103002_P23_Sonosax:Layout 1 22/5/09 08:37 Page 23
INSIDE TRACK
Sonosax SX-R4
Terry Nelson MIBS reviews the Sonosax
SX-R4 hard-disk recorder.
T
heSonosaxSX-R4offersfour Threemorerecessedtoggleswitches Othermenuscreensprovidecontrol
mic/lineinputchannelsandan enablecleverchannellinking oftheLineOutputs(mono,stereo,MS,
eight-trackhard-diskrecorder, configurations,andallfourchannelsare reverseoroff),LastTakeandFalseTake
togetherwithcomprehensivemonitoring equippedwithpresetlimiters.Ared (selectionofappropriaterecordingsfor
andsyncfunctions.Inaddition,a overloadLEDjustunderchannelfour’s reviewordeletion),UnitStatus(displays
FlashCardslotpermitsafurthertwo controlisprovidedforthestereoline thecurrentconfiguration,andifyou
trackstoberecorded(suchasamixof inputs(5-6). missedtheavailablediskspaceonstart
theeighthard-disktracks).Thereview Mostoftherestofthepanelistaken upyoucanfindithere!).TheSetupmenu
unitwasrunningwithV2.9firmwareand upwitha10x17lineLCDscreen(witha allowsconfigurationoftherouting,
weighsinat0.8kg(withoutbatteries).It lightsensorforautomaticbrightness recordinganddownmixparametersfor
canbepoweredeitherbysixAAbatteries adjustment).Afour-directionjoystickis monitoringandthesubmixoutput,
oranexternal6-18VDCpowersupply. providedformenuaccess,andalarge projectandscenenames,fileformats
‘paddleswitch’withassociatedredand (mono,stereoorpolyphonic),sample
Connection Panels greenLEDsactivatestherecordand rateandclocksettings,meteringand
TheinputpanelfeaturesfourXLR-3F playbacktransportfunctions. otherfunctions.ABrowseFilesmenu
connectors,eachwithmini-toggle allowsfilestobeverifiedandparameters
switchesproviding48Vphantompower, Screen Functions updatedormodified.Thefinalmenu
LFCut,20dBPad,andpolarityreverse. ToturntheSX-R4on,boththejoystick screeniscalledSwitchOff,andrequiresa
TheLFCutisa6dB/octavepassivehigh- andpaddleswitchmustbepressedtothe Yes-Noconfirmation.
passfilterturningoverat135Hzand right,afterwhichthemachinegoesintoa SystemalarmsdisplayedontheLCD
situatedbeforethepreamplifier–thus readymodeduringwhichtheRecLED screenwarnofinappropriatesettings
providingoptimumgainfortheinput flashes.Thislightscontinuouslywhenin suchasclockingerrorsorfailingbattery
signalwhenexcessivelowfrequencies record,andplaymodeisshownwitha powerandpreventfurtheroperationof
arepresent. greenLED.Stopmodeisindicatedby therecorder.Forexample,IroutedAES
Theoutputpanelcontainsboth bothLEDsbeingextinguished. trackfour4totracks7&8butasnoAES
analogueanddigitalconnections,and Apartfromsettinglevelsandsoforth, signalwaspresentanalarmdisplaywas
includesa6.3mmstereojackfor alloperationsareconfiguredviathe generatedandtheroutinghadtobe
headphones.Anunbalancedstereoinput joystickandon-screenmenus.Left-right cancelledbeforeIcouldcontinue.
isprovidedonaTA-3connectoralong movementschangeparametervalues,
anditslevelcanbeadjustedviaa whileup-downnavigatesthemenutree. Using the SX-R4
retractablegaincontrol.Astereo‘submix Thejoystickalsoincludesapressswitch Oncefamiliarwiththebasicoperating
output’isalsoprovidedviabothan whichisusedforvalidatingoraccessing philosophytheSX-R4isveryeasytouse,
unbalancedTA-3socketandastereo-jack selectedparameters. andexperiencedlocationengineers
(whichcanbeusedasaheadphonefeed Whenfirstpoweredthemenuscreen shouldhavenoproblemsatall.The
ifrequired).Usefully,anotherretractable displaysthepowerstatus(forexample, Rec-Playpaddleisabitmorecomplicated
levelcontrolallowstheoutputleveltobe theamountofchargeremaininginthe thanatfirstsight,though,asitactually
adjustedtosuitthedestination. batteries),timeanddate,andthe controlssixdifferentfunctionsdepending
AnSMAconnectorhandlesword softwareversionnumber.Thisisfollowed onwhetheritispressedineither
clockorvideosyncinputs,whileanother bytheamountoffreespaceonthehard- directionforashortorlongduration!The
provideswordclockout.Afive-pinLEMO diskandFlashCard(ifinstalled)–butthis SX-R4certainlyappearstobeanidealtool
connectorcatersfortimecodeinandout, informationisdisplayedabittoobriefly forremoteandlocationrecording.Itis
whilea26-pinconnectorcombinesAES-3 andiseasilymissed!Thescreenthen small,lightweightandhasenoughtracks
inputsforthefirstfourchannels,plus changestoshowtheeightdisktracklevel andfunctionsformostapplications.
timecodein,wordclock/videosyncin, meters(referencemarkersat-18dBFSor Readersinterestedinmoreinformation
wordclockout,aseriallinkingbus,and -20dBFScanbeinsertedviathe‘Setup’ candownloadtheusermanualandfull
anunbalancedstereomonitoringoutput. menu),andenablecontrolofthe specificationsfromtheSonosaxwebsite.
Finally,afour-pinHiroseconnector monitoringlevel.
acceptsexternalpower,andaminiUSB-2 Amatrixisprovidedtoroutethe14
connectorisprovidedforcomputer availableanalogueanddigitalinputsto
interfacing. theeightrecordchannels,theeighthard-
AUDIO Ltd
Thecontrolpanelfeaturesfourrotary disktracksandthetwoFlashCardtracks.
Tel: +44 (0)1494 511 711
gaincontrolsfortheanalogueinputs, Tracksaretreatedaspairs,withoddand
www.audioltd.com
eachwithanassociatedHi/Logainswitch evennumbersroutedtotheleftandright
www.sonosax.ch
andtraffic-lightstyleLEDlevelindicators. monitorchannelsrespectively.
LINE UPSummer200923
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