Sound Devices, LLC - Portable, Professional Audio

Sound Devices regularly receives questions about specific production applications. Below is typical question relating to dual-system sound for music production with a Sound Devices 552: (more…)

The introduction of the 552 mixer brings a powerful new feature to field mixers, a high-quality integrated audio recorder. It is unquestionably convenient to have a built-in recorder with a field mixer. With the addition of its recorder, one question that comes up is whether the 552 can be substituted in place of a 7-Series recorder. The short answer is…yes…and no. (more…)

Watch a brief three minute video overview of the new 552 mixer here.

Over the years, several accessory cables have come and gone. The XL-40 was a simple XLR male to XLR female cable with a switch-selected 40 dB pad. (more…)

With a near complete shift from tape-based digital (DAT) and analog recording formats to file-based digital audio recording formats, the choices of audio file types have exploded. In the recent past, audio engineers would set their DAT recorder to 48 kHz, record its two audio tracks as either dual-mono or stereo, and would then concentrate on the business of getting great sound. With a file-based work flow, there are other elements that need to be considered to ensure a smooth transition from the field or studio to the editing suite. (more…)

Multi-channel surround sound recording has historically been a gear-intensive process, requiring a multi-track recorder and multiple microphones. One tool used to reduce the complexity of surround recording is the SoundField microphone system. (more…)

January 20, 2003

Sound Devices, with the assistance of Fletcher Chicago, performed complete, instrumented audio tests on Sony’s HDW-F900 HD Video camera. This testing was performed in response to inquiries from Sound Devices customers concerning interconnect and set-up with the F900 camera. Audio performance of several other popular (some now discontinued) Sony video cameras is included for comparison. This test data reveals how to set your mixer for best interconnection, as well as how well the camera performs as an audio recorder. (more…)

Q: I’ve made a bunch of recordings of interviews in Russia that the producer wants to have translated with time code. Unfortunately no one is familiar with broadcast wave audio files. I have found a program called Audacity, but it doesn’t read the time code. (more…)

Sound Devices 442 and 302 mixers along with the 7-Series Digital Recorders have the ability to accept, monitor, and decode MS stereo signals. MS (mid-side) stereo is a popular stereo microphone technique because of its good spatial imaging, mono compatibility, surround-sound compatibility, and ability to adjust the stereo field in post production. (more…)

“Phantom powering” is a method of providing power to microphones by applying a voltage to the same wires that carry the audio signals. Phantom power can be generated from mixing consoles, mic preamplifiers, or in-line phantom power supplies. All of Sound Devices microphone inputs supply phantom power. (more…)

Lectrosonics wireless systems are popular companions to Sound Devices field mixers. Their construction and audio performance make a “kit” built with Sound Devices mixers and “Lectro” wireless very flexible, compact, and capable.
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The seven (well…eight actually) steps below are important keys to achieving great field production audio. (more…)

Engineers spend their whole careers building a library of techniques for recording live performances. Microphone placement ad selection are key elements of a successful recording. (more…)