SOUND DEVICES ‘7 SERIES’ RECORDERS

The Sound Devices (the US firm, not the Sydney store) ‘7 Series’ of digital audio recorders are serious stuff. The term ‘field recorder’ is bandied around a lot these days but these are the real deal, and expensive to boot.

There are five models: the 702, 702T, 722, 744T and the 788T. The first pair are two-channel devices that incorporate compact Flash slots and a Firewire port, for recording direct to an external device, rather than housing their own internal hard drives. The 702T has added timecode facilities. The 722 meanwhile (illustrated above), is a two-channel recorder that does indeed carry an internal 80GB hard drive. The 744T and 788T round out the range, providing four- and eight-track recording respectively – with timecode.

Apart from the 788T, these recorders are about the size of a thick novel, the ‘hardback’ of which is built from sturdy and attractive brushed aluminium. All models are capable of 16- or 24-bit recording at sample rates between 32 and 192k. The balanced XLR inputs are switchable to line level or AES inputs – note that these aren’t combo XLRs. Audio file formats include WAV, FLAC and MP2 or MP3 on the fly. Connect to a PC with the Firewire port and the internal file system appears just like any peripheral hard drive and most conventions for Mac and Windows OS will work.

The sound quality of these recorders is quite superb, the preamps very nice indeed and there’s a wealth of analogue and digital connectors to transfer files later (in real time) if you like. The LCD display is nice and bright, with a rotary push-to-select knob on the side making the software menu easy to navigate around. The only disappointment was TA3 connectors for the main analogue outs. TA3s are a relatively obscure Switchcraft locking connection and adapters are not supplied. Sound Devices does mention a couple of times that the 7 Series are best utilised in conjunction with one of their audio mixers – they aren’t really meant as a hack journalist’s dictaphone despite their compact size. Still, they can be used as such, so you’d get the best of both worlds. Graeme Hague

Prices for the range are: 702: $2538; 702T & 722: $3423; 744T: $5420; 788T: $7435.

John Barry Group: (02) 9439 6955 or www.johnbarry.com.au