SL2 vs Betso Octopus

[Johan Churchill]

Hello travelers,

I'm considering upgrading my bag with antennas and have sort of fallen into an indecisive hole about which route is worth going. I've got an 833 and two SRc's.

 

I could go the Sound Devices route and get the SL-2 sled, but that's quite expensive. It streamlines the bag rig and has a builtin distro but my understanding is that all the SmartTune functions of the SRC will still need to be accessed through the units themselves so there may not be any added advantage from a workflow perspective.

 

The other avenue is the Betso Octopus. It's more cables and less sexy but 1/3 the price of the SL2. 

 

I was planning to go with the Betso Bowtie antennas with either setup.

 

Can anyone convince me to go the SL2 route?

 

[fieldsound]

It seems to me that the SL-2 is a bit of a divisive piece of an equipment. There is a camp of people who love it and never want to work without it, and a camp of people who seem to experience interminable issues with unit. 
 

Pros of the sl-2 as I see them:

- cable reduction

- super slot integration allows interfacing with RX via the 8 series screen

- can use NP batteries as a backup for entire unit enabling hot swapping of smart bats 

- clean and professional! 

 

Cons of the SL-2

- kinda puts “all your eggs in one basket”. Failure on a production may be more time consuming and challenging to troubleshoot vs a modular setup with discreet components for BDS, receivers, RF distribution

- relatively heavy

- can’t actually power a lot of additional equipment —you may still need another distro

- you’re stuck with SMA connectors for external antennas, imo they should be BNC for ease of use

 

 Personally, I find the design and aesthetic of an 833 with an SL-2 to be quite compelling. However for my money I decided to go with the AES-XL, a more powerful RF distro with zones and tunable filters, and a more capable power distro. 

 

 

 

[JonG]

My 833 came with an XL-AES and ai hated the placement and form factor, so I bought an SL-2. Absolutely love it. Never had an issue. I bought SMA to BNC adapters for the antennae and use 1/2 wave rubber ducky antennae from Shure if I don’t need “external” ones. Yes there is a gamble with troubleshooting but if you keep spare cables with you in the event you need to ditch it then you should have peace of mind. 
 

I've been using this setup for a few years now and couldn’t imagine going back. BTW I used Soundbag Dashboards before so I like to keep my bag tiny and tidy. 

[OB1]

1 hour ago, Johan Churchill said:

...my understanding is that all the SmartTune functions of the SRC will still need to be accessed through the units themselves so there may not be any added advantage from a workflow perspective.

 

If you're used to using smart tune on the SRC it's not any more inconvenient to continue to do so when mounted to the SL2. I can't remember the last time I used smart tune, given that I always have frqfinder and/or txadvance deployed on any project.

 

Go SL2. 

[Tim Norris]

I went with the SL2, and the earlier SL6. Clean. Tidy.

 

I recall, when adopting the SL6 for my 688, I achieved a noticeable weight reduction in my bag just by losing the power and audio cables for my 3 SRC receivers. Having receivers firmly mounted to the mixer really beats my old days of Velcro, straps and mounting brackets to keep things in place. There are fewer connections to fail at the worst possible moment. I would never go back.

 

I also find I prefer the 'Lectro SNA600a to the Betso Bowtie after years of the Betso... slightly better performance in my bag and easier to stow when I don't need them. The Bowtie does look cute.

 

Cheers,

Tim

[edward chick]

I have the Betso Octopus. My bag has a mix of sr, shure adx, and sometimes a 411 when I need extra wireless for my 888. It works pretty good. There are times when it does not. It is small and light but does consume a little extra power. I use the Betso Bowties for my main antennas they fold up easy when in a crowded area (sports or press scrum). 

[Tim Norris]

3 hours ago, edward chick said:

I have the Betso Octopus. My bag has a mix of sr, shure adx, and sometimes a 411...

 

Yes...

 

I was all SRCs with the 688/SL6 and all DSRs shortly after moving to the Scorpio/SL2.

For some applications the Octopus would be a better choice.

 

Cheers,

Tim

[johngooch]

A word of advice re SL-2.  Use Sl-2 to control your rxs as much as possible.  Do not power down units

via their power buttons.. Use SL-2.  There is communication back and forth between SL-2 and receivers.  It is

possible to confuse that communication.. I found out the hard way when in panic situation i could  not power up

receivers---  Purely a RTFM moment on my end.  But that communication needs to be respected.  Same with Aaton Hydra

system.   All good now.  Smooth sailing with SL-2 and i really like it.    I would like a smart tune feature added to SL-2...  but not avail so far.  

[codyman]

Don't sleep on the PSC Four Pack either.  I've had one since they launched a few years ago (Currently have one DSR4 and one SRc in it).  It has two slots, antenna distribution (and loop out + filtering + antenna power), full size BNC, a full power distro with 5 outputs + 2 USB outputs etc etc.

https://professionalsound.com/rf4pack

[JustusWirth]

I'm a fan of the SL-2. Even if you only have two channel slot in receivers, you can still add additional receivers to the aes inputs on the back of the SL-2, use the antenna auxes and power them of the SL-2, too. It is so easy to get a 10 channel digital audio signal into an 888 with it (for example Shure ADX Slot 1, Wisycom MCR54 Slot 2, Wisycom MCR42 AES Input on the SL-2, MCR42 on AES 1/2 on the SD input. All powered through the SL-2, no need for a second battery. Brilliant.)

[Johan Churchill]

On 9/1/2026 at 12:42 PM, OB1 said:

 

If you're used to using smart tune on the SRC it's not any more inconvenient to continue to do so when mounted to the SL2. I can't remember the last time I used smart tune, given that I always have frqfinder and/or txadvance deployed on any project.

 

Go SL2. 

That's the thing that most irks me; Why, with all its new and advanced hardware, can't the team at Sound Devices integrate a frequency scan and automatic intermod avoidance software into the 833/SL2? Is it just that they want you to buy into their own wireless system and Nexus ect.?