Sound Devices field mixers have been designed with the flexibility of both mixing and recording at broadcast quality on location. Compact and lightweight structure along with power efficiency and durability are features Sound Devices incorporate into their designs.
The 12-track 833 mixer-recorder has six inputs that use 8-series mic preamps and 64-bit audio processing, also found in the 888 mixer-recorder. An internal SSD of 256GB enables the user to record audio directly to the unit. The recorder also has two SD card slots, with the ability to record simultaneously to both SD cards and internal SSD. The user can employ Dugan and MixAssist auto-mixing between up to eight of the available input channels, and 3-band equalisation can be applied to each channel in either pre-fade or post-fade setup. Operation can be aided via the companion android app – ‘SD-Remote’, giving access to transport controls, metering, and sound reports.
The front facing panel of the 833 is very similar to that of the 633, therefore familiar with the layout 6-series mixer/recorder. 833 has large rotary volume controllers for input channels 1-3, mini-rotary volume controllers for input channels 4-6, and trim controllers for channels 1-6. The trim controllers are surrounded by LEDs that indicate whether the channel signal is in solo, mute, on or off status. Three PFL toggle switches, grouped to channels 1/4, 2/5, and 3/6; allow the use of PFL for input channels. An LCD display positioned to the right side of the front facing panel shows a variety of displays including input, output, transport and menu options. A button titled ‘Meters’, situated to the left of the LCD allows the user to cycle between meter views, whilst a headphone encoder knob that is positioned to the bottom right of the LCD enables the user to control the headphone output level, and select and navigate the headphone setup menu. Main power toggle is position to the upper right side, along with power on LED indicator. Mic/tone toggle switch, ‘*/**’ switch, and rtn/fav toggle switch are positioned under the LCD screen. The red coloured transport controller is used to start/stop recording, with LED ring flashing orange when in post roll, and red when recording.
The left side of the unit houses three active-balanced XLR input connectors – input one can also be used for AES3 or AES42 input signals; three active-balanced TA3 mic/line inputs, unbalanced 3.5mm TRS jack headphone socket, Com return on TA3, and TA5 connection for headphone/headset/external slate.
The right side of the 833 has a USB-A connector for keyboard connection or third party controllers, USB-C connection for file transfer or 2-in/2-out USB audio streaming, two SD card slots, 10-18V DC power input on TA4, timecode/word clock I/O on 5-pin Lemo connector, and 6.35mm TRS jack headphone output. RP-SMA connection allows use of the included external antenna for Bluetooth LE. X1 and X2 outputs are by way of TA3 connection, whilst X3/X4 are by way of shared unbalanced 3.5mm connector. The main outputs are by way of 2x 3-pin XLR balanced line/mic level main outputs, and can also be set to send AES3 digital output signals.
The rear of the unit can dock up to two L-mount batteries, which can be charged in situ when using and external DC power source to power the 833. The top panel of the 833 has a hidden expansion port connector for use with the optional XL-AES 8-channel AES3 input expander.
Analogue inputs: Frequency response: 10Hz to 80kHz, +/-0.5dB, 192kHz sample rate re 1kHz. THD: 0.005% maximum. Equivalent Input Noise: -131dBV, -129dBu maximum. Maximum input level: +8dBu, 2.0Vrms, mic; +28dBu, 19.5Vrms, line; +18dBu, 6.2Vrms, aux; +24dVu, 12.3Vrms, Com return; +12dBu, 3.2Vrms, external slate mic. Maximum gain: 76dB, trim stage, mic input; 50dB, trim stage, line input; 16dB, fader stage; 16dB, bus stage; 20dB, headphone stage; 108dB, mic-to-line; 112dB, mic-to-headphone. Maximum output level: +20dBu, line; +6dBu, ‘-10’; -20dBu, mic; +6dBu, X3/X4 out; +14dBu, headphone outputs. Headphone output: 400 + 400mW, 4ohm, per output. A/D converters: 32-bit, 120dB, A-weighted. Sampling rates: 44.1/47.952/48/48.048/88.2/96/192kHz. Bit depth: 16 or 24. USB: 3.2, type 1. Timecode frame rates: 23.98/24/25/29.97DF/29.97ND/30DF/30ND. Accuracy: 0.1ppm, 0.25 frames per 24 hours. External power: 10-18V, TA4 connector. Current draw: 730mA, all mic preamps off; 920mA, all mic preamps on; 1.07A, all mic preamps on, 192kHz sample rate, recording to SSD and 2x SD cards. Operating temperature: -20 to 60 degrees Celsius. Dimensions (HxWxD): 5.1 x 22 x 17cm. Weight: 1.25kg without batteries.
