Panasonic 744T manual

7 4 4T High R esolution Digital Audio R ecorder with T ime Code User Guide and T echnical Information re v . 1 .04 Sound Devices, LL C 300 W engel Driv e • R eedsburg, WI • USA +1 (608) 524-0625 • fax: +1 (608) 524-0655 T oll-F ree: (800) 505-0625 www .soundde vices.com 1.8" HDD 2.5" HDD[...]

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Introduction 1 T able of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 P o wering the Unit Menu Na vigation Basics Connecting A udio Sources Routing Inputs to T rac ks Recording P arameter Setup Time Code Setup Recording Pla yback FireWire File T ransf er F[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 2 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. W elcome Thank you for purchasing the 744T . The super -compact 744T recor ds and plays back audio to and from its internal har d drive or Compact Flash medium, making fi el[...]

Quick S tart Guide 3 Quick Start Guide The 744T is an extremely powerful and fl exible portable audio recor der . Before r ecording, familiarity with the product is essential. Several settings should be verifi ed or set based on individual recor ding needs. P o w ering the Unit 1. Apply power to the unit by connecting the (included) removable, r [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 4 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Routing Inputs to T racks Before r ecording, inputs must be assigned to tracks. Each of the 744T’s four inputs (1, 2, 3, 4) can be assigned to any of the four tracks (A, B,[...]

Quick S tart Guide 5 1. Press and hold the key to select the volume for playback. The default playback directory is the present volume being r ecorded. 2. Use the Multi-Function Controller , or the arrow soft-keys, to navigate thr ough the fi le dir ectory . 3. Once a fi le is highlighted, press the play key to begin playback. When playback has ?[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 6 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. 1) Digital Input LEDs Indicates the presence of digital signal on the respective input. When fl ashing, indicates that digital input is selected but no valid digital clock s[...]

Hardw are Descriptions 7 1 1) Charge LED Indicates the status of the onboard battery charger . Flashes when exter - nal power is connected and battery is charging; solid when battery is fully charged. 12) P ow er LED Indicates the 744T is powered and avail- able for operation. Flashes when the removable battery or external DC is in a low-voltage st[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 8 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. 23) Media Ready LEDs Indicates storage media is present and available to recor d; IN (internal hard drive), CF (Compact Flash), EX (exter- nal Firewir e device) [ EX not avai[...]

Hardw are Descriptions 9 1) Batter y Le v el Indicator Shows voltage level of removable bat- tery or external power sources. External power overrides internal power when present. Graphical bar for r elative level and numeric indicator for precise volt- age measurement. 2) File Name Display Shows fi le name actively being recorded or played back. I[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 10 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. 10) External Media Space Status (space remaining/record ready) Not available on version 1.x fi rmware. Bar graph indicates amount of recor d time remaining on the external [...]

Hardw are Descriptions 11 1) XLR Input 1/AES3 Input 1&2 Dual function input connection. Input type set with switch above. Active-bal- anced analog microphone- or line-level input for input 1. T ransformer -balanced two-channel AES3 input (1 and 2). 2) XLR Input 2/AES3 Input 3&4 Dual function input connection. Input type set with switch abov[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 12 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. 1) Time Code Multi-Pin T ime code input and output on 5-pin LEMO ® connector . 2) AES3id Inputs 1/2 and 3/4 Unbalanced digital inputs accept four channels of either AES3 or[...]

Hardw are Descriptions 13 1) Security Slot Compatible with the Kensington Secu- rity Slot specifi cation. Useful for secur- ing the recor der to a fi xed object with a compatible computer lock. 2) Compact Flash Slot Insert Compact Flash medium with the label-side up. Compatible with T ype I, T ype II, and Micr oDrives. 3) Batter y Mount Accepts S[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 14 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Input Setup and Control The 744T has four inputs and four recor d tracks. Inputs are selectable among analog or digital sour c- es. Analog inputs 1 and 2 use XLR connectors;[...]

