Sonosax SX-R4

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The Sonosax SX-R4

(an alternative to the Nagra VI: Sonosax takes a different approach)

For exclusively documentary use, the Sonosax SX-R4 seems to have the best combination of useful features and cost/benefit value. Like the Nagra, it offers the quality of Swiss construction and pre-amps of exceptional performance. Remarkably small, the R4 still has pots for four microphones nicely spaced to permit mixing. Essential values, like phantom power, are under switch control so one needn’t navigate through menus for routine set-ups.

At only 180mm x 140mm x 50mm, the Sonosax is quite small for an eight-channnel recorder. That's my K-RZR phone tilting it up.

Although they have different approaches to pre-amp design, Sonosax has an equivalent reputation for clarity and dynamic range. The Nagra design uses transformers to achieve isolation and low noise. Nagra actually winds its own transformers to ensure quality and achieve the best match to its circuit designs. Sonosax has always used an electronically balanced design that does not employ transformers.

The input side of the recorder. Propping it up is a "Double Corona" lighter.

. I am not an engineer and can’t say whether one approach is better than another but, having used both Nagra recorders and Sonosax mixers over the years, I can attest that both companies produce excellent products. More than one road leads to Rome and either of these recorders is capable of making outstanding recordings.

The Sonosax has another advantage in a matching 3-input mixer, the SX-M32, that neatly supplements the recorder in situations where one needs to control more than four inputs. Of course, any small mixer can be paired with either of these recorders, even the Sonosax mixer with the Nagra recorder, but there is something to be said for elegant matching design.

Before rushing to put down a deposit on the Sonosax you should be aware that there are some important limitations. Some are temporary but some may be permanent.

There is presently no provision in the SX-R4 for producing files that may be turned in at the conclusion of an assignment. One must connect the recorder to a computer to make a transfer and then burn a disk with that computer. Sonosax has provided no assurance or indication that they might ever implement the capability to burn media directly from the recorder. Moreover, although it records to both internal hard drive and CF card, at present only two tracks are available on the flash card. A software update at some time in the future may permit mirroring all tracks to the CF card but the present arrangement only provides for two tracks. This inability to directly produce files is a serious limitation. In many of the assignments I work, there simply is no time during the day when one can conveniently make a transfer, especially since, in the absence of CF mirroring, this requires tying up the recorder. Transferring all the recorded files at the end of the workday, and then burning a disk from a laptop while everyone else is eager to go home, is no fun and may be impossible under some circumstances.

The display is tiny but effective for showing essentials. The use of a joy-stick for navigation and a large toggle for activating "Record" make optimum use of limited real estate.

The Sonosax presently has no provision for metadata correction and this may permanently limit its acceptance for use in regular film and television production. According to the Sonosax representative, one must transfer the files to a computer and use third-party software (he recommended BWF-Widget) to edit metadata. In my experience, there is never enough time for that kind of intervention; if it can’t be edited in the recorder, it doesn’t get edited. In strictly documentary work this may not matter as there is often no time to assign a number to a file. Moreover, the filming tends to occur in very long takes, often limited only by the available run-time of the camera, so a day’s work may occupy only a few, albeit very large, files. But television production and most films are shot under relentless schedules with each day’s work made up of a jumble of little pieces. Post-production people expect each file to accurately show scene and take number so they may readily identify print takes and sync them with the output of multiple cameras. In the press of production, there are inevitably times when there are misunderstandings about scene number. If it happens only once every couple of days it wouldn’t be a problem; one would just note the discrepancy in a report. If it happens two or three times in a day – not an unlikely occurrence – then it’s a real problem. That kind of event either consumes extra time in a telecine session @ $800 per hour or it eats up the time the editing assistants have to prepare files for the picture editor. It wouldn’t be long before the production manager would stop by the sound cart and pointedly ask how I’m going to deal with this situation.

Recorder	Price	Notes
SD 744T	$4395	small battery incl., 4-track, HD & CF + ext. DVD
SD 788T	$5995	small battery incl., 8-track, HD & CF + ext. DVD
Sonosax SX-R4	$6000	8-track HD, only 2 trk CF, uses AA batteries
Nagra VI	$7595	6-trk, HD & CF, battery & charger included
Fostex 606	$7999	6-trk, 8 trk with AES input, HD + DVD, battery extra
Deva Fusion	$8995	8-trk, 2 CF, record to ext. drive (DVD or HD), accepts NP-1 or ext. pwr (not incl.) (unit is 4-trk @ base price of $7995)
Deva 5.8	$12,995	10 trk, HD & CF & DVD + ext. drive
Aaton Cantar X2	$15,584	8 trk, HD & DVD + ext. drive, battery extra

I think the failure to make provision for metadata correction is a serious oversight. It's a keen disappointment because the recorder is otherwise so elegant and capable. It's also very attractively priced but not so inexpensive that one could easily own one only for documentary work and keep another recorder for use on a cart. But it's an absence of needed software, not a fundamental failure of design, so Sonosax may well find a way to address the need.

To return to the Nagra evaluation page, click here or on the Logo picture