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Zaxcom Nomad - Real World Impressions


Jack Norflus

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I also work outside in bright sun a lot, I purchased a Rogue "Small Flash Bender Bounce/Flag" at my local camera shop. I slide it between the mixer and bag and can stand it straight up or bend it over, what ever I need to shade the screen best I can from the sun. Hands free.

Not the best option, but it doesn't block the Nomad's controls.

http://www.expoimaging.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=24

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I also work outside in bright sun a lot, I purchased a Rogue "Small Flash Bender Bounce/Flag" at my local camera shop. I slide it between the mixer and bag and can stand it straight up or bend it over, what ever I need to shade the screen best I can from the sun. Hands free.

Not the best option, but it doesn't block the Nomad's controls.

http://www.expoimagi...&products_id=24

Thanks! I find it comical that we are reduced to these lengths...except I ain't laughin'...

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Hi, i don't have a nomad ...yet ... but planning to get one . I own a Nagra VI at this time, it's nice but to heavy ...

I really love one of the feature of the Nagra :

Automatically create a new folder

The Nagra VI is able to generate a new working folder automatically every day.

In the "Tools" menu? "Automatic folder", activate the "On".

The day is determined by the transition to midnight of the internal clock (RTC Real Time Clock) time setting

in the "Tools" menu? "Time & Date".

If the unit is turned on after 6:00 am, a new folder will be created automatically with a

name date format: YYYYMMDD (year / month / day).

In case the Nagra VI is on between midnight and 6:00, a window will appear to validate

or not creating a new folder.

Note: The folder name can of course be modified (see "Rename Folder").

If this feature is disabled, the files are saved in the current folder.

I think i could be nice to have this option. It's a big time saver for me on the N6.

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And it's perfect to have date named folder on a documentary !! don't you think ?

Well yes, and no. Unfortunately, the way so many of us have to work, the actual calendar date has become rather meaningless. Even on big union jobs on location with only an 8 hour turnaround, you can wind up doing several "days" work that all take place on the same calendar day, and conversely, one day's shift can cross several calendar days. I have even found it somewhat perplexing with my verbal spoken Sound Roll ID if I have to reload at 3 am --- it's already Tuesday even though we started on Monday, etc. It is sort of like that joke when you get off work at 6 am and you say to your fellow crew members "goodnight, see you TODAY" when your call time is 2 pm that day.

I'm not a big fan of too many automatic things being done for me but that's just me.

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Regarding the issue of sunlight on the Nomad screen.

I have no idea if this is technically possible but what about some type of jack in the side of the Nomad that would feed an external screen, somewhat bigger that the screen on the face of the recorder. This screen would attach to the top of the nomad by a flex arm and rotate to the most advantageous position. The end result would be reduced glare and a larger screen.

Just talking through my hat.

Bob

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I was wondering if Zaxcom will be planning some king of interactivity between the nomad and a smartphone in the future ? through zaxnet ... witch is kind of a wifi no ? like the cantar is doing with bluetooth and ... i dont remember the device used with it but seems to remember its an Hewlett-Packard ... or something. Could be a way to be able to monitor level with an other screen ?

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Hi, i don't have a nomad ...yet ... but planning to get one . I own a Nagra VI at this time, it's nice but to heavy ...

I really love one of the feature of the Nagra :

I think i could be nice to have this option. It's a big time saver for me on the N6.

Don't worry. I was used to this feature from the 788 but it's just a different workflow so trust me, you won't need this feature anymore. Nomad is beyond that. ;)

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Just been watching some of the instructional videos on YouTube, am I right in understanding that you cannot use both AES digital inputs AND the Zaxnet IFB capabilities at the same time? One video on Zaxnet suggests this.

Like a lot of people here I'm using the tried and tested 744/302 setup and looking for an alternative, and the Nomads features when it comes to wireless integration look by very interesting.

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. . . am I right in understanding that you cannot use both AES digital inputs AND the Zaxnet IFB capabilities at the same time?

No this is incorrect you can use analog and AES inputs with Zaxnet. You just need to choose the input configuration that works best for you. Though depending on the specific input configuration you choose you may be limited in the number of AES pairs you can use.

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The guy at the kiosk in my local mall who sold it to me applied it. He took some measurements, used a gridded cutting surface and a ruler to precisely cut it square. He rounded off the corners with a scissors to match the shape of the screen. Then he cleaned the screen and started at the top lining it up and sticking it down. Think he used a credit card to work out the air bubbles. From the sound of the response I got from Zagg customer service, it might be that you can only buy it at a retail location such as the mall kiosk.

