locaudio Posted December 19, 2023 Report Posted December 19, 2023 Hi all, I'm considering upgrading my SD 633 to either an 833 or Zaxcom Nova 2. If I do decide to go with the Nova I will have to continue using my current wireless for some time as I gradually change over to the Zaxcom ecosystem (if I decide to go that route). So my question is this, what is the best way to get digital audio from external receives (in this case Wisycom MCR54 and Lectrosonics SRB) into the Nova 2? I understand that with the original Nova the "MAES slot-in module" could be used for this purpose. Is this still the best way to go about it with the Nova 2? Alternatively I see that the DB-15 mini port at the bottom of the Nova 2 can be used for 8 AES inputs. This would presumably save a small amount of weight as I'd be forgoing the the slots-in modules but I'm having trouble finding the appropriate cables for this purpose online? Can anyone recommend short/neat cables that would work? One more quick question (that unfortunately I think I know the answer to). Would be a terrible idea to use an SD card inside a CF adapter for the mirror card? I'd much rather continue to hand over SD cards at the end of the day than CF cards. Quote
rich Posted December 19, 2023 Report Posted December 19, 2023 i dont own a Nova, but since this is the internet, i'm going to answer some of this anyway. for the DB15, i'd recommend getting a custom cable made up to suit what you need. i've no doubt your usual equipment supplier can sort you out. unless you are in the UK, then send me a message. your recording media is one of the most important parts of what you do. can you be 100% sure that an adapter wont cause you any problems at some point in the future? Quote
osa Posted December 19, 2023 Report Posted December 19, 2023 26 minutes ago, rich said: i dont own a Nova, but since this is the internet, i'm going to answer some of this anyway. for the DB15, i'd recommend getting a custom cable made up to suit what you need. i've no doubt your usual equipment supplier can sort you out. unless you are in the UK, then send me a message. your recording media is one of the most important parts of what you do. can you be 100% sure that an adapter wont cause you any problems at some point in the future? Good point on the media card it is very easy to carry a reader and hand them your cf in a reader ready to go Quote
The Documentary Sound Guy Posted December 19, 2023 Report Posted December 19, 2023 I do own a Nova. Yes, the DE-15 port is the best way to get digital inputs. It works perfectly well. It does require a custom cable, but it's not a difficult build, or if you don't want to build it yourself, the parts are readily available and you can have someone build it for you. I don't use an SD adapter, but I have read accounts of people getting it to work. I'd say test your workflow, and then you can decide if it's reliable enough for you. I'm not going to talk you out of it. Adding to the cable advice ... I don't know who builds custom cables in Europe. But I'm sure *someone* does. I know it's not as straightforward as buying something off-the-shelf, but it's not something you need to avoid. The pinouts are readily available in the Nova manual, so you can take those pinouts to an electronics repair shop, tell them what you want on the other end (TA5, presumably), and they'll make it for €100-200. Quote
Philip Perkins Posted December 19, 2023 Report Posted December 19, 2023 The SD adapter thing is only for Hail Mary situations. It is far less reliable and failure prone. Quote
glenn Posted December 21, 2023 Report Posted December 21, 2023 There is nothing I know of to suggest SD cards adaptors to CF card are not reliable. They are so inexpensive you can get a few in case anything should happen. Quote
Philip Perkins Posted December 21, 2023 Report Posted December 21, 2023 "Something happen"ing is not worth the risk to a pro recordist. Get the correct media for your machine. Rehearse in your mind what you would say to a producer if there was a problem with your recording media on a job? Quote
The Documentary Sound Guy Posted December 21, 2023 Report Posted December 21, 2023 I would say, "here's the card from my backup recorder". No media is guaranteed problem-free. I think there's no harm in trying an adapter workflow and you can decide if it works for you. Yes, an adapter introduces a new point of failure, but maybe that risk is outweighed by other things. CF cards are getting hard to find new, and used cards are also a since their wear level is unknown. New SD cards are in some cases much faster than the fastest CF cards (at least for offloading), they are more likely to be widely readable, and they are widely available in case of emergency. I think the plan of using an SD adapter for the mirror card, and keeping a CF for the main card is perfectly viable. Just do your tests. Quote
John Blankenship Posted December 22, 2023 Report Posted December 22, 2023 A little over a year ago I undertook to find another adapter that would allow me to reliably use an SD as a mirror card. I had one that worked but couldn't find a duplicate. Most that I ordered (being able to do Amazon returns really helped) didn't work well. I found a particular model that is reliable in a Nova, a Nomad, and a Deva V. The Deva V didn't work with all vintages of cards, but the other two devices were rock solid and the V works fine with the proper SD card. Tests included recording and mirroring sixteen tracks for a few hours and showed no issues. For the last year I've been using these with solid results -- mostly in a Nova or Nomad. I found there were adapter versions that appeared to be the same with minor differences but didn't work properly so finding the exact version is critical. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XD8ZP1P?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share This is a link based on my orders but I make no promises as to the suitability in anyone else's application, and also be aware that manufacturers sometimes make internal changes without notice. However, when I bought several of the blue ones a year ago they all tested out flawlessly. Just don't blame me if YMMV. Ironically, while Amazon shows this link as my reorder point, below is the specific look of the adapters that I use. Note the addition of the SD XC. If anybody orders these let everyone know exactly what it looks like and how well it works. Good luck! Quote
locaudio Posted December 22, 2023 Author Report Posted December 22, 2023 Thank you very much for all that information John. And indeed a big thank you to everyone else above also for the many helpful responses. Quote
wild trx Posted December 24, 2023 Report Posted December 24, 2023 On 12/22/2023 at 1:34 AM, John Blankenship said: Note the addition of the SD XC. If anybody orders these let everyone know exactly what it looks like and how well it works. Hi, I use exactly this adapter in my Nova 2 for mirroring (on SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I ) and it works fine. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.