Richard Thomas

As a note, the Sonosax SX-R4+ also has a more linear +24dB fader curve option (done in software rather than hardware)

The touchscreen is resistive, so will work with pens/pokey things etc too- I tend to use one when entering notes as the letter keys are a it smaller. I've done a few days in a very hot and humid room lately, again it works well, although it's easier to accidentally get the wrong part of the screen with sweaty fingers

I've been on a low budget drama job for the last few weeks and mainly used the R4+ on its own. Haven't used the wifi as I don't have the external antenna mod but have been using reports generated on the machine. Metadata has also carried on through the workflow from davinci resolve to Avid and the assembly editor is receiving it all. Been running an additional preamp for an external slate mic on the line inputs (to free up the main fader knobs)

The XLR5 output board is now shipping (switchable between 2ch balanced analogue, 4ch AES3, 4ch unbalanced analogue), priced at CHF390 I think the RC8+ is limited with ins/outs by what's on the accessory port- it uses an AES channel for the slate mic. Currently I'm using the analogue line in with a fostex preamp for slate and using a spare channel. I'd like to enable a mix routing preset as a shortcut for slate mic purposes (would probably use the analogue pots for this).

I've done work through an agency before at the request of a foreign client, mainly for payroll/insurance reasons I think. Got paid the same and had no additional work through the agency, although they wanted me to come in to their office to get set up beforehand

It is possible to add/remove the top output, although last time I heard it wasn't very cheap and there was quite a long lead time on parts

Go through the groups, ones without a 'lock' symbol are editable (usually higher ones from the factory). If you get the programmer (who know someone who does) you can unlock the preset groups and change everything

FYI: new firmware update SONOSAX SX-R4+ FIRMWARES VERSION 2.2 May 2016 CHANGELOG Added optional XLR5-M output card support Fixed input level bug: when entering fader mode with pot closed, level was frozen to MUTE. Fixed track menu bug: in some rare case, modifications were not saved Fixed SD card 'SPEED' error If you look at the block diagram, there are 2 serial ports on the accessory connector so one could be connected to the AD8+/RC8+ and another to the fader controller. It would require some custom cabling (possibly something Sonosax could provide). As far as I know the AD8+ and RC8+ are yet to ship and the fader surface design is being looked at again, though

It's definitely improved- one thing I remember being shown at the factory was they'd made their own transformer in the PSU out of stacked PCBs to reduce RF spill

I've not had any issues- centre scan on wisycom doesn't pull up much (my SX-R4 and SX-M32 have a load around 470MHz)

I've also worked with a deva user who would have inline phase reverse adapters on the patchbay on his cart- usually on the booms if there was an issue as it's faster and more obvious something's been changed than running through the menus

And what about Shannon? He always gets left out of the Nyquist-Shannon Sampling theorem ... (and died in 2001)

Definitely agree with this- it seems that both Zaxcom and Audio Ltd have made different engineering choices here, with some which may suit certain users better than others. It's seems to be a case that some kind of compromise has to me made in one way or another and it seem that both Sony and Sennheiser have made their own engineering decisions too. You go with the one which fits the way you work the best. For another example, if size, bandwidth and power usage go out the window- Neutrik's Xirium pro 5GHz systems can do 2 channels of 24/48 uncompressed in 3.6ms analogue to analogue: http://www.neutrik.co.uk/en-uk/xirium-pro-europe/nxp2tx-e You wouldn't be able to hide that too easily, though...

The sennheiser 9000s have been around for a while now (although the ek6042 is new), although the transmitters can't record. 'Long range mode' is similar to the analogue sennheiser 5000 I've been told, they also have an 'non-long range' uncompressed 24/48kHz mode which only works with the (very big) rack receiver

Seems a bit complicated- would a serial to Bluetooth/wifi adapter work?

How would you go about that? I can see advantages with both cabled and wireless control, depending on the situation. The Sonosax does drop the connection if you leave it for a while, but is just a case of clicking the 'connect' button again

I never said *wasting* time... It's chargeable and part of the workflow involved with this stuff. : )

The times I've used zaxcom radios have been when the recording ability in the transmitters has been necessary in documentary/reality situation, so in these cases I've had to do the conversion for 3-4hour files afterwards in all transmitters (so playback's not a realistic option). It's a very specific job (which I rent for) and not one that comes up often for me and until the 1010s have become available, zaxcom a have been the only real choice for this kind of work. Outside the US it now looks like we've got the Audio 1010s as a viable alternative with this function and I expect to look at both systems (and their availability) if something else which requires this comes up, data wrangling time may be a factor in this choice too.

Currently, it's just running metering, track arming, Rec on/off and metadata. Might be able to do something tomorrow

I believe it was an engineering compromise, as the zaxcom do by running at 32kHz

Just to elaborate, a computer and the (free) zaxconvert program is required in order to convert the MARF files into .wav at whichever sample rate you like (which can add some data wrangling time to your day). The Audio 1010s record as .wav files, however they transmit at 44.1kHz so still need sample rate conversion and again some data wrangling time. On the plus side, this may result in some overtime pay!

Also looks like there's a new interface on the web remote control, looking at this picture from Pro Sound:

Thanks Jürg, that all makes sense. Also does it screw on to the recorder?

Actually, how does the power distribution on the RC8+ work? I notice it's not plugged into the DC out and the power out the accessory port is only 3.3V/10mA

As they've implemented fader control on the 4 main knobs on the R4+ now, it'd make sense for them to do that with the RC8+/AD8+ too. I suspect the RC8+ was made for this reason