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Review: Betso SBOX-1N


Ze Frias

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I have the original SBOX (where you can only jam over the lemo).  I've had it for almost two years and it's never given me a problem.  Everyone always comments on how small it is / how easy it is to velcro to a camera, plus it's never dropped timecode EVER on me.  My old Denecke box has been relegated to cart recorder TC duty/backup and I can't wait to pick up another Betso for dual cam purposes.

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A note about batteries and the SBOX: Make sure the battery you use doesn't have it's outer cover overlapping onto the negative terminal.

Not a problem with any of the major brands as the label doesn't overlap and the negative terminal usually has a bump out to make good contact.

I have some off-brand rechargeable AAs (Tenergy) that don't work well in the SBOX because the battery sticker overlaps over the contact surface.

Unlike the Ambient Lockit series the SBOX does not have a metal ribbon spring contact under the battery door to ensure solid contact.

You can test for this by installing batteries, power-up, then wiggle the battery door and push on it a bit. If the SBOX loses power you should pick another brand battery.

Very small issue but worth noting as it's not obvious that the issue is with the battery type at first.

Again, all the major brands are fine. Energizer, Duracell, Eneloop..

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I've had an SBOX-1N for about two months and it's already stopped working completely. It won't power on no matter what batteries are in it. After numerous tests the battery door closed and won't open again. I've since returned it to Trew to have it sent back to Betso for inspection.

 

It was working great right up until that. I was excited to have a sync box of that size that ran on AA batteries, and not AAA.

 

Stayed tuned.

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Also the auto power-on and auto-jam feature is amazing

 

Easily my favorite features, Alex. Especially as they deal in my sync workflow and set-up. Thanks again for putting me onto these boxes.

 

I've had an SBOX-1N for about two months and it's already stopped working completely. It won't power on no matter what batteries are in it. After numerous tests the battery door closed and won't open again. I've since returned it to Trew to have it sent back to Betso for inspection.

 

It was working great right up until that. I was excited to have a sync box of that size that ran on AA batteries, and not AAA.

 

Stayed tuned.

 

Bummer. I'm sorry to hear that. Please do keep us posted. I'm interested in hearing about how the issue gets fixed, and more importantly, about Betso's customer support.

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Hi there. I also got one a few months ago.  I got it because it had the good size, and lasted days on one batt load.

But in reality it did funny things..like just stop working. It had or has some power issues that are complete random, so you never know when it does or doesnt work. Over here a proper TC is rather crucial in the short post prod process, and i can;t afford to have TC units that are wonky.

Got a small ambient instead, works perfect, but does significant less on one AAA load...and am now waiting if these guys make it  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tentacle-sync-time-to-sync-different

Since i do not need all the fancy stuff, just a plain TC gen that jamsyncs, and does 3 or 4 days on one load.

 

Ymmv.

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I've had an SBOX-1N for about two months and it's already stopped working completely. It won't power on no matter what batteries are in it. After numerous tests the battery door closed and won't open again. I've since returned it to Trew to have it sent back to Betso for inspection.

 

It was working great right up until that. I was excited to have a sync box of that size that ran on AA batteries, and not AAA.

 

Stayed tuned.

 

Hi Adam, are you sure, it was SBOX-1N? (N letter in the name of product is important, it means NEW version) Because we did not receive any SBOX-1N from Trew Audio with jammed door and not working completely.. What you wrote was issue of some SBOX-1 (old versions) units in the past. Please, let me know.

 

 

Hi there. I also got one a few months ago.  I got it because it had the good size, and lasted days on one batt load.

But in reality it did funny things..like just stop working. It had or has some power issues that are complete random, so you never know when it does or doesnt work. Over here a proper TC is rather crucial in the short post prod process, and i can;t afford to have TC units that are wonky.

Got a small ambient instead, works perfect, but does significant less on one AAA load...and am now waiting if these guys make it  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tentacle-sync-time-to-sync-different

Since i do not need all the fancy stuff, just a plain TC gen that jamsyncs, and does 3 or 4 days on one load.

 

Ymmv.

 

Hi Roberto, you are right. We know about one unit SBOX-1N which behaved weard. You returned it to Pascal (Noyz Boyz service guy) and  he wrote us, he cannot simulate issue, you described. We gave you (to Noyz Boyz) completely new unit and this one, we also tested and cannot simulate this issue too. So I gave this SBOX-1N to my friend - sound guy from Prague and he is working with it now for almost 6 months and it works perfectly fine, so I am not sure, what was wrong.. Anyway sorry for troubles you had with it..

Jan Zastera

BETSO ELECTRONICS

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Hi Adam, are you sure, it was SBOX-1N? (N letter in the name of product is important, it means NEW version) Because we did not receive any SBOX-1N from Trew Audio with jammed door and not working completely.. What you wrote was issue of some SBOX-1 (old versions) units in the past. Please, let me know.

 

 

It's 100% an 1N. Trew will be in touch at some point.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's 100% an 1N. Trew will be in touch at some point.

 

You are right, we received it 2 days ago. It is already repaired. Battery door was jammed, most probably because of some dust. We are not sure. It is repaired and ready to send back. Really sorry for this issue. We are sending you free nylon pouch as a small gift.

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  • 8 months later...

I have had the SBOX-1N for about two months now, worked a dream the very small amount of times that i have used it. Tried to change out the Energizer rechargeable batteries and can't open the battery compartment. Has anyone else been able to resolve this without sending it back?

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  • 5 months later...
15 hours ago, jgbsound said:

Just bought one.  Connected the LEMO, pressed both buttons to power it on, and voila!  synced perfectly.  Build quality is super solid and the OLED is bright and sexy looking.  Not too shabby.  Gonna give it a tryout on my shoot this week.

I love mine. you can set it up to power up as soon as it sees TC thru the Lemo.  Even better

:-)

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