I've asked this question to Philip Bloom and he says I'm wrong -- "because this is one man band kit…i had help here but still…why on earth would you bring a mixer unless you had a sound man?" but I still don't see why so please if you're an audio professional and have actually used a field mixer digital recorder combo get back to me. I'm sure I'm missing something here but as I've not actually do any work with an external sound recorder I'm sure what I'm saying is pure conjecture :) There is a difference I think too compared to what he was he was doing, filming a person interview in a very controlled environment compared to chasing tornadoes and trying to get audio from people in a very difficult environment.

So sound pro's your feedback please!