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Old SD 702T


Dalton Patterson

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702T-large.jpg

 

What are the known tricks, tips and mods? 

 

I decided that this thing is awesome and I want it. 

 

I could have gone with the 833, 633, or MixPre3, but I went 702T. I got a sweet deal with an Orca bag. 

 

Do you love, hate, or hold a special place in your heart for this mixer?

 

Has anyone made it fail? What makes it fail, if anything?

 

Thanks all, 

 

Best, 

 

D

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Mattias Larsen said:

but two tracks would only cover about 5% of my gigs so a modern mixpre makes more sense to me.


I agree, I'd take even a MixPre3 or Zoom F4 over a 702T as my main machine. Need to at least be able do the classic combo of boom + 2 lavs

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42 minutes ago, Mattias Larsen said:

sounds amazing

This was a major factor.

17 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

MixPre3 or Zoom F4 over a 702T as my main machine. Need to at least be able do the classic combo of boom + 2 lavs

I almost, almost went with the MixPre-3ii, I hear the 7 series MicPre's are unmatched, the 7 Series TC from ambient is rock solid, I might buy a MixPre-3ii next year because I have the sickness. I got the 664 for larger jobs, this little 702T also will be used for a plant bag in a car or maybe even  a hot air balloon? 

8 minutes ago, Michael Lonsdale said:

Amazing machine and ideal tc master generator

TC was major factor. 

 

 

I feel like its my version of a Zoom H4N. 

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In my life I've owned 5 of these things.

Hands down my favourite recorder of all time.

 

It may not be most useful recorder now days, but it me it excels in the following areas:

- Sounds incredible (I don't know why but to me this sounds better than the 744T and 788T)

- AES I/O

- Compatible with the CL-1 for Logic

- Did I mention it sounds incredible

 

Obviously it can do the standard Timecode, Wordclock, Line inputs, M/S Decoding, A lot of routing capabilities, 192khz/24bit, etc

 

To me it's compact and perfect. There's no over complication, it is exactly what it needs to be. Very much in the same vein as a Nagra Seven.

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Sounds beautiful. I still have my 744t and I regularly find uses for it. I used it on a doc about a month ago while I was waiting during the short time between selling my 633 and waiting for my 833 to arrive. Editor sent me an email asking me why my tracks sounded better. The only thing I changed in the setup was the recorder.

 

yes, maybe a one of the newer mix pres is a better tool for the jobs of today, they just aren’t a 7 series. Nothing else is.

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I used the hell out of one of these for years and years on a cart rig that recorded multitrack to a Boom Recorder rig and the 2 mix to a 702T.  Never ever one single shadow of an issue with it.  I had it hooked up to one of SD's DVDRAM burners a lot of the time--this was before DITs were able to download from cards on-set and we were still expected to make a physical audio deliverable.  (The burners worked a lot less well than the recorder...no nostalgia for DVDRAM here...).   Great mic pres, very versatile.  The only reason I sold it was so I could afford a 2nd 744T.  Great backup machine: it will never let you down.  More or less doesn't care what sort of CF card you feed it (very unlike 6xx or 8xx SD machines).

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8 hours ago, Dalton Patterson said:

I almost, almost went with the MixPre-3ii, I hear the 7 series MicPre's are unmatched, the 7 Series TC from ambient is rock solid, I might buy a MixPre-3ii next year because I have the sickness. I got the 664 for larger jobs, this little 702T also will be used for a plant bag in a car or maybe even  a hot air balloon? 

 

Ha, I too have "the sickness"! 😉

And I too might buy a MixPre3 next year. 


Is good the 702T is not your main recorder, but instead the 664 is. But might a 633 have been a better match to pair with the 664 to use on smaller jobs? You could buy a 2ndhand 633 for only a handful of hundreds of dollars more than what a 702T/MixPre3Gen2 cost in total!

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I like my 744t as well, and haven't tried to get rid of it.  I kept it as my M/S machine as well, although the ease of routing for ISOs and iPhone entering Metadata has meant that my MixPre 10t is taking over that job...

 

You can make the 7xx series fail.  If you let the hard drive get more than 90% full, you can have a "Slow Media" record failure that can also take out the files on your CF card !!!

Not a happy moment, when you realize that this has happened. 

The CF is not a failsafe media for the Hard drive...

 

Cheers,

Brent Calkin

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  • 2 weeks later...

The 788 is a fantastic piece of kit! I just returned an MP10 II and snagged a 788 with the CL-8 for a grand more. The sound alone is worth it. I compared the AtoD stage and the 788 is in another league next to the MP. Plus you get internal and redundant recording, decent powering, AES I/O, multiple analog I/O, better headphone amp, ect. I called SD to make sure that they plan on servicing these units in the future. Yes, it weighs more, but I don't use a bag.

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Love reading this admiration for the 7 series!! I totally agree, it is well deserved because they do sound that good!

 

My 442 + 744t that I enjoyed working with for years has been sitting on the shelf mostly since I started working with my 688 as my main bag. Occasionally, i’ll find opportunities to bring the 744t out as a smaller (somewhat lighter) rig to travel with. But more frequently over the past couple years, when it’s a win-win, I find I’m trading my 688 out for a 633 with friends who need the firepower for their jobs.

 

As far as tips and tricks with a 744t, maybe kind of an obvious one but - the only thing I’d like to mention is that the unit can function decently on its own without the 442 in front of it, **if, say on a one man band over the shoulder job without crazy dynamic/ more critical adjustments** because you can ride the input trim of inputs 3&4 via the ‘digital gain’ within the menu.

 

The 302 + 744T mixer was also a very popular combination to keep the weight down, for the ability to mix down wireless to tracks 2-4.

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I worked for years out of a bag with a 744T and no mixer.  For many small jobs you don't need one if you understand how the internal routing can work.  For chans 3+4 I made a simple 2-knob attenuator box to go between some RX and those channels.  Meanwhile, another 744T is still the clock, TC generator and 2-mix recorder in my JoeCo music recording rack...rock solid, with its own battery backup.   Vs the MixPre series, the jury is still out on how rugged and long-lasting they will be.  No such doubt exists about 7xx recorders.

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