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Cantar X3 Mini


Derek H

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Price: 7.600€ ext VAT

Specifications

Analog and Digital Inputs:

- 4 low noise mic inputs, preamps with very high quality transformer. 48V Phantom, limiters, filters and EQ - 2 balanced line inputs
- AES digital inputs include 2 AES42 (mode 2) / AES3 pairs (4 mono channels)
- Built-In Slate Mic with External Slate Mic Input on 3.5mm connector Outputs
- 8 Analog line level outputs
- 4 AES3 Digital outputs on SubD HD 15

4 Recording Media

- Simultaneous recording to internal mSATA 256 GB SSD drive, two SD cards and USB external drive Metering and Controls
- Ultra bright large swiveling display panel, visibility optimized for shoulder work or cart, auto adjust brigthness - One large rotary selector for easy operations in any situations
- On board ten channel sliders plate with magnetic linear assignable sliders
- Direct access to monitoring and set-up functions through dedicated buttons

Power

- Two identical on board quick release Lithium smart batteries ensure seamless switchover during recording Up to 11 hours autonomy when using “stand by” mode
- One XLR4 DC 13-17 Volts input for extra power when working on cart

Main features

- All inputs can be routed to any of the 16 tracks, linear control sliders addressable to any inputs and output - All tracks and inputs can be routed to 8 analog auxiliary outputs and /or 4 digital outputs
- Native Monophonic BWF recording with optional Polyphonic real-time mirroring to removable media
- USB keyboard inputs for easy metadata editing and routing control
- Enhanced Playback Monitoring with Waveform Display on front panel
- Self-Generated PDF,CSV and ALE Sound Reports embedded with deliverable media - Compatible with Cantarem2

General Specifications

- Open mechanical structure with independent Analog, Digital and Display modules for easy maintenance and - ‘anti-obsolescence’ - upgrades.
- Housing made of machined avionic aluminum. Water and dust resistant
- Dimensions: 259 X 234 X 90 mm – 10,2 x 9,2 x 3,5 inches
- Weight: 2,8 Kg with two batteries

Cantar Mini specifications

Connectivity Inputs & outputs
- 4 Balanced Analog TA3M Mic/Line
- 1 SubDHD15 (2 pair AES42 inputs / AES3 input & output) - 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1 PC Connect)
- 2 USB2 (Keyboard, external devices)
- 1 6.35mm (Headphone output)
- 1 3.5mm (Headphone output/ External slate mic input)
- 1 XLR4 (DC Input)
- 1 Hirose 4 pins (DC Output 500mA)
- 1 Lemo 5 (Timecode)
- 1 SubD25 (Balanced Analog Out )
- Wi-Fi (Web app based communication)
Additional Features
- mixdown can be assigned to any tracks
- Simultaneous recording to multiple media, or backup copying of recorded tracks post-record
- New improved interface menu accessible through buttons and jog wheel. All inputs and outputs monitoring and routing accessible through comprehensive and intuitive menus
- 16 or 24-bit Broadcast Wave File recording at sample rates from 44.1kHz~192kHz with support for pull-up/down recording rates
- Sample Rate Converters on all Digital Inputs
- Variable Delays on all analog Inputs
- 30 Second Pre-Record Buffer
- Generous 48V Phantom supply guarantees 8mA to each of the 4 Mics inputs
- High-Pass filters before the preamp stage, LFA and EQ
- Metadata entry of Scene, Take, Notes, Track Names, Roll and more with support for US
and Euro-centric metadata templates
- Aaton AutoSlate automatic slate clap detection and logging
- M/S Recorded Tracks automatically decoded to L/R for Mixdown and/or monitoring
- Cantar Mini reads and displays battery metadata

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16174811_10154804120455619_2870401150629

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19 minutes ago, VAS said:

 

Connectivity Inputs & outputs
- 4 Balanced Analog TA3M Mic/Line
- 1 SubDHD15 (2 pair AES42 inputs / AES3 input & output) - 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1 PC Connect)

- 1 SubD25 (Balanced Analog Out )
 

Well there's 'mini' and then there's 'mini, nb requires a bag of accessories for the simplest connection'.

TA3M?

How big exactly are 6 or 8 XLRs that meant this had to be a cable-monster to use?

Jez Adamson

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1 minute ago, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

Well there's 'mini' and then there's 'mini, nb requires a bag of accessories for the simplest connection'.

TA3M?

How big exactly are 6 or 8 XLRs that meant this had to be a cable-monster to use?

Jez Adamson

A small price to pay but there's always the F8.

 

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48 minutes ago, daniel said:

A small price to pay but there's always the F8.

 

Plenty of room for other gadgets/features ... 10 linear faders and a huge screen. I think they perhaps looked hard at the F8 ergonomics in the design stage (TA3M outputs etc) ... ! No, a doggy bag of cable adapters just to plug a mic that isn't an Audix into it is a huge price to pay, and I never thought I'd say it of the Cantar family (my favourite machines after the IV-S) but I reckon a serious design failure, and one I hope they manage to change before the assembly line.

Jez

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7 minutes ago, Wandering Ear said:

It seems a little odd to have a 16 track recorder with only 10 total analog and digital inputs.  With 2 tracks for mix, what is the purpose of the extra 4 tracks?   I would love to see this configuration with 8 aes instead of 4.

I am a little confused by this too. Also in the specs posted above, one section seems to say that there are 4 mic inputs plus 2 line inputs, then later it just says 4 mic/line inputs. Can anyone clarify?

-Mike

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 I reckon Mini is quite a cool piece of kit. All the quality of the X3 but scaled back. I am quite a fan of much lighter TA3s - the 5 pin XLRs on my X3s are all converted and I use the Rean XLR3 to TA3 converters. Horses for courses.

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8 minutes ago, Mobilemike said:

I am a little confused by this too. Also in the specs posted above, one section seems to say that there are 4 mic inputs plus 2 line inputs, then later it just says 4 mic/line inputs. Can anyone clarify?

-Mike

It is definitely 4 x transformer balanced mic/line plus 2 dedicated asymmetric line inputs. A total of 6 analogue. 

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Plenty of room for other gadgets/features ... 10 linear faders and a huge screen. I think they perhaps looked hard at the F8 ergonomics in the design stage (TA3M outputs etc) ... ! No, a doggy bag of cable adapters just to plug a mic that isn't an Audix into it is a huge price to pay, and I never thought I'd say it of the Cantar family (my favourite machines after the IV-S) but I reckon a serious design failure, and one I hope they manage to change before the assembly line.
Jez

The TA3 isn't exactly a Zoom invention. SD have them on all of their recorders, Lectro have them on various devices - incl. Octopack, which arguably might have had enough space for 8 XLR outputs.
And you really don't need a doggy bag full of cable adapters, you just need one. Or, just make your own cable. One end, full size XLR the other end TA3. I really hope they won't change that, it's better to keep the size small, and for me personally, should I use it in a bag I'd find it easier with the short adapter ends.
And if you do want a Cantar with full size XLRs they have one already. It's the X3.
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 “Research tells us that the Cantar Mini will be a desirable product for those professionals who already have one or two CantarX3s and want to have an additional, more lightweight recorder for particular tasks, perhaps with a boom, or to work with the recorder shoulder mounted.”

How on earth would you use this shoulder mounted??

 

I too am very curious to see what this set up would look like! 

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