Author: mattwaddell

TORONTO, CA, July 29, 2026 – Toronto Sound epitomizes the efficiency and effectiveness driving modern location sound teams. Founded in 2010 by experienced audio recordist Adam Clark, the team has distinguished themselves as calm, confident operators equally comfortable on high profile commercial [Google, Microsoft, Canon], narrative [Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie, Scarborough, Blackberry] and music video [Drake, DJ Khaled, Rupi Kaur] shoots in the greater Toronto area. Toronto Sound’s mastery of their craft is aided by their Sound Devices-centric workflow built around the 888 Mixer-Recorder, Astral Wireless ARX16 Receiver, and Astral TX Transmitters, which enable them to seamlessly plug in to any project and provide high-quality audio with minimal setup time or stress.

Zen and the art of location sound recording

The foundation of Clark and his team’s operational method is driven by a genuine desire to
providing a palpable sense of professional calm on set. Acknowledging that the film and TV industries have a reputation for being stressful and fast-paced, he says that projecting this sense of confidence can build trust and allow the crew to focus more on the art of what they are doing in the moment. “You have to accomplish a lot of things on set in a very short amount of time, therefore it’s easy for a crew to feel tense if they haven’t worked with you before,” he explains. “We want to be able to walk in, set up our gear in as few steps as possible, and demonstrate that the audio is clean, clear, and good to go almost immediately. Being able to do that radiates the right vibe and allows everyone to relax and do their best work.”

“We’ve got the experience from years of listening very deeply and honing the process so that we can deliver on any type of set. That’s a big part of what gets us hired – having utmost confidence as a team and having a workflow that is efficient and effective for getting the best quality audio.”

This Zen approach to the work has also informed Toronto Sound’s kit loadouts. The team favors minimalist but flexible bag and sound cart builds that enable them to easily adjust to the needs of each shoot, choosing the highest quality tools that can deliver the required results. “From the beginning we knew that technological trust was as important as professional trust, so investing in the best, industry-standard tools to do our work has always been a priority,” he states. “Sound Devices have been part of our workflow for more than fifteen years and as we’ve evolved, has given us a platform to build the most comprehensive kits in a flexible format that can be adapted to all the work we take on.”

“In terms of production workflow, it’s all about speed and quality. When we upgraded to the 888 and Astral Wireless, we knew we had the best of both”.

Streamlined workflows and supercharged features

The core kit for every Toronto Sound job is the Sound Devices 888 Mixer Recorder, either in a compact bag for mobility or as part of a larger soundcart depending on the size of the production. Clark and his team’s familiarity with the Sound Devices workflow made the transition from older SD gear seamless. “It’s incredibly rewarding to use gear that has clearly evolved over time while still keeping to the core of what made it essential to begin with,” he states.

“We’ve always felt at home with Sound Devices gear because the workflows on them are so streamlined and 888 immediately felt familiar while still offering upgraded features that made it worth the investment.”

Clark specifically cites the 8-series’ recording redundancy features – multiple SD card inputs as well as the mixer/recorder’s internal SSD – as being a ‘a lifesaver’. “The triple redundancies capability is a big one for us because it provides that added sense of security on a shoot,” he says “ You know you’ll capture the audio at high quality regardless of potential failure points in the chain. This is doubly important when you’re working at the speed that we have to work. You don’t often get another chance.”

“It gives you more room to breathe and focus on the work itself, so you can deliver higher quality results knowing that they will be captured.”

Clark and his team utilize the  Sound Devices Astral Wireless ARX16 Wireless Receiver and Astral TX transmitters for their wireless needs with 32-bit float recording enabled. Paired with 888, this gives them a powerful, feature-rich platform with crystal clear audio to do their best work. “Everything that I love about the 8-Series Mixer-Recorders gets supercharged with the ARX16 attached to it,” he enthuses. “We’re able to roll up to set, immediately activate AutoAssign to find the clean frequencies, route to 888 without any cabling, and get right to work. It saves us a ton of time and allows us to focus on what matters most – delivering high-quality audio in as few steps as possible.”

“Over the past two years, the internally recorded 32-bit float infrastructure has become a huge part of our workflow,” he continues “Essentially, while we were already familiar with pocket recorders and had been using them for hidden-camera-style productions throughout my career. Having a timecode-synced, continuously recording 32-bit float backup throughout the day is an incredibly powerful tool. It allows us to approach even the most challenging recording scenarios with an even greater level of confidence.”

