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WTB 4 Channel Recorder for Tetrahedral Mic


KGraham045

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One important thing to keep in mind is that you want the ability to have the gain for all 4 mic pre's linked so that they are exactly the same. This is necessary for the "imaging" that's done when being processed in post. I believe you can work around this by recording a test tone on each track and using that to make sure all channels are calibrated that way.. but it requires some extra cooperation from post and may be less accurate. The 6 series Sound Devices units do not have this ability. Zaxcom recorders and The SD 788 do... and the new firmware for the MixPre series from Sound Devices also allows for this. With the MixPre6 you'd need an external TC box but the cost of the two combined would be significantly less than some of these other options. I've been considering an ambisonics rig myself and have been leaning towards the MixPre6 and the SPS2000.

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The SD 744 is a 2x preamp + 2x line in recorder - I presume you know this and I'm stating the obvious but I'll mention it anyway. Not sure what the sps does in output (does it need the preamp?) and the TC is a factor irrelevant for ambisonics but perhaps important for your other applications.

 

The Zoom F4 and F8 as well as the SD new MixPre series and the Tascam 70 w tc are worth looking at. If you can forsake TC the Tascam DR70 or the new Marantz might be enough. As has been said multichannel gain matching might be required and is imo woefully non-implemented in recorders. The older, larger, Tascam DR680 I've been told has very good gain linking, and might be worth looking at.

3 minutes ago, ryanpeds said:

Can you link the inputs on the Sonosax sx-r4? That could be a possibility 

 

The original R4 was ideal for ambisonics and I'm sure the R4+ is as good and an improvement in every way.

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I was surprised to find that I am pretty happy with the results from my F4 with an SPS200.  As long as you don't overdrive the inputs!  While recording nature ambiences I have not had any complaints about the noise floor.  Planes, hunters, ATV's, sure.... most of the time.

Now that SD supports linking of all four inputs I may still consider a mix-pre series.  I would prefer the Sonosax SX R4+, which is a great recorder, however ambisonics is a smaller portion of my income so I don't have a justification for the extra expense.  Hope that helps.

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On 11/27/2017 at 5:35 PM, THSnodgrass said:

One important thing to keep in mind is that you want the ability to have the gain for all 4 mic pre's linked so that they are exactly the same. This is necessary for the "imaging" that's done when being processed in post. I believe you can work around this by recording a test tone on each track and using that to make sure all channels are calibrated that way.. but it requires some extra cooperation from post and may be less accurate. The 6 series Sound Devices units do not have this ability. Zaxcom recorders and The SD 788 do... and the new firmware for the MixPre series from Sound Devices also allows for this. With the MixPre6 you'd need an external TC box but the cost of the two combined would be significantly less than some of these other options. I've been considering an ambisonics rig myself and have been leaning towards the MixPre6 and the SPS2000.

 

While the 6 Series all have analog trims and can't be ganged, the 688 can read the setting of the trim pot.  This  allows you to set all the inputs to precisely the same gain.

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1 hour ago, ramallo said:

I have a Aeta 4Minx for sale, isn't small footprint, but is light, have SPS200 decoder, the four best preamps of the market (Includes the Cantar preamps) and 8 tracks

IMG_8835 (1).jpg

OT (sorry), I really wanted to like this AETA recorder and it's great to read the pres are so nice. Asking why you want to sell a recorder with such nice pres is probably unfair (:-?)

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1 minute ago, daniel said:

OT (sorry), I really wanted to like this AETA recorder and it's great to read the pres are so nice. Asking why you want to sell a recorder with such nice pres is probably unfair (:-?)

Why it was a whim (and I need money), also I have another 3 recorders

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