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744T Discontinued (so it seems)


Jim Feeley

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https://www.sounddevices.com/products/discontinued

"The 744T was an ultra-portable, four-track file-based digital audio recorder."

News to me. And I think news in general.

Released over a dozen years ago, it's had a good long life. Heck, I just bought another one. Though I did buy used; I'd guess sales of new 744T have dropped off these days.

So thanks Sound Devices. And looking forward to seeing what you release next.

 

 

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I think this was announced pretty recently. Somewhere else I saw a post about the 702, the 722 and the 744T all being retired. The 702T and 788T-SSD continuing for now.
I'd bet the 702T/702/722 has a following with people doing field recordings (besides dialog). Keeping the 702T also makes sense for people wanting a small backup recorder on the cart.

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That was a pretty long run for a modern electronic device.  I believe SD will still service them, at least for a time.  The 744 may turn out to be the Nagra III of the file-recording age, working on far past the end of their manufacturing.   It is ironic to me that upgrades to the audio of the actual recordings file-recorders make more or less plateaued at the 7xx series, the changes after that are in features, usability, WiFi+Blutooth and peripherals etc..   The 744 certainly has done yeoman work for me.

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The 744T was my first recorder. I didn't buy a DAT, and had to convince the first few shows I did (including 2nd units) that the 744T was easier and superior. It wasn't long after that DAT was gone. The 744T remained as my mix back-up or dailies DVD when I went to higher track counts with DV824 and then boom recorder. It then went to the bag when I ran 2 x 788Ts on the cart. Then I moved the 2nd 788T to the bag and ran the 744T as a mix back-up on the cart. Eventually I abandoned the back-up and sold on my 744T. A very sad day, and I still regret it. I really wish I had kept it. The 744T is truly one of the greatest machines I have had the pleasure to use.

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744T was the first SD product I used, in the year 2005 I think. It was their breakthrough and their showreel of service, innovation, sound and build quality. Now I find myself every day between 633's, 664's, 302's... 

We have still some 744T, but for today it's a little bit too complex and heavy for what it can do.

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I also bought my my 744T in 2005. Use it's SPdif and TC out into a Motu and Boom Recorder. STILL USING THIS SAME SETUP 12 YEARS LATER! Always wanted 8+1 tracks and this was the only easy way to do it in 2005. Roughly 2000+ shoot days without incident. I purchased the Sonosax ST8D in 2006 with the hope it's internal recorder would be comprehensive enough to use but it never came to fruition and the very important need to easily input metadata still isn't fully developed. Great mixing board tho. Maybe the R4+ will be fully operational (Dante' Metadata ect...) some day but I think I'll have hung up the headphones by then.

IMG_5215.JPG

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On 2/7/2017 at 9:22 AM, Ramsay said:

I also bought my my 744T in 2005. Use it's SPdif and TC out into a Motu and Boom Recorder. STILL USING THIS SAME SETUP 12 YEARS LATER! Always wanted 8+1 tracks and this was the only easy way to do it in 2005. Roughly 2000+ shoot days without incident. I purchased the Sonosax ST8D in 2006 with the hope it's internal recorder would be comprehensive enough to use but it never came to fruition and the very important need to easily input metadata still isn't fully developed. Great mixing board tho. Maybe the R4+ will be fully operational (Dante' Metadata ect...) some day but I think I'll have hung up the headphones by then.

IMG_5215.JPG

Bravo.  If it isn't broken don't fix it! 

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1 hour ago, Philip Perkins said:

Bravo.  If it isn't broken don't fix it! 

and if it ain't a brick don't break it. these machines are truly classics. there is always work for the recorders to do.

seems like just yesterday when they first hit the market. my oh my how time flies when you're getting old.

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