Sweet! Job done! Was dreading that TBH.

Got my wonderful girlfriend to do it. Perfect job! Not a single bubble.

I really expected it to look pretty warty for a few days :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Loving my Nomad.

Anybody else hear clicking noises on channel 3 when you crank up the trim?

It's worse when there's no source attached for some reason.

I want to record some nature sounds with a cheap dynamic mic. Need more gain.

Kidding, probably won't ever need that much gain, but it's disconcerting.

But seriously, great machine.

The lack of easy file naming is unfortunate.

I like the file naming system on my lowly Edirol R-44 waaay better.

User control please.

Headphone amp and knob could be better quality, and

I'm always accidentaly changing my HP mix when I back out of menus.

Maybe you should have to hold the HP button down for a second to change the master headphone feed?

Thanks for making such a supremely flexible machine.

I hope you'll continue to support and improve it for years to come!

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Just came across another weird thing. This time a bit more serious.

On channel 3 if I have the gain up moderately high I can hear the noise floor (and signal) of that channel change volume when I adjust the trim of channel 4.

I am only monitoring record channel 3. Channel 4 is all the way down and not being sent anywhere.

Why would the gain structure on one channel change while you were adjusting the trim of an adjacent channel?

Channel 3 volume is reduced slightly while adjusting the ch4 trim, then returns to normal when adjustment stops.

Weird.

I hope I described it well enough that Zaxcom techs can replicate and fix the problem.

Or did I just get a faulty unit?

Oh yeah, one other thing. In the Headphone Configuration page (the one entered by pressing menu and HP buttons) could the next firmware update make the "star" button cycle through the various headphone mixes instead of the "back" button. I can't be the only one going crazy every time I try to back out of the HP config page only to switch to a different HP feed. * appears to do nothing on that page so it makes sense to me to use it instead.

Thanks,

CT

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On channel 3 if I have the gain up moderately high I can hear the noise floor (and signal) of that channel change volume when I adjust the trim of channel 4.

I am only monitoring record channel 3. Channel 4 is all the way down and not being sent anywhere.

Why would the gain structure on one channel change while you were adjusting the trim of an adjacent channel?

Channel 3 volume is reduced slightly while adjusting the ch4 trim, then returns to normal when adjustment stops.

Weird.

Do you have microphones plugged into the input? If you turn up the gain on an unterminated input you can potentially pick up all sorts of noise even possibly RF crap.

Oh yeah, one other thing. In the Headphone Configuration page (the one entered by pressing menu and HP buttons) could the next firmware update make the "star" button cycle through the various headphone mixes instead of the "back" button. I can't be the only one going crazy every time I try to back out of the HP config page only to switch to a different HP feed. * appears to do nothing on that page so it makes sense to me to use it instead.

To back out of the HP Set-up menu you push and hold the HP knob. And when you back out of a HP configuration set-up you will be on the last set-up that you configured.

Is this not happening?

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Hi Jack,

Good to know about the termination. Channel 5 is really noisy when nothing is plugged in.

I have a mic plugged into channel 3 but not channel 4.

I listen to the mic channel (3) and strangely the small amount of preamp "hiss" gets quieter when I adjust the channel 4 trim, even though ch4 fader is down and not being monitored.

If it can be figured out what is happening it might help the engineers make an even quieter pre-amp, as some of the hiss goes away momentarily and it sounds better while I'm still moving trim knob 4. It doesn't seem like the mic signal itself changes much. Just the hiss.

I didn't know about holding to exit HP setup. Thanks

I thought star would make sense for cycling the HP menu because that is also what I use to toggle home screens.

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I totally understand that. I triple checked the routing to be sure I was only hearing ch 3.

It isn't even relative to where the ch4 trim is set (volume wise). When ch4 trim is moving, the hiss/high frequency is reduced temporarily on ch3 until ch 4 trim stops moving.

It's quite strange.

Also, It records the result of this if I send ch3 to its record track.

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I listen to the mic channel (3) and strangely the small amount of preamp "hiss" gets quieter when I adjust the channel 4 trim, even though ch4 fader is down and not being monitored.

I will see if I can replicate that. It might be an interaction with 48V power or some crud on the PC board.

going crazy every time I try to back out of the HP config page only to switch to a different HP feed.

I do that all the time too. The problem is some people cant press the STAR key easily due to large fingers. Maybe I can make it an optional setting in the Advanced menu.

I was also thinking of adding a 1 second timer that would ignore the BACK button when you enter the home menu so that you can hit the BACK button a few extra times by accident without changing HP presets.

-howy

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