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AudioRoot Power solutions review


RadoStefanov

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"IDX had a good run. I never liked their charger. Their batteries are very old technology and since IDX holds a huge chunk of the market they did not need to innovate and upgrade their product."

 

​Rado, this is what I was referring to when I said that I felt the IDX comments were uncalled for, they are a company that drives a lot of innovation with their battery and wireless units and I think it is unlikely they didn't "innovate and upgrade their product" as you say.  The NP1 battery was never designed to work in our bags, we - the sound community, adapted it for this usage.  The NP1 battery was originally used as a replaceable internal battery for items such as cameras ,monitors and even the first generation of our portable digital recorders, heck , I remember having to put a tape tab on them to get them out of my Deva II years ago.   My guess is that the batteries that you are buying for this new system are "private label" units, meaning that Audioroot did not make or design them for our usage in the field and just had their name added to the label by the manufacture.  This is not a knock on them at all, lots of companies do this with lots of items.   Their chargers and power distribution look very nice and smart, I look forward to learning more about them. 

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"IDX had a good run. I never liked their charger. Their batteries are very old technology and since IDX holds a huge chunk of the market they did not need to innovate and upgrade their product."

​Rado, this is what I was referring to when I said that I felt the IDX comments were uncalled for, they are a company that drives a lot of innovation with their battery and wireless units and I think it is unlikely they didn't "innovate and upgrade their product" as you say. The NP1 battery was never designed to work in our bags, we - the sound community, adapted it for this usage. The NP1 battery was originally used as a replaceable internal battery for items such as cameras ,monitors and even the first generation of our portable digital recorders, heck , I remember having to put a tape tab on them to get them out of my Deva II years ago. My guess is that the batteries that you are buying for this new system are "private label" units, meaning that Audioroot did not make or design them for our usage in the field and just had their name added to the label by the manufacture. This is not a knock on them at all, lots of companies do this with lots of items. Their chargers and power distribution look very nice and smart, I look forward to learning more about them.

my comments were directed at the NP1 battery and the company's attitude towards upgrading it. Not at the company's other products or IDX as a whole
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After emailing AudioRoot a few months ago about delivery to the UK I was told by them that I had to go through their UK distributer (could not buy direct) in order to purchase their gear - Richmond Film Services. The price got expensive awfully quickly.

Hmmm - I'm in Australia and there's no local rep. Some of their gear is up on eBay - but not the power gear ATM.

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Just placed an order for the eSMART BG-DU power distro through Gotham Sound. Though nearly twice as much as my Battery Bud II (which I do still love), it also packs MANY more features that Rado has posted here. I already have all my power cables on Hirose 4-pins so the transition should be smooth.

 

I will be testing it out with my IDX batteries first, but I do foresee me getting some of those Audioroot batteries as well due to their higher capacity and slightly smaller package. They even make half-sized NP1s!

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my comments were directed at the NP1 battery and the company's attitude towards upgrading it. Not at the company's other products or IDX as a whole

 

Actually, the company's attitude toward upgrading it is that they're considering, and/or working on, a larger capacity version as well as a half-size version.

 

Over time, I've witnessed what appears to be a consistent pattern -- that if any company doesn't immediately respond to your particular, immediate need, you badmouth them in some way.  Not good form, IMO.  I understand your passion for having, what you consider, the ultimate kit.  However, those of us with a large number of years under our (expanding?) belts understand that there are many different choices, and those choices serve a wide variety of needs well beyond our own.  If you really want to be the ultimate sound mixer, that understanding will serve you well.

 

Thanks for the thorough review of yet another choice in our available arsenal of solutions.

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JB: " I understand your passion for having, what you consider, the ultimate kit. "

I do, as well...

however, ours is, in the big world, a tiny corner, and frequently your wishes, Rado, amount to unrealistic expectations, often not economically justifiable... they might work with more economies of scale, but they are far too specialized and individualized.

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Actually, the company's attitude toward upgrading it is that they're considering, and/or working on, a larger capacity version as well as a half-size version.

 

Over time, I've witnessed what appears to be a consistent pattern -- that if any company doesn't immediately respond to your particular, immediate need, you badmouth them in some way.  Not good form, IMO.  I understand your passion for having, what you consider, the ultimate kit.  However, those of us with a large number of years under our (expanding?) belts understand that there are many different choices, and those choices serve a wide variety of needs well beyond our own.  If you really want to be the ultimate sound mixer, that understanding will serve you well.

 

Thanks for the thorough review of yet another choice in our available arsenal of solutions.

Criticizing is not bad mouthing. And again this is not anything new. First time was in 2007 on RAMPS. For 7 years I have been trying to find a solution that is smaller and holds a lot more power. What is wrong with trying to improve?

I do not understand why this is so controversial.

I compare two products.

One is better.

 

P.S.

Forgot to mention.

My cart is being powered by IDX ENDURA batteries. which are great.

I have been using them for a long time and will continue using them.

IDX endura is a great battery and satisfies my needs.

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By the way, this same type of battery was choosen for Aaton's Cantar X3 I believe.

Though the recorder could not made Rado excited :mellow: .

They integrated to the bottom of recorder (which is, not so convenient for bag based work, I suppose...).

 

I am sure Aaton choose it for exactly the same reason I did. It is smaller and holds more power.

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Absolutely. I'll have a look round to see if anywhere in the EU is a bit more reasonable. So far I can see fluctuations of only a few Euro. The Li-89 is still around $100 more than the Location Sound Corp price.

By the way, is there a reason why you can't buy from Location Sound Corp? Those $100 should easily cover shipping and import duty, with more than just change left
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By the way, is there a reason why you can't buy from Location Sound Corp? Those $100 should easily cover shipping and import duty, with more than just change left

Depends on the agreements LSC have made with the suppliers. Quite within their rights to refuse to ship to a non US postcode (as many US companies like Lectro and Zaxcom require of their suppliers in America).

I've no idea on the shipping costs, though as batteries and chargers are reasonably heavy it might be more expensive than one imagines.

Duty would be payable, but also VAT upon entering the UK, otherwise you get done for avoiding the taxes.

Interestingly I learned recently that wireless gear is exempt from one (not both) of these taxes when importing.

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