa, why more noise?

THD on a converter/preamp is a different type of noise than a passive circuit. So for example, the RME FF400, which is not the top of the line, it is in the middle of the line, has a THD of .001, and we know that RME is conservative with its numbers. RME even breaks down the different stages into separate figures.

The FR2LE has a THD of .008 to .01, which is fine, but nothing special. Switching over to headphones, the HD 650 has a THD of .05, the HD 600 is .1, and then we get to the newest Fostex, which is .1 percent. Now it is much, much harder for Sennheiser to make an HP membrane that puts out .01 THD, and it is trivial for a simple chip-on-board to do this.

The RME unit has 100 times less THD than the newer Fostex. Plus, they use programmable circuits, which cost more. That means that if they discover after a few years that the box has a design flaw, they can fix it by sending a command through software--rewire the circuit in some cases (not all cases, you can't rewire the ground wire, obviously), remotely. It is actually harder to use a circuit like this to get those ultra low specs, and the circuits are way more expensive.

A pair of B&W speakers--which is what we use here in the studio for mastering--runs about 1 percent THD in the bass and .5 in the midrange. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense, even with very good materials, a large flexible cone is not going to vibrate perfectly, nor will the axis stay centered in the magnet motor armature.

Really expensive speakers--ones with horns, if you can believe it--don't list THD, because they can't really beat that 1 percent figure. It isn't impossible, but it vibrates. You can pick up an Acapella Audio Arts Sphaeron Excalibur for a quarter mill, but you won't have THD satisfaction. http://www.acapella.de/img/Sphaeron.jpg

A typical high end system might have $10,000 invested in the speakers. Let's take the Monitor Audio Platinum PL300. THD? Well, not published, but it must be good. Or not.

I do like the horn on the old Victrolas--the only way to listen to the Caruso records is through the original horn. It is like nothing else.

Where did they cut corners, if they did, on the Fostex? By using cheaper chips, they saved maybe a dollar a box, and they charge you more. Or they made a mistake in the circuit. Take your pick. Even more funny, it may be a typo.

However, it may sound OK--I'm just saying it isn't the same circuit. The FR2LE sounds great, but if you look inside it has cheap opamps. But it is a very well designed box, you don't even need to upgrade the opamps, it sounds fine stock. And even the best mics have some distortion, and a desirable part of the tube sound.

Well, for example THD is .1 percent. So maybe that figure is overrated, but it it should not be that high in a well designed circuit unless there is a tube in there. Which I doubt. The fact is, for location work, the noise floor is really high. But I doubt it is the same circuit.

The specs are not as good as the FR-2LE. So the internals are different, how different, I can't say since I already have the FR-2LE I can't buy it for fun.

Some more info

http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/downloads/pdfs/dcr302_brochure.pdf

http://www.fostex.jp/attach_files/0000/0144/DC-R302_QuickManual.pdf

I see it over at http://www.pinknoise-systems.co.uk/fostex-dcr302-dslr-audio-mixerrecorder-p-811.html for £899.00 incl. VAT.

On the US side I would expect it to be around 899 as well but in USD ;) gear is soooo expensive in europe.

MSRP in the audio world is never what you are going to pay in the store.

My guess is they are going for a $999-899 street price on this.