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Zaxcom

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King Cheung

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Dear All,
I am thinking to purchase a Zaxcom system, but I would like to know any first-hand experience of it from anyone of you.
From Zaxcom's home page, it seems it is quite bulky. Also, I heard that it is quite "delicate." But I may need to use it for very cold and wild locations.
Otherwise, it seems Zaxcom has the best sound quality and very secure backup idea.
Thanks.
King
 
First, it's rumored that zaxcom is coming out with a more mobile eng rig at NAB. Since that's less than a week away you owe it to yourself to research that before you buy.

I have a zaxcom fusion 12 and I love it. It is heavy but no more heavy than my previous sound devices 442/fostex fr-2 rig and it's a little less bulky. I haven't had any issues with "delicate". I am certainly always mindful of the touch screen. It has a short learning curve for basic functionality. I have no fear of it standing up to the cold although I must admit I haven't had to use it in the cold yet.
 
Thanks for your advices, David.

Actually, I didn't put my question clear enough. What I wanted to know is the wireless system. Do you use the Zaxcom's wireless as well?

Thanks in advance.

David Adamic said:
First, it's rumored that zaxcom is coming out with a more mobile eng rig at NAB. Since that's less than a week away you owe it to yourself to research that before you buy.

I have a zaxcom fusion 12 and I love it. It is heavy but no more heavy than my previous sound devices 442/fostex fr-2 rig and it's a little less bulky. I haven't had any issues with "delicate". I am certainly always mindful of the touch screen. It has a short learning curve for basic functionality. I have no fear of it standing up to the cold although I must admit I haven't had to use it in the cold yet.
Click to expand...
 
I have not used their wireless. I've done a lot of research into it and it will be my next wireless purchase. To ask your question of an audience that's more likely to get you answers I suggest you ask your question at http://web.me.com/jwsound/Site/discussion_group.html There are many zaxcom wireless owners over there that can give you their opinions.

My appologies for mis-understanding your question.
 
What David says with regard to NAB also applies to Zaxcom's wireless. It is rumored that the Nomad mixer/recorder will be able to recieve signals from Zaxcom's wireless transmitters without the need for a receiver. In other words, the receivers are built in. Certainly will reduce the weight and power requirements, if its true. Wait a week, seriously.
 
Thank you for your information, David.

But when I tried to registered jwsound, the verification question is: Greatest rock and roll band, the Rolling:

I tried to type many things, but none of them works. I'm very frustrated. Do you have any idea what I should fill in?

Thanks in advance.

King

David Adamic said:
I have not used their wireless. I've done a lot of research into it and it will be my next wireless purchase. To ask your question of an audience that's more likely to get you answers I suggest you ask your question at http://web.me.com/jwsound/Site/discussion_group.html There are many zaxcom wireless owners over there that can give you their opinions.

My appologies for mis-understanding your question.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, you are right, Michael!

Michael Panfeld said:
What David says with regard to NAB also applies to Zaxcom's wireless. It is rumored that the Nomad mixer/recorder will be able to recieve signals from Zaxcom's wireless transmitters without the need for a receiver. In other words, the receivers are built in. Certainly will reduce the weight and power requirements, if its true. Wait a week, seriously.
Click to expand...
 
King Cheung said:
But when I tried to registered jwsound, the verification question is: Greatest rock and roll band, the Rolling:

I tried to type many things, but none of them works. I'm very frustrated. Do you have any idea what I should fill in?
Click to expand...

I'd give serious consideration to the answer of "Stones"
 
Michael Panfeld said:
What David says with regard to NAB also applies to Zaxcom's wireless. It is rumored that the Nomad mixer/recorder will be able to recieve signals from Zaxcom's wireless transmitters without the need for a receiver. In other words, the receivers are built in.
Click to expand...
No built-in wireless receivers for Nomad, but they did build in a wireless IFB transmitter:

http://www.zaxcom.com/Nomad.html

Very, very cool device. It's clear that Zaxcom is listening to users and is more than keeping up with the competition. The most interesting them to me is that they've abandoned recording on hard drive, and it records only to two simultaneous Compact Flash cards (but you can also record to an external USB 2 device, like a conventional hard drive or DVD-RAM drive).

As far as the wireless system goes, there's pros and cons with all wireless microphone systems out there and no clear winners for all situations. I would tell King to rent different systems -- Lectrosonics, Sennheiser, and Zaxcom would be wise choices -- and see what works best for his purposes. I wouldn't say that Zaxcom's wireless are any more "delicate" than any decent wireless system out there. In fact, I think they're actually better-made than some rival systems from competitors like Shure, at least at a similar price range.
 
Marc, I may make the move to the Nomad based on Zaxcom reputation amongst the professional sound guys I've talked to over the last three years. What I like about it is that it's very compact and had colored dials for those of us who are more right brain than left brain oriented (ie: visual v mechanical directed) I have a Deva and SD 744T. Deva is big and heavy(er). Although designed to fit in a body pack set-up, you better have a good back brace. I jus use it on a bench. the Nomad is definately portable. What I disliked most from the NAB demo is that the visual indicators are far smaller than the Deva's and SD units. Price seems very good (about 15-20% less than the SD 788T)

As to wireless, there two line transmitters go for $4,000+.

I met a man in another booth talking shop about wireless. Ends up he is head of sound for ABC. He had nothing good to day about Zaxcom wireless, that they break down too often. Apparently Lecto's are standard thoughtout ABC.

(The few sound guys I've talked to who use Zaxcom wireless swear by their sound quality. But I didn't ask about faults and I've never used Zaxcom wireless, so I have no personal experience.)
 
Yeah, you raise some good points. I think the Nomad is good competition for competing units like the SD 788, so it's a new market for Zaxcom.

Me personally, I own 16 channels of Lectro gear, but I made my decision on logistics and experience. If I started over from scratch today, I might feel differently. But the Lectro stuff is very solid and reliable. I've only had a Lectro unit fail once in six years, and I'm still convinced it was because an actor pushed some buttons on a transmitter when I wasn't looking. (I now lock all transmitters before placing them on anybody.)

There are people using Deva's in bag rigs, but that's more than I want to carry. I'm usually good to go with an SD 744t/552 combo for the occasions when I'm stuck on a bag job. I'm much more comfortable with a cart-based rig for the stuff I do, and there I can run the Deva 5.8 and (if necessary) the 744t as a backup. I've never, ever had to go back to the backup in these conditions.

BTW, there's a hilarious NAB video out there where Sound Devices' Jon Tatooles gets a demo of the Nomad from Zaxcom's Glenn Sanders. (This is kind of like the president of General Motors going to Ford to get a demo of their newest car.) Will try to post a link when I get a chance.

--Marc W.
 
I gotta say, the Lectros are rock solid. I use the 205s and 201's for years, and eventually upgraded to the all-digital SMa's, Venue, and 411's. Incredible range, terrific sound quality quality (provided you tweak the gain structure carefully). I also use either the SR receiver or D4 for camera send, depending on the complexity of the project. Great stuff.

But there are also people who love Zaxcom wireless. As far as I'm concerned, it's a "Mercedes vs. Lexus" comparison -- with current 2011 gear, it's hard to go wrong with either. And the Zaxcom wireless does have some features nobody else has, specifically the built-in recorders in the transmitters. That's hard to beat.
 
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