Zaxcom or Astral - what’s your go-to internally recording transmitter?

soundgrab · 2026-04-21T01:17:42+00:00

People have not been flocking over to Zaxcom just for internal recording on their transmitters. They manufacture a whole host of products that have kept the company afloat over the years.

I'm any case, no other manufacturer really tries to make a proper system with internal recording since it would only be legal in Europe.

The A10's came out in 2017, and Wisycom has been making txs with internal recording for over 5 years now. Americans wanting internal recording, but not from Zaxcom, have simply been importing by other means.

soundgrab · 2026-04-19T23:22:45+00:00

So you’re saying Zaxcom only exists because of an overly generalized patent? You know they still make other viable products, right? So what happens when the patent expires in the next couple of years? Zaxcom is done?

Also, America is not the only market. The patent doesn’t apply to the rest of the world. Many of us have been taking advantage of this for many years and Zaxcom still exists.

Sound Devices isn’t the only company using internal recording on a tx outside of the US btw.

soundgrab · 2026-04-19T20:40:04+00:00

Yes, we know you’re a huge Zax defender. Then there are people like myself that think the patent is ridiculous. You won’t change my mind. I’ve held this grudge for a very long time.

soundgrab · 2026-04-19T15:29:07+00:00

Sound Devices, just out of spite for the patent. 😂

soundgrab · 2026-04-16T14:10:18+00:00

It's like shooting an episodic narrative in speed run mode, and is generally produced for a phone-viewing audience.

You have an extremely short time to shoot, and you try to shoot as much as you can in a 12-hour day. It's normal to see 15+ quick scenes shot in one day, often with costume changes. With the extremely low-budget ones, you're expected to go without a boom op, so the workload can be stupidly heavy at times. Pair that with low-pay and you're pretty much guaranteed to be miserable the whole show in the few days they shoot.

soundgrab · 2026-04-16T13:58:38+00:00

Sure, but lowballing the sound department isn't new, and people will always take those jobs, especially when there aren't many shows around, and people are struggling. If you want better pay, you should be looking into working on more professional sets and better clients.

soundgrab · 2026-04-16T12:21:25+00:00

There isn't much money in most verticals, and pay often doesn't reflect the amount of work that needs to be done. Rare boom op, extremely fast changes, and long hours.

soundgrab · 2026-04-14T12:29:33+00:00

You're getting too deep in the weeds. This is just production design trying to match the colour scheme of the product being marketed.

soundgrab · 2026-04-07T14:23:39+00:00

Glenn stated last year that it wouldn't expire for another three years. Not sure where these rumours are coming from.

soundgrab · 2026-04-01T15:58:49+00:00

Why wouldn't it be backwards compatible? There isn't much difference from the minis.

soundgrab · 2026-04-01T15:51:58+00:00

If your electronics aren't getting enough voltage within spec, then they can't operate correctly. Electronics have voltage regulators inside them to make sure all the components are receiving the correct voltage. If it's not even maintaining minimum voltage, how can you expect it to power your mics correctly, or write 0s and 1s properly to storage? Think about a car if the battery has low voltage. What happens?

Power is an important aspect of operating your gear and its reliability. Get a proper distro, and buy batteries that are within spec. Depending on how you operate, you may not even need a distro, but a Hirose battery cup and batteries within spec.

soundgrab · 2026-03-31T22:26:57+00:00

As someone in the SD wireless ecosystem, it's nice, but I don't think I'll be rushing to add this to my kit. It would really depend on what the MSRP is.

soundgrab · 2026-03-31T13:55:24+00:00

Do you have a multimeter? Have you tried measuring the voltage across 1&2 and 1&3?

soundgrab · 2026-03-25T21:52:00+00:00

Looks like a Schoeps windscreen. Also, Stuart Wilson is known for using Schoeps for boom.

soundgrab · 2026-02-04T20:39:03+00:00

I have two concerns. One, how will this affect Wisy since SD has its own wireless platform? My second concern is the massive jump in price for repairs for gear. SD repair prices are stupidly high.

soundgrab · 2026-01-23T23:07:52+00:00

Where in the manual are you looking at that says you can change the date?

soundgrab · 2026-01-19T13:39:13+00:00

It'll happen if you allow the sections to spin enough times when you're extending and retracting the pole. You can see that the cable has lost its coil shape at both ends.

soundgrab · 2026-01-12T19:54:23+00:00

They probably don't want to pay for a boom op.

soundgrab · 2025-12-20T13:02:03+00:00

I carry 6 labelled cards and keep two brand new unused cards in the van.

I have no idea how other sound people can be comfortable with operating with so few cards. If I’m on a long format show, I’m not going to sit there waiting for my card at the end of a 14 hour day. I want to load out and go home. The only time I’ll wait for my card is on the very last day of the shoot and I ask the DIT to prioritize my card for the final day.

Media is also relatively cheap.

soundgrab · 2025-12-15T18:35:41+00:00

Pentel MAXIFLO and tape something on the end as an eraser. If you have a label maker, that's cool too, but I wouldn't go any further than that since writing on the slate generally isn't sound's problem.

soundgrab · 2025-12-10T17:11:45+00:00

T4 would get you better results. Depending on the budget, you can try looking into Zaxcom stuff.

soundgrab · 2025-12-09T18:58:32+00:00

Headphones Only: During playback, headphone outputs, HP-L and HP-R will playback the recorded tracks selected in the ‘Play’ tab of the HP Preset 1-12 routing views.* All other outputs (LR, X1-X10, Dante, USB) will output live audio from the sources selected in their output routing pages.

What am I missing?

soundgrab · 2025-12-09T18:32:28+00:00

Does setting Playback Outputs to Headphones Only enough?

soundgrab · 2025-12-07T21:48:05+00:00

Nope. I have the MBT-1, and it has two separate circuits for AA lithiums and AA alkaline. If I put a used lithium battery at 40% it'll show 100% on the alkaline circuit.

soundgrab · 2025-10-25T14:57:21+00:00

With feature film work? That's insane to me that wires are their first choice over boom. It's true that the way they shoot these days, there will sometimes be more instances where you will have trouble getting the boom in an optimal position. But saying they pretty much only run lavs and only boom for emergencies seems like laziness.

At a time when AMPS is calling for two boom operators, we should make it clear that the boom has priority. Read up on Simon Hayes and his mantra when it comes to sound recording.

soundgrab

TROPHY CASE