I went down to San Francisco yesterday to the AES convention. I did
the floor exhibits and got back on the plane so I could sleep in my
own bed :)
From the view of a "nature recordist" there were very few things to
see.
I would NOT touch the new Nagra VI with a barge pole nor would I
consider the "Fusion or "Deva" recorders from Zaxcom.
First the Nagra VI, it is bulky and cumbersome to use in the field, it
uses a proprietary battery the size of a brick which gives you 5-7
hours in the field. To buy extra batteries would cost you $199 a pop!
Although well made it's nearly the size of a small carry on bag! I
have no doubt this recorder preforms well and built for what it is
intended for, "studio" or outside production with the use of a cart.
It has 6 channels but only 4 pots to control them with, the other two
controllers are found in the menu!
For many years the Nagra was my recorder working side by side, totally
reliable but then came the new generation of recorders and I feel for
my work, Nagra has fallen short apart from the Nagra P11+.
The Zaxcom recorders are basically the in the same boat. The Screens
(touch screen on the Zaxcom) are not readable in direct sunlight. (a
comment from the rep at Nagra and Zaxcom) rendering them useless in my
opinion.
The sound devices 788t was on show with the new 8 channel controller,
http://www.sounddevices.com/news/cl8.htm
It is by far the best recorder for use in the field. Much smaller
with 8 individual powered channels (4 x XLR & 4 mini XLR) one problem
I see is the heat the sound devices emits, it is a concern for sound
devices but they are working on it. One thing I would recommend is NOT
the portabrace bag for the machine when carrying it in the field but
the custom bag sound devices makes for the 7 series. The reason being
is that you need ample space around the recorder for it to dispel the
heat generated to the aluminum casing. As a lover of portabrace bags
the ar-788T was made without knowledge of the heat problem making the
bag too snug for comfort. The custom bag has ample space with room for
other things.
The sound devices does NOT record at 96k (YET) but I'm told it would
be a firmware update.
interesting microphone configurations were on show like the Shoeps
Double M/S 5.0 surround set $11,166,00 and the Sanken 5.0 surround
microphone at $3995
http://www.schoeps.de/E-2004/double-ms.html
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/333762.html
Another product I'm not sure about is the "tetramic" a 4 channel
microphone from core sound
http://www.core-sound.com/TetraMic/1.php
It's a little noisy in my opinion and pricey for what it is. The tech
advisor could not give me any specs on the mic so I don't know its
self noise.
DPA will not be continuing with its "windpac" sadly, there was a
distribution problem so they decides to drop it!
Brief but that it folks....
Martyn
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Martyn Stewart
http://www.naturesound.org
Redmond WA
425-898-0462
Make every garden a wildlife habitat
**************************************
Listen to the Birds and the Bees at
http://naturesound.libsyn.org/
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