Input Setup and Control 15 pressing the HDD key . If the inputs are in line level mode, phantom power will not activate fr om the shortcut keys and must be activated from the menus. Input Limiters (mic-level only) Microphone inputs 1 and 2 each have a limiter cir cuit designed to prevent input overload. In nor - mal operation, with proper gain sett[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 16 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Gain (sensitivity) for inputs 3 & 4 is controlled in the setup menu. Gain r esolution is in 0.1 dB incre- ments. Analog Line Input Sensitivity Input level sensitivity fo[...]

W ord Clock 17 arrows ar e accelerated. The more you pr ess or spin, the faster the delay setting will incr ement or decrement. Delay is not set until enter is pr essed. The amount of delay available is dependent on the sampling frequency in use. Sample F requency Maximum Amount of Dela y A v ailable (per input) 32, 44.1, 48, 48.048 kHz 30,000 µS [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 18 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. T o avoid digital loops, when using the word clock and digital input signals, you must make the 744T the word clock follower of the digital source. C. Link – Multi-Unit Li[...]

Input-to-T rack Routing 19 any combination of the f our inputs can be routed to any of the f our tracks Regardless of which tracks are assigned for r ecording, monophonic fi le numbering always starts with 1, i.e., if only track D is selected for recording in a monophonic .W A V fi le, the resulting fi lename will have a _1 suffi x, not _4. Pol[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 20 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Outputs – Analog and Digital The 744T has two discrete output buses , the Master Output Bus and Output Bus 2. Each of these two-channel buses are assigned their audio sour[...]

Headphone Output 21 Headphone Output The 744T headphone output is a fl exible tool for monitoring audio in the fi eld. The 744T allows the user to monitor inputs, tracks, or post-recor d tracks. The headphone output is independent of the Master Output Bus and Output Bus 2—audio sources can be r outed to headphones independent of routing assignm[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 22 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. HP Sources Description Tr a c k s A,B MS Tr a c k s C,D MS Stereo monitoring of discrete M (mid) and S (side) track pairs . Highlighted media is source of moni- tor program.[...]

Metering 23 Metering The 744T features a 76 LED (4 x 19) output meter . The DSP-contr olled output meter provides a selec- tion of ballistics and lighting intensities. In addition, peak indicators on input channels show clip- ping activity . Output Meter 0 dBFS trac k LEDs are programmab le as peak LEDs (0 dBFS to − 20 dBFS) The meter uses energy[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 24 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. combination the user gets the best of both VU and Peak metering by seeing both the “loudness” of the signal and the peaks at the same time. Peak/VU is the factory defaul[...]

Sample and Bit Rate 25 LED brightness is continuously adjustable from low to high brightness. Hold down the key and turn the Multi-Function Controller to change brightness levels. All LED’s are adjusted. In stealth mode (setup menu selected) the LEDs are toggled on and of f with the brightness key . Sample Rate and Bit Depth When recor ding to BW[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 26 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Once a fi le is recorded its sample rate and bit depth can not be changed in the r ecorder . The 744T can not perform sample rate conversion or bit depth changes. File conv[...]

Time Code 27 00:00:00:00 at power-up. When switching to r ecord r un from another mode, the internal generator will stop at the last number generated. A user-defi ned value can be jammed into the internal genera- tor from the jam menu. Continuous Jam: The onboard time code generator will r e-jam from external time code whenever time code is con- n[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 28 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Jam V alue Press enter (tone key) or the contr oller button to jam the user-enter ed time code start value into the internal generator . Edit V alue This menu allows the use[...]

File Formats 29 Audio File Formats The 744T recor ds audio to industry-standard fi le formats—W indows W ave (W A V), Broadcast W ave (BWF , monaural and polyphonic) and MPEG Layer 3 (MP3). W A V / BWF The 744T adheres to the AES-31 BWF fi le specifi cation. The fi lename extension is user-selectable between .W A V or .BWF . There is no dif f[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 30 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Recording The largest, most easily accessed contr ol on the 744T is its recor d key . Recording takes priority over all activity except for disk formatting, disk speed tests[...]

