Sound Devices 744T Hard Disk / Flash Card Recorder

Over the last few months I have had the pleasure of diving into the Sound Devices 744T portable hard disk recorder. Sound Devices has earned a wide reputation for good designs and functional style, and the 744T actually raises Sound Devices' own standard. In fact, at first glance, the unique clear finish of the aluminum top and bottom plates, bright LED's, and well lit LCD give it the feel of some sort of surgical testing equipment. But alas, it is just another example of a good company getting better. This 4-channel 4-track recorder was designed with the utmost care and thought.

A Brief History:
Non-linear recording is not a new concept, but non-linear portable recording in the film/video industry is still quite young. The Zaxcom company led the way in the late 90's with the Deva II which held the market for most of 5 years. As the need for faster copying, processing, easier editing, more tracks, and more complex mobile recording has exponentially increased, other manufactures began their own quest to join the non-linear race. Currently Fostex, HHB, Zaxcom , Aaton, Marantz, and Sound Devices are in the ring. With all of this competition, Sound Devices had to design a box that would stand out. Did they succeed?

What's the Difference?
While the larger recorders boast 6, 8, or 10 tracks they also start at $8500 and quickly jump up to over $15000 without accessories. The 744T is just $3950 and though it is a 4-track recorder, 2 or more can be linked together giving up to 8 or more recorded tracks with linked timecode and word clock information. That is why the 744T can hang with the big guys and still fit a nice budget niche'.

Without exception, everyone's first reaction is something like "Wow, it's smaller than I thought it would be!" The small box is just 1.8 x 8.2 x 4.9 inches, and only weighs 2.6 pounds including the included lithium battery. It feels quite sturdy; like a solid block of forged aluminum.

It's About Time(code)
Germany's Ambient Recording designed the timecode clock for the box. It is rock solid. Using the standard 5-pin Lemo connector for timecode IN/OUT, users can generate and jam to and from the 744T. I had no trouble syncing to a Deneke slate, and the slate was just as happy jamming to the 744T. No worries!

To record: Push RECORD. The 744T is a "record priority" machine, meaning that whatever you are doing with the machine at the time (with the exception of adjusting file parameters), push record and the machine starts recording. The most amazing thing of a non-linear recorder is, while playing back a take, going into record without the worry of erasing anything. This miracle alone is reason enough to move into non-linear. But there's more.

Some Hands-on
During an impromptu test recording of a long take, the LCD window warned me that the Compact Flash was full and not recording. I worried a bit that this had also stopped recording to the hard drive, but no worries: The 744T records to compact flash card and an internal hard drive. Everything still went to the hard drive, ready for copying to another flash card if needed.

I played back the files later and used the "transport" to scrub forward and reverse through the audio files. It was nice to identify trouble spots and quickly rewind back to it. I then saved my setup as a default in the quick setup menu. "Quick Setup" is the first item in the menu screen. Most situations can be preset in "Quick Setup."

After I had recorded a few tracks here and there I plugged the firewire into my Mac (OS X Panther) The Hard drive and flash card popped right up on the desktop where I did some clean up. Removed bad takes, false starts, and the "Is this thing on" sound check information. I also, pulled the files up two ways on a pc. The firewire connection once again mounted the hard disc and flash card. The flash card also opened later with a compact flash reader.

After the Recording
I do recommend checking the file type and file name preferred for your audio editor. Some systems like the Broadcast Wave Format (BWF). Others default to WAV files. ProTools (LE6.1.2) would take either file type. I did learn a few things about the file structure. When I imported the audio files into ProTools, they couldn't be edited. RED LIGHT…what do you mean it can't be edited? Well they are actually read only files. All I had to do was duplicate the file in the edit menu, and then drag the copy to a new open track space and the it could be messed with all I wanted.

Some 744T Ins and Outs
Routing signal through the 744T is also easy. Sound Devices has several routing presets. One of the alternate menus scrolling buttons also acts as a shortcut directly to the routing menu from the main screen. You can route any combination of inputs to any tracks. Four tracks with up to four inputs can lead to numerous combinations. Four inputs to one track or one input to four tracks; only your need limits what you can do.

The two XLR inputs can be used as mic or line 1-2, or 4-channels of AES/EBU. Gain controls for the XLR inputs are located on 2 pop-out pots on the front of the recorder. They provide smooth response and give an awesome amount of gain while staying very quite. If the 744T recognizes signal on the BNC digital inputs they override the XLRs. The BNC digital inputs will take AES/EBU or SPDIF signals. Additionally, there is a pair of TA3 line level inputs. Their input levels can be controlled via the menu screen under the properly labeled INPUT 3 LEVEL, and INPUT 4 LEVEL selections.

The 774T is also capable of sending five stereo output pairs. Two of them are digital outputs on BNC connectors. The other three are analog signals. The first analog pair is in two balanced TA3 connectors. The other two are in unbalance stereo minis: the tape out and headphone monitor.

Whaddaya Know… I Like It!
There are not too many things I would change in this recorder (but if Sound Devices wants to, they can change it with an email!). It does exactly what it was designed to do. It fills a void in this price range and still gives sound mixers most of what they want. I am happy to know that Sound Devices is working on a software update to allow the recorder to write directly to an external drive. It's just another great example of more hard work to make their reputation explode in the industry. They have earnestly delivered on their promises.

I would recommend this recorder for any number of situations.