Phillip C Dent Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I have a perplexing problem with a recording I made last night on my Sound Devices 664. Today, I got a note from post that my audio file cut off before the end of the program. I recorded to both the CF and SD cards. I had given my SD to the DIT at the end of the night, so I checked that one first. The editor was correct. On the SD card the program stopped abruptly. When I compared it to the CF card, thankfully it had recorded the entire program (to the point where I actually cut). Comparing the cards, the SD mysteriously stopped recording 21 seconds before I pressed stop. I called Sound Devices, but they did not offer a satisfying explanation as to how this might have happened. They posited that maybe it was a faulty SD card, and that I should check that I have the latest firmware (which I do). One curious thing I noticed about the SD card is that it had some mac system files on it that the CF card did not. I'm assuming that they somehow got added when the DIT did the media transfer, but I don't know how that would affect the recording. Has anybody else run into this malfunction? Does anybody have any idea how this could have happened? Or more importantly how to avoid this in the future. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 The SD card could have been bolluxed by having Mac system files on it (some kind of corruption) BEFORE you tried recording on it, but I don't understand how the DIT ADDING Mac files to the SD would cause a file to truncate. Did the part of the cut-off file you got play? Have correct metadata? If so then it was closed properly... In any case I would consider retiring that card: you dodged the bullet this time. Did you ask the DIT if they transferred anything TO the card? That would be kind of irregular, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek H Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I had this same thing happen to me once with a 688. I retired the card to the trash can and always made sure to dual record ever since. Has never happened again in many years with various 6-series. Also, I always turn in the SD card and then backup the CF to my personal backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMC Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 Philip, Sorry to hear about your problem. I have been using my 664 since 2012 with various card manufacturers for well over 6000 hours of record time. The only problem I have ever had with a recording was with a SanDisk Extreme Plus 32GB card several years ago. In my case, one day, it decided it couldn't keep up with the data rate and gave me errors but worked fine in my Zoom 4Hn. The CF cards have always been solid. I have never experienced what you are experiencing. I would erase the errant card, get ride of the Mac garbage, and test extensively. I don't think you can perform a low level format on SD cards. If you do it erases the array or partition data. I'm a PC guy but I know that Apple used to place SPOTLITE indexing (or whatever) files in EVERY sodding folder on media. I didn't realize they were still doing it. It is annoying but hasn't corrupted any of my data in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Documentary Sound Guy Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I'm inclined to agree that it's a bad flash error. SD cards are cheap. I'd stop using it as a precaution. Even if it's not the root cause, it's a very cheap safety measure. The only other possibility I can think of is a temporary error in the SD controller caused it to stop working. Usually this is fixed by a restart, but it could be a sign of the reader or perhaps an internal cable going bad. I would say the balance of probability is probably in favour of this cause over bad flash, but bad flash is easier to rule out, so my suggestion there stands. I'm as annoyed as others about Mac's propensity to leave indexing data all over the place, but I agree that stray files aren't likely the cause unless the card was full. But I assume you would have noticed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip C Dent Posted March 19 Author Report Share Posted March 19 15 hours ago, Philip Perkins said: Did the part of the cut-off file you got play? Yes, the file played properly up until it cut off. 15 hours ago, Philip Perkins said: Have correct metadata? Here it gets even more perplexing. In the 664, both the SD and CF cards have identical metadata: length, duration, TC etc. But when I put them in the computer the file sizes are different. The SD card is a few megabytes smaller. 15 hours ago, Philip Perkins said: Did you ask the DIT if they transferred anything TO the card? That would be kind of irregular, right? I did not ask. This was a skeleton crew, so a cameraman was charged with doing all the media management. I actually watched him do the transfer and I didn't see him transferring any files to the card. Also, I didn't want to ask and make it appear as if I was pointing a finger at him for the problem. I did reach out to the DIT who typically works with us about the mac files being on the card, and he gave me an explanation about how the mac handles files and can add those files to a card. Thanks for your input on this weird one. I always dual record and will keep that practice. I will toss the SD card. It is distressing how finicky the 6 series is with media and a real weakness of these machines. The worst part of the situation is losing confidence in the gear that I am bringing to the party. I did dodge a bullet with this one in that the CF card recorded everything and I was able to upload to post without issue. Also, I had a camera that recorded a stereo mix down, and the only audio that was missed on the SD card was "Thank you for coming, Goodnight" sign off of the hostess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 I would not call the 6xx series finicky with media, and I think folks around here still using them would agree. The issue is the media, and that eventually, like all data storage types, they fail. You had a Plan B, that and making sure to properly format and test your cards is all you can do. I haven't ever heard of a failure like yours, and if it were me I'd be loading up some new cards and stress-testing the machine (very long records, and a lot of fast short records for instance) before I used it on another job. It could be a machine issue, it would be great to know for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward chick Posted March 19 Report Share Posted March 19 Was it a Sound Devices approved card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip C Dent Posted March 21 Author Report Share Posted March 21 On 3/19/2024 at 10:00 AM, Philip Perkins said: I would not call the 6xx series finicky with media, Maybe better word choice would be that the 6 series is “particular” about media. I have a client that likes to use their own media. I have told them that their cards are not on the approved list but they insist. Typically, I will grab the media from the DIT in the morning, format it and start rolling on it and check for errors before actually rolling. So far I’ve been lucky. And I also roll simultaneously on an approved CF card. On 3/19/2024 at 11:37 AM, edward chick said: Was it a Sound Devices approved card? Yes, it was a Sound Devices approved card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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