Storage Medium 31 AutoPlay The 744T can be set to play back all valid audio fi les in a directory . Files will play back in their order in the directory . Autoplay can be set with the following options: • Disabled – auto playback is off • Play all – all fi les in the directory will play , then stop when all fi les have been played • Re[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 32 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. When selected from the setup menu, the r epair utility will scan the drive for problems, r eport the number of errors and corr ect the errors. Driv e T ype The 744T ships wi[...]

Storage Medium 33 requir e specifi c electronics knowledge, Sound Devices strongly r ecommends drive r eplacement be performed by a qualifi ed technician using proper ESD precautions. Drive r eplacement done by a qualifi ed technician has no warranty implications. 744T with bottom panel remov ed showing hard drive mounting location The internal [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 34 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. After recording is stopped, it can take several seconds for the 744T to fi nish “housekeeping” on CF . When preparing to r emove the CF , always observe the amber activ[...]

File Management 35 T ake Numbers T ake numbers ar e four-digit integers between 000 1 and 9999 , starting with the letter “T”. T ake numbers increase by one each time a new fi le is generated. T ake numbers auto-incr ement, although the take number can be overridden and a new take number can be selected selected in the setup menu. If the 744T [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 36 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Larger fi les take added time to show details; this is normal. File Director y Screen The fi le directory screen contains information about the individual audio fi les co[...]

File Management 37 Automatic Flag Clearing The 744T can be set to clear the fl ag bit of copied fi les automatically . When enabled in the Fi le : Co py Fl ag Con tro l menu, all fi les copied internally by the 744T , but not via FireW ire, will have their fl ag bits cleared on the original fi le. Folders Files generated by the 744T are placed[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 38 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. size maximums of 650 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, and 4 GB. The 650 MB size allows the user to break an audio program into CD-R sized fi les for backup to inexpensive CD-R medium. File [...]

P ow ering 39 CompactFlash media must be present in the 744T upon Fir eW ire connection to be pr operly mounted by the host computer . CF media may not be “hot-swapped” after mounting—directory corruption may occur . If the CF slot is empty when the 744T is connected to the host system, a drive letter will still be assigned, but will not be a[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 40 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. The voltage level of the source powering the unit is shows on the LCD ( ). When the 744T senses a low voltage condition from an external DC sour ce the power LED and battery[...]

Firmw are 41 Firmware Upgrades The 744T uses upgradable EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable r ead-only memory) to hold the unit’s operating system software, or fi rmware. Firmwar e is the source code which contr ols all aspects of the device, including: menu options, signal routing, signal pr ocessing, LED’s, controls, and data ports. V[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 42 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Setup Menu Presets Presets ar e useful shortcuts to speed setting the numerous parameters available in the setup menu. The 744T has four built-in presets and unlimited user [...]

Setup Menu 43 P arameter Factory Preset Film Preset Reporter Preset Music Preset Line Output Source T r C/D T r C/D T r C/D T r C/D Line Output Attenuation 0 0 0 0 HPMon1 inputs1/2 inputs1/2 inputs1/2 inputs1/2 HPMon2 inputs 3/4 inputs 3/4 inputs 3/4 inputs 3/4 HPMon3 trac ks A/B trac ks A/B tr acks A/B trac ks A/B HPMon4 trac ks C/D tracks C/D tra[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 44 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Setup Menu The setup menu controls a wide range of parameters for the 744T , including all audio r outing, recor ding settings, and time code options. The setup menu is a si[...]

Setup Menu 45 # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 11 Rec: Timer Stop Set a specific time/date to stop record- ing. May be used with or without the Rec: Timer Star t. May be set bef ore the Timer Star t time to temporarily stop recording and then resume recording with Timer Star t. <enter time, date> 12 Rec: Error Handler Sets the[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 46 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 35 File: Marker Mode Enab les the user to set cue points on the fly while recording by pressing the record ke y . • Marker[...]

