Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Zaxcom Nomad, thoughts?

Status
Not open for further replies.
the sonosax is waste ofmoney if you intend to use it for dialog recording only
 
I spent some time with Nomad at NAB. At that time, not even the both staff had a good explanation of all the bells and whistles this unit has. My comments are physical. First, it is surprisingly heavy for such a small package. And it is a small package. Secondly, to keep size down, they cut the sound bars down to a point now that without glasses, I could not see the lit bars very well.

In my research over the last 18+ months, most people agree that Sonosax and Zaxcom have the best pre amps bar none. I was told that this is still the case. Units won't be on the market for all models until Fall I was told. By then we should have some side by side comparisons.
 
No ,i mean to idiots who buy 13000 us$ recorder which do much less then 6000us$ sound devices .
and believe me, i have about 50000 us$ investment in recorders alone ( includes deva 16 , cantar , few 788 , 744 , tascams , black box audio and others ), not to mention i can guaranty you you will never hear any difference if ill make my recording even directly to Red or Cine alta ( and i did few in my life includes last CANNES ,SUN DANCE and 2 years ago Trybeca festivals ,full length features for cinema release )
And Pat, as i see, i steeped on your swiss pride , please forgive me for not cooperating with your pension fond , long vacations and good life which brings the product for what it worth as MR Sax him self explained me( not in these exact words )2 years ago we had a lunch in some nice place on the beach in my home town - Tel AVIV
 
Last edited:
oleg kaizerman said:
And Pat, as i see, i steeped on your swiss pride , please forgive me for not cooperating with your pension fond , long vacations and good life which brings the product for what it worth as MR Sax him self explained me( not in these exact words )2 years ago we had a lunch in some nice place on the beach in my home town - Tel AVIV
Click to expand...

There is no word nor pride to be a nationalist! Dead to them! I was just talking about hardware made by my friend Jacques Sax, wich I admire BTW. Now I never had the opportunity to compare 788 preampl with the Sonosax preamp : Basically I'm a camera man...

Have nice day at the beach in Tel Aviv.

Pat
 
Patrick Tresch said:
Basically I'm a camera man...

Have nice day at the beach in Tel Aviv.

Pat
Click to expand...
it is an excellent day for surfing :-)
and few words about Sonosax
- it does have excellent analog stage , and iam sure that any of us who make classical music recordings will be more then glad to use these , but - films / tv which are basically need to deal with human voice in 99% as anything else is less important , not really need these .
since films as it know, are a compromise between what you want and the money you have , so for that compromise you can live with something else - i can live with zoom 4 as long i have good preamp in front or i can place Yamaha 0196 in front Joco black box and get 24 tracks for half of the sonosax worth if i need catch 24 idiots in reality show .

since nomad is basically deva in a new dress with same operating system and few additional gadgets , i can insure you that it is good for 99% of anyone work and it can make much more for half the price which is exactly suitable to compromise point , till someone will come with something cheaper :-)
 
There are some really nice features. I especially like the capabilities associated with wifi and Zaxnet. Some of the automatic functions could be useful for certain types of work (ENG or reality TV for example). I think the slate is useless. However, Jon (of their competitor Sound Devices) asked some really good questions, such as how do you control 12 tracks with only 6 faders. Sounds like you have to buy a add-on controller, like the SD CL-8. No word on the price for that, but my guess is that the Nomad 8 + fader device will be about the same as the 788T. Given that they will be about the sme price (about) to get the most out of the Nomad versus the 788T, you would have to already have the zaxcom wireless and monitors.

If I already had an investment in Zaxcom wireless transmitters and IFB monitors, the Nomad would be a good option. But since I don't, I would basically have to sell all of my gear and buy into the Zaxcom system. I'm guessing that that will be a $15 to $20 grand investment, at a minumum. My gear performs perfectly now, and I would be taking a loss in trying to sell it.

To be honest, I might be interested in a cheaper version of the Nomad that just has the wifi and zaxnet functions, without being a recorder. Perhaps Sound Devices or Lectrosonics will offer something with similar capabilities.

Oh and while we are here, a message to Oleg. I basically stopped following JWSound's forum because of your obnoxious posts. Please don't behave like that here on reduser. I have reported your abusive post earlier in the thread to the moderator. I suggest that everyone consider doing that for all of Oleg's posts, until he either changes his behavior, or is banned. Thanks
 
