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XL-AES - AES inputs for 8-series Sound Devices


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16 hours ago, IronFilm said:


This does seem to be the big downside of this position (perhaps it could have been designed to be on the bottom, if it could be fitted without being in the way of the batteries though? Far too late now however to make hardware changes!!). 

Perhaps the Soundbag Dashboards (or similar, like a PSC SixPack etc) could be mounted on the back surface instead of the front surface?


A thought for when the mythical "SL-6" gets released, hopefully it also has an accessory port on the back of it so that then the "SL-6" and the XL-AES could be daisy chained together?

Another thought, what about a "XL-AES-OUTPUT" accessory? With 8 channels of digital AES outputs instead of inputs? This could be handy for easy to setup and exactly accurate digital backups when for instance paired with a 2ndhand 788T.

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6 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

Maybe SD could stack them

The XL-AES can't have anything added after it, as there is no port on the XL-AES for that. 

But it is something which perhaps Sound Devices could think about for other future accessories?
 

So that those ones could be stacked together, even the XL-AES so long as it is at the end of the daisy chain.

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35 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

We don't know this? Could have been planned a fair distance out. 


Highly doubtful. They would‘ve just integrated it into the recorder. And they wouldn’t have put it in that place. I also seem to remember that they originally stated that AES had not been planned, but they were surprised by the backlash they got over this. 
But it’s all moot now anyway. 

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On 18 December 2019 at 10:12 PM, IronFilm said:


A thought for when the mythical "SL-6" gets released, hopefully it also has an accessory port on the back of it so that then the "SL-6" and the XL-AES could be daisy chained together?

Another thought, what about a "XL-AES-OUTPUT" accessory? With 8 channels of digital AES outputs instead of inputs? This could be handy for easy to setup and exactly accurate digital backups when for instance paired with a 2ndhand 788T.

 

I haven't looked into what the port is capable of so please be generous to my ignorance/laziness, but a general top unit utilising several functions even if not all possible to function at once might well be a good idea. (If Allan was pointing the input backwards to become an output I appreciated that joke).

 

Jez

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9 hours ago, Constantin said:


Highly doubtful. They would‘ve just integrated it into the recorder. And they wouldn’t have put it in that place. I also seem to remember that they originally stated that AES had not been planned, but they were surprised by the backlash they got over this. 
But it’s all moot now anyway. 

That's quite a logical train of thought, and perhaps they then prioritized pushing out an AES accessory fast in response to the "backlash", and made use of the existing port which is there for the "SL-4" (which is my belief/assumption from the start, as to why it is there). 

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I received the AES device today, and installed on my 833.  I had to slightly rearrange my bag to compensate for the "bump".  It auto-recognized the XL-AES and I set up channels 5/6 for AES wireless (instead of 1/2).  Now I have 4 channels of analog and last 2 for wireless with controls.  Interestingly (at least to me) I set up channel 8 as USB connecting through the USB C port.  With this I can connect to my laptop and both import and export, for instance with Logic Pro X talent can hear a project playing through the headphones and simultaneously record on a track.  Likewise, I can route track(s) simultaneously through the USB port and they show up on Logic Pro.  I know the mix-pre does this and maybe easier and for a lot less money, but it is nice to have such capability when needed.  Also of interest, it does seem to run significantly cooler and I think the battery will last longer with the new firmware.

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13 hours ago, zernicke said:

.  Also of interest, it does seem to run significantly cooler and I think the battery will last longer with the new firmware.


they mention this in the firmware changes:

 

Change

  • Current draw has been reduced, allowing for longer run times on a given power source. 
  • External Li-Ion battery shut-off voltage threshold has been reduced from 12.5 to 11.5 V. 
    This allows for longer run times and is better suited to the battery’s capabilities.  

 

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  • 2 months later...

I am trying to use AES on the 833. First time using it and I am trying to send down xlr to camera. I got into the menu and found the aes button and selected AES 1 for channels 1 and 2 and the AES 2 for channels 3 and 4. I send tone and hear all 4 channels but when I plug a stick mic into channel one I get nothing on my mixer and the camera. Anyone able to help with this problem?

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15 hours ago, Dennis Bove said:

but when I plug a stick mic into channel one I get nothing on my mixer

Is it a digital mic? Which mic exactly is this? (honestly I can't even think of a reporter's stick mic which is digital!)

You're not going to hear it on your AES inputs if you're not feeding it right. 
 

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5 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Is it a digital mic? Which mic exactly is this? (honestly I can't even think of a reporter's stick mic which is digital!)

You're not going to hear it on your AES inputs if you're not feeding it right. 
 

They are not digital, they are re50 mics plugged directly into the mixer so I have to use phantom power on them. Then of course going out to camera using xlr cables into the back of a Sony f800 switched to aes on the inputs. 
 

The 633 was great with its mapping of where the outputs would go but with the 833 although it is so much better then the 633 the menu is a lot harder to understand and work. 

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9 hours ago, Dennis Bove said:

They are not digital, they are re50 mics plugged directly into the mixer so I have to use phantom power on them. Then of course going out to camera using xlr cables into the back of a Sony f800 switched to aes on the inputs. 
 

The 633 was great with its mapping of where the outputs would go but with the 833 although it is so much better then the 633 the menu is a lot harder to understand and work. 

I totally misread your post. ie didn't notice you were trying to send AES to camera, not AES from mic to recorder. Lol. My bad. 

 

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On 3/11/2020 at 3:41 PM, Dennis Bove said:

I am trying to use AES on the 833. First time using it and I am trying to send down xlr to camera. I got into the menu and found the aes button and selected AES 1 for channels 1 and 2 and the AES 2 for channels 3 and 4. I send tone and hear all 4 channels but when I plug a stick mic into channel one I get nothing on my mixer and the camera. Anyone able to help with this problem?


so you’re trying to get from 833 to camera with an AES signal? You need to change your OUTPUT setting then, not the INPUT. The input stays analog. Depending on your setup, tone from the recorder will get sent to ALL outputs. It’s not meant as a signal flow check, it’s meant as line up. For signal flow tone use the tone generator in your wireless receiver, for example 

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You might just want to stick with line level? You're less likely to screw that up as you understand it already, and less likely to wonder what on earth is going wrong next time you try working with a camera without AES and you haven't switched it back to normal on your 833

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  • 3 weeks later...

“Depending on your setup, tone from the recorder will get sent to ALL outputs. It’s not meant as a signal flow check, it’s meant as line up. For signal flow tone use the tone generator in your wireless receiver.”

 

Great point Constantin. I got burned once with my 633 on a two camera shoot because I used tone to make sure my Ta3 outputs were the same as my xlr outputs as in Left and Right.  They were. Left was indented tone while right was solid on both sets of outputs. Only problem was I forgot to route the Left/Right outputs to the Ta3’s.  Like you said Tone will come out all outputs regardless of what’s routed (that’s the way I had it set up). Client didn’t mind as we had the recordings not only on Camera 1 but from the files on the 633.  Learned my lesson though.  

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