Setup Menu 47 # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 42 Time Code: Frame Rate Sets the time code frame r ate. All com- mon time code frame rates are a v ailable . • 23.976 – used with high definition video cameras • 24 – to sync audio to film where no transf er to NTSC video is e xpected • 25 – to sync sound to P AL video • [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 48 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 48 Output 2 L,R: Source Selects the signal source for output b us 2 sent to digital output bus 2. • inputs 1 / 2 • input[...]

Setup Menu 49 # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 60 HP: Fa v orite Mode Selects the audio source monitored when the Multi-Function Controller is pressed during recording or playbac k. • inputs 1 / 2 • inputs 3 / 4 • trac ks A / B • trac ks C / D • monitor A / B • monitor C / D • input 1 • input 2 • input 3 • input [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 50 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. # Setup Name Setup Description Setup P arameters 72 CF: (Erase) Formats installed Compact Flash medium Caution, while various PC utili- ties are able to reco ver files from [...]

Specifi cations 51 Speci fi cations System Sampling Frequency internal: 32, 44.1, 48, 48.048, 88.2, 96, 96.096, 176.4, 192 kHz e xter nal: 32–192 kHz via word clock input Internal Data P ath and Processing 32 bit, 192 dB dynamic range A/D , D/A Con verters 24 bit, 192 kHz sample rate maximum. A/D conv er ters on soc keted, field-upgr adeable da[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 52 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Inputs/Outputs – Digital AES3-id 75 ohm, 0.5 V p-p , S/PDIF compatib le with RCA adapter Digital Storage Internal hard drive A T A-5 interface 1.8-in or 2.5-in hard driv e[...]

Specifi cations 53 Connector Pin Assignments Each connector type, electrical characteristics, and pin assignment is shown below . Connector Pin Assignments Notes XLR (Analog Inputs) 1 – ground 2 – signal (+) 3 – signal (-) 4000 ohm input impedance, mic le v el 20k ohm input impedance, line le v el active-balanced XLR (AES Inputs) 1 – groun[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 54 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Recording Time Calculation The calculation of available 744T recor ding time involves three factors: • track count - how many concurrent audio tracks ar e selected for r e[...]

Recording Time Calculation 55 MP3 Compressed Record Time in Hours MP3 Data Rate (bit depth/sample rate), stereo trac k 64 kb/s (0.47 MB/min) 96 kb/s (0.70 MB/min) 128 kb/s (0.94 MB/min) 160 kb/s (1.17 MB/min) 192 kb/s (1.40 MB/min) 256 kb/s (1.86 MB/min) 320 kb/s (2.34 MB/min) Storage in GB (1000 MB = 1 GB) 1 35 23 17 14 11 8 7 2 71 47 35 28 23 17 [...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 56 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Accessories Included Accessories The accessories below are included with the 744T : • worldwide (100–240 V AC to 12 VDC) power supply • Li-ion rechar geable battery , [...]

K e yboard Shor tcuts 57 Menu Navigation Shortcuts T o speed navigation the 744T has numer ous navigation “shortcuts”. The following is a complete list. acts as an escape key and exits from most menus and functions immediately drops all functions except fi le copy and begins recor ding + press simultaneously to enter the time code jam menu + p[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 58 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Glossary of Terms daily folder a director y generated b y the recorder each calendar da y . dither the process of adding noise to an audio signal to increase the accuracy of[...]

W arranty and Support 59 Warranty and Technical Support W arranty Sound Devices, LLC warrants the 744T Portable Audio Recorder against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE (1) year from date of original r etail purchase. This is a non-trans- ferable warranty that extends only to the original purchaser . Sound Devices, LLC will r[...]

7 4 4T User Guide and T echnical Information 60 firmware v . 1.04 F eatures and specifications are subject to change. Visit www .sounddevices.com f or the latest documentation. Software License End-user license agreement f or Sound Devices 7-Series Embedded Software / Firmware Impor tant Read carefully: This Sound Devices , LLC end-user license agr[...]

61 Notes[...]

744T re v . 1.04[...]