Zaxcom- MAXX

[Mark Orusa]

You will be able to route all 4 inputs to a single fader knob. The inputs can be calibrated to within a .5 dB step. This will be perfect for Sound Field operation. A soundfield decoder option will be made available at some point.

That is my new Avatar "Moo" on the right with his friend Nipper on the left. Moo is auditioning to be the sound fidelity trademark for Zaxcom.

Glenn

Glenn, when you say calibrated do you mean calibrated or just setting the gain per channel in the setup menu? Either way, will the Nomad be capable of being set in 0.5db steps?

Mark O.

[Mark Orusa]

I'm very interested on the Maxx, but my principal application is for the Soundfield SPS200, IMMO with the Nomad the gain calibration isn't solved positively (I don't like the fader solution). Is very interesting for me if I can calibrate the gains and assing them to one fader.

A little off-thread...

With my gains settings I believe the levels are inside of 1db difference. Then I can use a single fader to control the level going to the record bus. Just to be clear, the single fader is not a common gain knob, but a common post-input section fader. The gains are set individually and I do not change them.

Having the advantage of Neverclip mic pres, I don't need to change the input gain for fear of being set too high. I set them to a moderate level and use the single fader to raise and lower the signal going to the record bus.

Mark O.

[Jeff Wexler]

As you can see from my previous post, gain settings of 10,13,14,13 indicate as much as 4db of difference between mic pres on my Nomad. And they still are slightly off, as is shown by the meters on the screen.

Mark O.

Well, I guess I am wrong. It may be that you are not able to use any Zaxcom recorder for your Soundfield work. There must be some other recorder or setup you could use for this sort of recording. I don't think this trim level disparity problem is going to change with Zaxcom.

[ramallo]

A little off-thread...

With my gains settings I believe the levels are inside of 1db difference. Then I can use a single fader to control the level going to the record bus. Just to be clear, the single fader is not a common gain knob, but a common post-input section fader. The gains are set individually and I do not change them.

Having the advantage of Neverclip mic pres, I don't need to change the input gain for fear of being set too high. I set them to a moderate level and use the single fader to raise and lower the signal going to the record bus.

Mark O.

"Never clip" works very well on normal situations, but in reporter mode (Documentary), you easily go from the calm to the strongest sound ever. for example in a war situation, and in my experience the "never clip" can't management this. I prefer a gain control for anticipate this "high dinamic" changes.

Suso

[Brian Liston]

.1 would be cool. Like a push down clutch, that acts opposite of the way it does with like say, frequencies on the zaxnet page.

Glenn, when you say calibrated do you mean calibrated or just setting the gain per channel in the setup menu? Either way, will the Nomad be capable of being set in 0.5db steps?

Mark O.

[SirMixesAlot]

"Never clip" works very well on normal situations, but in reporter mode (Documentary), you easily go from the calm to the strongest sound ever. for example in a war situation, and in my experience the "never clip" can't management this. I prefer a gain control for anticipate this "high dinamic" changes.

Suso

What was the exact situation where you clipped never clip? What mic were you using? How far was it from the source? Was there any wireless in the signal path?

[Mark Orusa]

"Never clip" works very well on normal situations, but in reporter mode (Documentary), you easily go from the calm to the strongest sound ever. for example in a war situation, and in my experience the "never clip" can't management this. I prefer a gain control for anticipate this "high dinamic" changes.

Suso

I believe Glenn would tell you that you can't clip the Neverclip inputs. That's why it's called Neverclip .

The fader, when used as a fader and not to control input gain, can go from infinity to +15 db. If you can't tame an input signal by turning the fader to infinity (off), then no product will work for you.

Mark O.

[OmahaAudio]

...you can't clip the Neverclip inputs. That's why it's called Neverclip

An amateur cannot use a MacBook Pro, Coca-Cola Light shines like a 250 watt bulb and Fox News is a news channel...

[Jack Norflus]

"Never clip" works very well on normal situations, but in reporter mode (Documentary), you easily go from the calm to the strongest sound ever. for example in a war situation, and in my experience the "never clip" can't management this. I prefer a gain control for anticipate this "high dinamic" changes.

Suso

Did your input clip? Or was it your output?

Or was your mic not able to handle the SPL?

I have personally tried to clip the input and I have not been able to.

[glenn]

Glenn, when you say calibrated do you mean calibrated or just setting the gain per channel in the setup menu? Either way, will the Nomad be capable of being set in 0.5db steps?

Mark O.

Setting the input gain in the setup menu is calibrating the preamp. Yes we are going to .5 dB steps on Maxx.

Glenn

[Petrus]

Setting the input gain in the setup menu is calibrating the preamp. Yes we are going to .5 dB steps on Maxx.

Glenn

So basically this means the 4 tracks can be calibrated within 0.5 dB accuracy, then one fader to adjust the levels? It might work ok for capture, but I would still either like more accuracy, or would have to make slight adjustments in post before running the tracks through the SPS200 plugin.

And excuse my ignorance, what does "pre fader" mean in this context? Would the levels be adjusted only with the preamp calibration (which would make level setting too slow in real situations)?