Surfing sucks in Tel Aviv, the Swiss make better preamps and cheese than the Americans, Oleg may lack the filter between his brain and his mouth that keeps other people from saying what they really think, but that doesn't discount the fact that he is highly experienced and is willing to share his knowledge with others. His advice in this post and others immediately says it like it is and is based on actual experience rather than internet forum pontification. The Nomad and its aggressive price point now make the purchase of a 744t illogical. I don't think it can unseat the 788t, especially for bag use, as it does have some ergonomic problems, but would appeal to a certain type of mixer. Michael, you wouldn't have to sell you wireless, it would still work perfectly fine with Lectro, you simply wouldn't get the benefit of ZaxNet and all that brings to the table. If the price of the Nomad was higher, I could see your point, as you would have to change out your gear in order to warrant the extra expense and benefit from it, but as a recorder it is still a great value. I don't think it is a good mixer, though, and there has been a lot of discussion and defense of its role in ENG or reality. I for one am not convinced and still believe that Sound Devices is the standard or titleholder for baggable field mixers. The Sonosax is actually a competent recorder and mixer, a pretty unique combination to have, and for that feature alone, along with its quality, I would consider it. I buy and use my own gear, and have to hump it over mountains and beaches, don't run a rental business like you Oleg, and that is where our priorities diverge. ROI means different things for us. The ergonomics of the Sax is great too. I don't know how the Swiss and the French seem to have such a different mindset when it comes to electronics design, especially given the makeup of the Swiss population and their history, but I would swear, that the German influence dominates in their design aesthetic. I hope I didn't just insult anyone... and ergonomics is what I find the major downfall of Zaxcom. I love the idea of their wireless and will likely be buying Zax radios when I upgrade. Their recorders and the new Nomad not to be excluded, I simply cannot wrap my head around the way they work, don't like the touchscreen centric nature of their operation (Deva & Fusion at least), and would miss having all the hard buttons and switches that I prefer on my control panels. Talking about recorders and setups approaches near religious zeal and much of it is based on qualitative personal preferences that are hard to describe, especially on a forum. Whatever you do, rent or borrow the Nomad first and see how it fits on you. For every person like me, there are probably others who have the exact opposite reaction and love it.
 
Tom, no argument that Oleg has good advice to offer. I am asking him to stop supplementing his good advice with abusive language.

I totally agree with you on ergonomics and trying the Nomad before buying. For bag work, my Cooper CS104 and 744T give me great sound with easy to reach controls.

If I do upgrade wireless, I will consider Zaxcom, but given that the FCC has yet to identify which channels will be available in each city, it makes no sense to purchase a wireless mic system for use in the USA at this time (unless you have a specific job that will yield an ROI).
 
Michael Panfeld said:
Oh and while we are here, a message to Oleg. I basically stopped following JWSound's forum because of your obnoxious posts. Please don't behave like that here on reduser. I have reported your abusive post earlier in the thread to the moderator. I suggest that everyone consider doing that for all of Oleg's posts, until he either changes his behavior, or is banned. Thanks
Click to expand...
I have a much wild guess why did you stop following Jw :-)
but if you find my post abusive for your taste as i call sonosax waste of money or Swiss republic as overpraised land for nothing only because half of the world dope money and unpaid taxes in the other countries make their banks to make huge profits and make their citizens extrimly spoiled - you can skip on my posts ,as you really don't need my experience or my way of how see stuff - i guess there is ignore list which yuo can place me in
best
 
That CS104 is a beauty. I wish Andy Cooper (selfishly) didn't decide to retire and exit the industry.
 
I have no issue with calling Sonosax a waste of money. This thread is about audio gear and sharing your opinion, in this case a negative one on the value of Sonosax gear vis-a-vis its price point, is valid. However, I do have an issue with attacking Pat and Switzerland. Your opinions on the country have no relation to this thread or to the business of Red or reduser.
 
Tom Visser said:
That CD104 is a beauty. I wish Andy Cooper (selfishly) didn't decide to retire and exit the industry.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I spoke with the guys at Vark Audio about that. They said that it was Sound Devices offerings that pushed him out. He really couldn't compete pricewise, even though his circuitry is (arguably) better sounding.
 
Michael Panfeld said:
I have no issue with calling Sonosax a waste of money. This thread is about audio gear and sharing your opinion, in this case a negative one on the value of Sonosax gear vis-a-vis its price point, is valid. However, I do have an issue with attacking Pat and Switzerland. Your opinions on the country have no relation to this thread or to the business of Red or reduser.
Click to expand...
Thats where you are wrong - the Swiss state and its economy which based on dirty money has the most influence on the price point of the products it makes .
if sonosax was American company i"m sure that the price of labor was placing the product price down for 40%.
As Mr sax told me - the labor is 3 times more then USA one, does it makes the product 3 times better , of course not .
not to mention their sloppy development of operating system which eventually they share now with cantar and it cost you :-)
of course you buy a name , for people like you it maybe worth a grand or 2 more , for people like me , i see only what the product can deliver - and it doesn't really stand near by for what others have for half price , i can pay allot for something unique - but i dont t see any reason with that product , at least not for film business in which i involved as a sound mixer or as rental house .
i will suggest Mr SAX, if he intend to stay alive in recording business move his enterprise to much cheaper platform as the only thing that keep him alive are domestic sales in France , Germany and other western Europe where the people who bring other recorders rob the sound population to the point in which the sonosax might be worth to buy ., FOR THESE POOR FALLOWS I WILL SUGGEST TICKET TO NY and good vacation with their wifes , what would still make them able save few grands and get much better product

by the way ,we forget that the recorder is still doesn't have digital inputs - as it in the development , which will cost additional money to the 12000 Swiss francs it been priced - that additional money ?:-)
 
my dear, i dont live in the DC world of politically correct - i live in the real world of- business correct
you can report that 2 :-)
Have a grate day with your reports .

By the way ,Andy Cooper was not smart enough to stay in business by adapting him self to new rules of mass production , thats business , apparently Mr sax will be there 2
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top