Prism Sound Orpheus - Audio Media

the two input channels together in the menu so onlyhad one input dial to worry about and it was just aswell, as the yellow machine swooped down right infront of us and settled itself on the ground withinseconds. The blades carried on turning at full pelt fora moment more, before the engines began to slowlywind down. Phew.The recording was as I hadexpected, crystal clear andsharp. We were recording at96kHz 24-bit and the resultwas spot on. But then again,this was a helicopter we weretalking about and I don’t thinkI’ve found one that didn’tsound good on a recording.With portable recorders Ialways listen out for hiss onthe pre-amps and it mostlyrears its head when capturingquiet sounds and the gain iscranked up, so recording twojet turbines turning a hugeset of blades is not much of atest. Hmmmm....Small And FurryNow across the road fromour studio is a farm shop,with a wide range ofanimals frolicking in pens.I’d been there recently andheard some lambs bleating. It was a sound Iwas determined to record as it could be putto use in all manner of sound design projects. Sothe 702T was put back in a kit bag and off we went.It turned out the lambs had gone (to the butcher’scounter I think) but there were still other animalswho didn’t seem to mind having a Rycote cladmic stuffed under their noses. An enormoussow grunted and sniffed at us, as did her piglets.At this point, with very little ambient soundTIMECODEThe timecode circuitry in the 702T comesdirectly from Ambient Recording – a Germanmanufacturer well known for quality syncproducts. It incorporates a temperaturecompensatedcrystal clock and, it’s claimed,can be accurate throughout an entireproduction day. An internal battery willhold accurate timecode for up to two hoursbetween battery changes.All of the common timecode rates aresupported, as are ‘F’ sampling rate modesfor compatibility and 0.1 percent pulldownwithout sample rate conversion.Timecode modes include free run, recordrun, free run jam once, 24 hour run, and avariety of external timecode modes. Audiofiles will be ‘backstamped’ to the whereappropriate – if, for example, the soundrolls before picture so the picture and soundtimecodes match for post.and the gain turned up a fair bit, I wasaware of a lot of hiss in my headphones.My heart sank. Surely a machine as smart as thiswould not have so much pre-amp noise when thegoing got tough?I moved on to the last pen, where a familyof guinea pigs live(yes, I know it’s gettinga bit Beatrix Potter, but stickwith me. I know of at least oneBBC wildlife sound recordistwho uses a Sound Devicesmachine). They made the mostincredible sound; a series ofhigh squeaks and chatter. I gotthe mic as close as I could andhit Record. Still, lots of hiss.I wondered if it was just theheadphone circuit that wasproducing the noise but therewas only one way of knowing.Back at the studio thematerial was dumped off viaFireWire and the very last files,the guinea pigs, were checked.Even at a relatively high levelof pre-amp gain, the recordedfile was at a very low level.I normalised the .wav up andhit play, expecting to be hit bya wave of hiss.Good grief. There wasnothing but a perfect recording of a tiny guineapig, No noise. No hiss. Just a lot of squeaking.So maybe it was just the headphone circuit afterall, or my headphones, or my ears. But the keything is that the sound recorded by the 702T wasclear and precise.Shhhh... It WhispersThe Sound Devices 702T is a sly little creature. I havean Edirol R4-Pro that has the word ‘professional’DK_MSD100C_Audio Media Qtr:Layout 1 6/2/08 16:26 Page 1written on its plastic case and is painted black (Isit me, or are a disproportionately large number ofsupposedly professional products this colour?). I dolike the Edirol and it helps me earn a living, plus Iknow it’s getting a good reputation for TV locationwork, but the 702T is a step up. Not just in terms ofaudio but build quality, functionality; you name it.Yet, though it undoubtedly does say ‘professional’in everything it does, it merely whispers the word.Forget fancy watches or flashy German motors.This is real class. ∫....................................INFORMATION£ GB£1,750.00 (exc.VAT)SOUND DEVICESBREAKING NEWSAs Audio Media was going to press with this review, it emergedthat Sound Devices has released another recorder into its range– the 788T. Designed for multi-track on-location recording,this eight-track, eight mic input unit features a revised digitalarchitecture, an internal 160GB 2.5-inch SATA drive, CompactFlash and FireWire mass storage support.For fast, accurate setups, the 788T visually indicates levelinformation of both inputs and track assignments. Each ofthe eight input controls has a corresponding tri-color circularLED. The 788T’s Input Control Toggle allows for quick accessto common settings such as input type, limiter engagement,high-pass filter activation, and phantom powering.As with the other Sound Devices ‘T’ units, there’s a fullfeaturedtimecode generator, word clock, and selectable videosync sources.A Sound Devices LLC, 300 Wengel Drive, PO Box 576,Reedsburg, Wisconsin 53959, USAT +1 608 524 0625F +1 608 524 0655W www.sounddevices.comA UK Distributors: Shure Distribution UK, Unit 2, TheIO Centre, Lea Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1AST +44 (0) 1992 703058F +44 (0) 1992 703057W www.shuredistribution.co.uk“Solutions in Audio & Video”Features• Economical,dedicated loudness meter• AES3 & Stereo Analogue Inputs• Meets Loudness Standard ITU BS1770 & 1771• Software upgrade also available for MSD600m++including graphical display and PC interface.Email: info@dk-technologies.com • Web: www.dk-technologies.com • Tel: +45 4485 0255 • Fax: +45 4485 0250DK-Technologies A/S, Marielundvej 37D, Herlev DK-2730, Denmark.AUDIO MEDIA MAY 2008 51