The 16-track 888 has many of the same features as the 833 mixer-recorder, however along with the additional inputs and tracks it has the ability to utilise 16-channels of Dante I/O. The internal SSD of 256GB enables the user to record audio directly to the unit. The recorder also has two SD card slots, with the ability to record simultaneously to both SD cards and internal SSD. The user can employ Dugan and MixAssist auto-mixing between up to sixteen of the available input channels, and 3-band equalisation can be applied to each channel in either pre-fade or post-fade setup. Operation can be aided via the companion android app – ‘SD-Remote’, giving access to transport controls, metering, and sound reports.
On the front facing panel the 888 has large rotary volume controllers for input channels 1-4, mini-rotary volume controllers for input channels 5-8, and trim controllers for channels 1-8. The trim controllers are surrounded by LEDs that indicate whether the channel signal is in solo, mute, on or off status. Three PFL toggle switches, grouped to channels 1/5, 2/6, 3/7, and 4/8; allow the use of PFL for input channels. An LCD display positioned to the right side of the front facing panel shows a variety of displays including input, output, transport and menu options. A button titled ‘Meters’, situated to the left of the LCD allows the user to cycle between meter views, whilst a headphone encoder knob that is positioned to the bottom right of the LCD enables the user to control the headphone output level, and select and navigate the headphone setup menu. Main power toggle is position to the upper right side, along with power on LED indicator. Mic/tone toggle switch, ‘*/**’ switch, and rtn/fav toggle switch are positioned under the LCD screen. The red coloured transport controller is used to start/stop recording, with LED ring flashing orange when in post roll, and red when recording.
The left side of the unit houses four active-balanced XLR input connectors – input one can also be used for AES3 or AES42 input signals; four active-balanced TA3 mic/line inputs, an unbalanced 3.5mm TRS jack headphone/X7/X8 output, Com return on TA3, and TA5 connection for headphone/headset/external slate.
The right side of the 888 has a USB-A connector for keyboard connection or third party controllers, USB-C connection for file transfer or 2-in/2-out USB audio streaming, two SD card slots, 10-18V DC power input on TA4, timecode/word clock I/O on 5-pin Lemo connector, and 6.35mm TRS jack headphone output. A male RP-SMA connection allows use of the included external antenna for Bluetooth LE. X1, X2, X3, and X4 outputs are by way of TA3 connection, whilst X5/X6 are by way of shared unbalanced 3.5mm connector. The main outputs are by way of 2x 3-pin XLR balanced line/mic level main outputs, and can also be set to send AES3 digital output signals.
The rear of the unit can dock up to two L-mount batteries, which can be charged in situ when using and external DC power source to power the 833. Alternatively you can use an optional XL-SMARTBATTERY to power the recorder. The rear panel also houses the 1GbE Dante audio network port. The top panel of the 888 has a hidden expansion port connector for use with the optional XL-AES 8-channel AES3 input expander.
Audio over Ethernet: Dante, AES67 compatible. Ethernet connection: 1Gb/s, 1 port, transformer balanced. Analogue inputs: Frequency response: 10Hz to 80kHz, +/-0.5dB, 192kHz sample rate re 1kHz. THD: 0.005% maximum. Equivalent Input Noise: -131dBV, -129dBu maximum. Maximum input level: +8dBu, 2.0Vrms, mic; +28dBu, 19.5Vrms, line; +18dBu, 6.2Vrms, aux; +24dVu, 12.3Vrms, Com return; +12dBu, 3.2Vrms, external slate mic. Maximum gain: 76dB, trim stage, mic input; 50dB, trim stage, line input; 16dB, fader stage; 16dB, bus stage; 20dB, headphone stage; 108dB, mic-to-line; 112dB, mic-to-headphone. Maximum output level: +20dBu, line; +6dBu, ‘-10’; -20dBu, mic; +6dBu, X3/X4 out; +14dBu, headphone outputs. Headphone output: 400 + 400mW, 4ohm, per output. A/D converters: 32-bit, 120dB, A-weighted. Sampling rates: 44.1/47.952/48/48.048/88.2/96/192kHz. Bit depth: 16 or 24. USB: 3.2, type 1. Timecode frame rates: 23.98/24/25/29.97DF/29.97ND/30DF/30ND. Accuracy: 0.1ppm, 0.25 frames per 24 hours. External power: 10-18V, TA4 connector. Current draw: 780mA, all mic preamps off; 990mA, all mic preamps on; 1.13A, all mic preamps on, 192kHz sample rate, recording to 2x SD cards; 1.18A, all mic preamps on, 192kHz sample rate, recording to 2x SD cards, Dante enabled. Operating temperature: -20 to 60 degrees Celsius. Dimensions (HxWxD): 5.1 x 24.5 x 18.5cm. Weight: 1.83kg without batteries.