Note to Cantar from a Deva-defector

[soundbeing]

Jp,

You asked if I was happy with my Cantar X2  #515.

I am ecstatic.

Last week I had reserved for spending time with Cantar to become

familiar enough to take it on a job.  Then a 3 day job came up that

required mulititracks on the days I had planned to spend with my

Cantar.

The general consensus is that Cantar has a steep learning curve.

Added to this perception is all the "codes" that must be broken to

understand Cantar operations.  ie, sol-fil-tom switches and TPWAN.

To keep this note short I just want you to know that I nervously

decided to take a "sink or swim" approach, and I left my backup DAT

and Sonosax Mixer at home and went out on this job with only Cantar

and the manual.  It was either going to work or I was going to be in

deep trouble!

Your codes instantly became clear as I read the manual and massaged

the machine to the point that for a moment I became giddy (started

giggling) because the codes were not only simple but unforgettable

once understood.

Cantar is much more intuitive than the industry has given it credit

for being.  I was amazed at how as I needed functions they were

literally right there at my finger tips.  The speed with which Cantar

allows us to work is by far superior to any recording platform I've

experienced.

The quality of audio I heard was unquestionably high-fidelity.  I was

feeding a dynamic mix to camera directly from Cantar and the playback I heard on the

camera monitor was as clean and coherent as you had promised.  I was

able to tailor the sound a bit with the high-pass and limiters and

extremely pleased at how easy it was to work with.

Rec/Play is a tremendous development!  It is not too difficult to work

with either.  The 3 modes of use are very perceptive on the part of

Aaton.  ADR is fantastic for "hear it/say it" sessions.  I've already

spoken with some video assist friends looking for a computer video

assist that would chase lock to the Cantar PB timecode.  This way we

would have a complete ADR system (picture and sound).  The only thing

lacking is the ADR beeps.

BTW - Have I thanked you for the beautiful silver finish!  The colored

sliders I ordered did not come but the black on silver is so handsome

I do not want to change a thing!

Thank you for being there when I started pulling my hair out over the

disappointments I was experiencing with Deva.

You are to be congratulated for creating a wonderfully friendly and

exceedingly fast operating tool for location recording.

BRAVO!

Your happy Cantarite...

Mark Weber C.A.S.

Sound Specialist Inc.

Miami, Florida

PS Two things I did not mention were that Cantar comes with a sophisticated complete and concise operating manual, and the price difference between Cantar/Deva is only about $1000 although there are some pricey accessories ie, Aaton Lithium Battery and active Line-Out booster cable (things you could live without, if you had to).