I'll reconsider getting Maxx...

[glenn]

"And excuse my ignorance, what does "pre fader" mean in this context? Would the levels be adjusted only with the preamp calibration (which would make level setting too slow in real situations)?"

No the levels are adjusted with any combination of the 4 faders including a single fader as a master.

Since the trim/calibration adjustment is .5dB the average difference between channels will be .25dB. I am sure this will work out fine for any microphone array.

Glenn

[Petrus]

Since the trim/calibration adjustment is .5dB the average difference between channels will be .25dB. I am sure this will work out fine for any microphone array.

Glenn

SoundField recommend a minimum of 0.1 dB accuracy. So I will look elsewhere, sigh...

[glenn]

SoundField recommend a minimum of 0.1 dB accuracy. So I will look elsewhere, sigh...

Well the problem with this is that there is no portable recorder other than Nomad or Deva that will meter less than 1 dB steps that I know of. Maxx meter resolution is .25 dB. Typical LED meter resolution is 2dB at best.

So if you could adjust it so fine you would have too much error due to meter resolution to know it. Since Deva and Fusion have been used for years with these microphones I would question the .1 dB figure so I will call Sound Field today for clarification.

Glenn

[glenn]

Just got off the phone with Peter at Soundfield. He tells me that .25 dB maximum preamp differential is 100% fine and in his experence not easy to come by in any portable recorder.

Glenn

[Jeff Wexler]

Thanks for making the call, Glenn. I don't use the Soundfield microphone but I have been following this topic since I found it quite intriguing (and, of course, I find intrinsic value in knowing about all these things even if I don't do it myself). The direct call to Soundfield falls right in line with the Senator's <HAT>. This should be good news for Petrus who was concerned that he couldn't use his Soundfield microphone properly with the recorder.

[studiomprd]

" recommend a minimum of 0.1 dB accuracy. "

it also requires using the calibrated -and matched-, low-loss, unidirectional, oxygen-free, hyper-ventilated, triple shielded, double balanced reverse-star-quad, anechoically decoupled input cables

Edited August 29, 2012 by studiomprd

[John Blankenship]

" recommend a minimum of 0.1 dB accuracy. "

it also requires using the calibrated, low-loss, unidirectional, oxygen-free, hyper-ventilated, triple shielded, double balanced reverse-star-quad, anechoically decoupled input cables

LOTD

And, they all must be the same length within one-tenth of an inch, or there will be unacceptable time delays and phase shift due to electron inefficiency.

YMMV, but... it depends.

[studiomprd]

" YMMV, but... it depends. "

[Eric Toline]

With a slight copy modification of the Senators statement some one will offer:

"Calibrated -and matched-, low-loss, unidirectional, oxygen-free, hyper-ventilated, triple shielded, double balanced reverse-star-quad, anechoically decoupled cables*."

* You can replace "cables" with any other piece of equipment you want.

Eric

[Jason Manzano]

I hope they give it a brighter screen than the nomad, so far that is my only complaint with it.

[VASI]

I hope they give it a brighter screen than the nomad, so far that is my only complaint with it.

That.. And of course the same spec's from Nomad. THD + Noise etc etc..

I can't wait for test drive!

[Vincent R.]

Hi, Glenn, as I am going to the IBC; any chance the MAXX will be there as well?

[Bash]

Hi Suso,

there is a gain control on Nomad as well as the Neverclip. You get the best of both worlds!!

Kindest regards,

Simon B

"Never clip" works very well on normal situations, but in reporter mode (Documentary), you easily go from the calm to the strongest sound ever. for example in a war situation, and in my experience the "never clip" can't management this. I prefer a gain control for anticipate this "high dinamic" changes.

Suso

[James Arnold]

Maybe!

See my posts #204 and #207 where I asked Glenn to clarify things, and basically got no reply. I also texted to the live web stream yesterday asking what the input noise and max level inputs were and was inexplicably told that it was irrelevant !!

The reason I ask these is that THESE ARE WHAT DETERMINE INPUT DYNAMIC RANGE!!

If you simply want a higher clip point then put an attenuator in front of your mic amp. It won't alter the dynamic range of the input but it will raise the clip point.

It is all very confusing what with 'not needing trims' but having AutoTrim which isn't automatic (you have to turn two knobs), and limiters which are 'distorting' but the Nomad has input limiters, output limiters and card limiters and NeverClip which will still clip the later stages if you don't turn the fader down ??

Maybe get a response this time?

To reiterate ..

What is the maximum mic level input?

What is the Ein for the input stage at the same gain as this max input level refers to?

These are very basic questions and Zaxcom must know the answers to state an input dynamic range of 137dB.

I'm a bit confused about this too. I've been using my Nomad with limiters enabled for both outputs and card tracks on the factory settings but no input limiters. My current host has a habit of going from a whisper to a shout and *something* at my end sounds like its is clipping or coming very close too on occasion (its not the mic). I need to check my card tracks back, but if it isn't them then the headphone amp is overloading. If that is the case it's great for Neverclip, but very disappointing for the machine itself. I've had cause to complain that this is something I've noticed very frequently on the 552, but never on my SQN.