“Sound Devices has fused the best of both worlds into a single wireless system and created a truly unique tool for sound recordists that does everything we need without adding any stress or complication. We have a chance to breathe on set and can radiate that sense of confidence and calm to everyone else. It makes for a better production environment and ultimately even better audio.”

For more information about Toronto Sound, please visit: https://torontosound.ca/

Versatility and scalability drive success for leading UK production sound company

LONDON, UK, July 15, 2026 – Soundcatchers is one of the UK’s most in‑demand production sound teams, built around a versatile team of production sound professionals easily able to accommodate shoots of any size – from streaming and broadcast to high‑volume YouTube productions – while maintaining consistent, top‑tier audio quality.  Key to the team’s success has been their adoption of a fully scalable, high‑performance workflow built around Sound Devices 8‑Series mixer/recorders and Astral Wireless to meet the rapidly evolving demands of modern media production.

Designing workflows for versatility and scale

Soundcatchers has become a first‑call audio partner for leading media organizations including the BBC, Netflix, Sidemen, Beta Squad, and Channel 4. Their reputation has been built on the ability to adapt instantly to any production environment and scale up or down as required by the shoot, which Founder and Technical Director Paul Cameron attributes this to the team’s diverse experience and a shared passion for problem‑solving.

“We all come from various disciplines of the pro audio industry which give us versatility as a team that you might not find in one purely sourced from location sound experience,” he states. “That collective ability has allowed us to easily adapt to any shoot and provide exactly what is required for each production.”

“As the demands of production have evolved and become more ambitious, we’ve definitely become known for being problem‑solvers,” he continues. “To that end, we’ve built a workflow around Sound Devices mixer/recorders and wireless devices because it provides us with the most power and flexibility within the smallest possible footprint.”

Setting the pace with Sound Devices 8-Series

From both a technical and operational standpoint, Soundcatchers’ versatile mobile recording rigs are built around Sound Devices 888 and Scorpio mixer-recorders, with Astral ARX32 Wireless Receivers and Astral Mini and Astral TX Transmitters for RF duty.. The high channel counts, ample audio routing options, and flexible control scheme fit the fast-paced environments the team often finds themselves in. “We’re often working extremely quick shoots that last a day or less, so one needs to be able to rig it all, do the shoot, and de‑rig it very quickly to be effective,” explains Soundcatchers Sound Supervisor George Precious, “Logistically you want as little kit as possible that can accomplish the job well, and be rugged enough to handle the pace of production.

“Ultimately Sound Devices offers the most complete solution for us that checks all of these boxes,” he continues. “The form factor of their mixer/recorders is perfect for our needs because they over-deliver in terms of channel count and adaptability for the size. We can easily spec a job with as many channels as we need for the 888 or Scorpio, and the ability to control all of this and the Sound Devices’ wireless via Dante has been a total gamechanger for us as a company.”

Controlling RF complexity with seamless Astral system

The Soundcatchers team found itself pushing this gear to the limit on a recent Netflix Inside production that required them to bridge the gap between studio capability and the speed and flexibility required in a fast-paced reality TV-style production. The shoot took place in a tight, multi‑zone environment, with all contestants wearing Astral Mini or Astral TX transmitters alongside a mic for the host.

“This was a very complex shoot within a very cramped space,” says Cameron. “There were eight different ‘zones’ inside the house, all with contestants wearing Astral Mini or Astral TX transmitters as well as the host needing a push to talk mic. We utilized our Sound Devices Scorpio with an Astral ARX32 as the RF Command hub.”

“We were able to use Dante over wi‑fi to provide us with four different iPads being used as mixers,” adds Precious. “This gave us an incredible amount of control without having to run extensive cabling and disrupt the action in any way.It felt like something a mad scientist would put together, but having the ability to seamlessly control that much complexity and offer something that sounded great and was stable was perfect for what the production required.”

As production expectations escalate, Soundcatchers continues to evolve — powered by the team’s shared commitment to innovation and a readiness to push their Sound Devices gear to its limits. “Even theoretically ‘simple’ shoots are much more complex from a sound capture and RF perspective now than they were even a decade ago,” says Cameron. “Our strength as a team is that we love what we do and figuring out new and exciting ways to solve these problems as they arise.”

“Sound Devices gear plays a big role for us in doing that, and has been instrumental in our ability to deliver the best audio that we can, every time!”

For more information about Soundcatchers, please visit: https://soundcatchers.co.uk/