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Sound Devices? Zaxcom? Who to choose!?


Ianellemo

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"I stated that it was operator error but I believe the machine should show this kind of critical information to user all the time."

 

I have never felt that I needed confirmation on the main display screen at all times the "critical information" you refer to. The sample rate of the recording is, of course, very critical, but it is not something that needs to be monitored once you have set your recorder up properly for the job you are doing. 

 

"And I am glad to hear that the Nomad has good run time on internals, my thing is again that it does not charge the batteries so if you don't have fresh batteries in it and your external dies so does your recorder."

 

If you don't have fresh batteries in your recorder you're not paying attention to your job.

 

"The 788t is self charging although I don't believe the 664 is, and I don't know about the deva."

 

The Deva is not "self-charging" but it also does not draw any power off the internal battery unless the external battery voltage drops to a specified point. 

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I stated that it was operator error but I believe the machine should show this kind of critical information to user all the time.

There is a lot of info that I feel should be displayed at all time- but sample rate isn't one of those items.

How often during a shoot are you changing it?

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And what about Sonosax gear? I think their preamps are a blast!

 

 

David that is Swiss chauvinism!!But you are right :High end......but high price...Don't get me wrong,I own a lot of Sonosax, but with their last recorder they put themselves out of the multitrackrecordergame, pricewise. David C

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I stated that it was operator error but I believe the machine should show this kind of critical information to user all the time. And I am glad to hear that the Nomad has good run time on internals, my thing is again that it does not charge the batteries so if you don't have fresh batteries in it and your external dies so does your recorder. The 788t is self charging although I don't believe the 664 is, and I don't know about the deva.

The reasons I laid out are the reasons and experiences that have led me to choose the SD route and I thought that applied to the OP. I believe that most of you having had the same experiences would have come to a similar decision.

Its funny my 552 didn't have the bit rate displayed but I never cocked that up ;-)

Really as a professional you shouldn't be letting any batteries die while recording

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the 664 doesn't do hi res. a deal breaker for me.

 

the 788t doesnt allow you to use limiters in any sample rate above 48k. lame but not a deal breaker

 

nomad seems to be best bang for the buck and has tons of features for the price.

 

no one machine will fit every situation. i'm currently using a 788t and i love it. SD is just solid. i love the feel of the knobs and i feel its a reliable machine. it feels solid and does the job. the audio files sound great and i've had no issues except the lack of limiters at hi res. other than that, i love it. haven't had my hands on the nomad but i think its definitely a good machine and lots of pros out there are using it. 

 

like some of the others said, try before you buy.

 

good luck!

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I stated that it was operator error but I believe the machine should show this kind of critical information to user all the time. And I am glad to hear that the Nomad has good run time on internals, my thing is again that it does not charge the batteries so if you don't have fresh batteries in it and your external dies so does your recorder. The 788t is self charging although I don't believe the 664 is, and I don't know about the deva.

The reasons I laid out are the reasons and experiences that have led me to choose the SD route and I thought that applied to the OP. I believe that most of you having had the same experiences would have come to a similar decision.

 

If you are worried about your batteries dying, you haven't properly planned your battery life span, nor, in my opinion, are you aware enough while you work of everything that is happening around you. Ultimately we work in a medium that asks us to be critically aware at all times, to be able to multi-function on a massive amount of different levels. YOU SHOULD HAVE FRESH BATTERIES at the START of  EVERY day. That is, at least, a bare minimum. 

" I have never felt that I needed confirmation on the main display screen at all times "

exactly... and even if it was there, it probably would have gone unnoticed...

 You couldn't be more right

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The metering on the 664 are not calibrated in dbfs, where the top is zero, but in Dbu and you dont see what level is hitting the convertor, which I thought was odd..

The db scale on an analogue meter is never dbfs as that is a digital scale. The 664 is first an analogue mixer, hence the dbu scale. However, the maximum value of the one scale usually equates that of the other - in this particular case.

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In my opinion the 664 is better than the Nomad regarding to the mixer functionnalities because it has a fast and easy access to gain and highpass filter. It is also faster to switch the phase (which can be done several times in a take if you are using MS Mics) and all of this can be done with one hand and barely not looking at the machine. This are feature you are using all the time, and when you are booming at the same time, these needs a fast execution.

I also prefer the sceen display on the 664. Everything is here and you have only two different screens.

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In my opinion the 664 is better than the Nomad regarding to the mixer functionnalities because it has a fast and easy access to gain and highpass filter.

Its a personal preference but I find Nomads auto trim to be a very quick way to adjust trim. At first I was skeptical of auto trim but after using it I really prefer it. And I would venture a guess that many Nomad owners would feel the same. Plus with never clip I find I am not riding the gain all that often anyway. I played with the 664 and I have to say I am personally not a big fan of the trim pots and highpass filters. I find the spacing of things difficult for me to work with. I found that every time I went to adjust trim the I would bump the gain. 

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