Topic: Best price on 702 or 722?

[MakersMarc]

Thanks!

[H₂O]

702 used sell for $1275-$1375 or so
722 used sell for $1500 or so


I would not buy a new one of these as they are 10 years on the market and the used market has a plenty!

[H₂O]

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=sound+devices+702&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=sound+devices+744t&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.A0.H0.Xsound+devices+722.TRS2&_nkw=sound+devices+722&_sacat=0



Or even less - don't buy new - you can get a used 744 for the price of a new 702

[2manyrocks]

I thought it was interesting that a 702T sold for $1,325 yesterday.  Trew Audio has them priced at $1,900 and has used 744Ts priced at $2,000-$2,200.  I have no idea if they'll reduce those prices or not.  Kinda hard to hand over $2,000 for a 744T knowing that it requires an external preamp to get 4 mic channels when 70ds are going for under $300.  The $1,700 difference buys some pretty nice mics.   

[carlbeck]

As much as I love the pretty lights & know they are built bomb proof I struggle laying out that kind of cash for two channels when there are so many multi channels decks out now. I'd still consider the 744 since I run external preamps anyway but a 702? Nope, I had one & it was awesome but being able to run two pairs of mics at every show & take a sbd patch far outweighs the pretty lights & solid construction for me as a hobby fwiw.

[hi and lo]

As much as I love the pretty lights & know they are built bomb proof I struggle laying out that kind of cash for two channels when there are so many multi channels decks out now. I'd still consider the 744 since I run external preamps anyway but a 702? Nope...

I agree wholeheartedly. In terms of cost vs. value, I think the 702/702T/722 might very well be the worst investment you could make in 2015, new or used. If you must buy a Sound Devices, do not get anything less than a 744T, otherwise I recommend most consumers look for other options.

The 2-channel 7xx series recorders are in a strange place. In 2004 they were space age technology, but Sound Devices has neglected them ever since and failed to refresh any technology features. They also haven't lowered the msrp to compensate. Just to name a few problems with how these units have aged, Firewire 400 is virtually obsolete, the internal hdd is still a mechanical PATA IDE drive, and almost everyone would prefer to use SD cards over Compact Flash (or in addition to). The first two issues are just silly and represent a legitimate risk to your investment.

Firewire 400 is incredibly slow and impossible to find on new computers for many years now. Furthermore, hot-swapping can cause actual hardware damage! The modern world has been over this technology for half a decade now and Thunderbolt or USB 2.0 or 3.0 connections are superior in every way. As for PATA drives, you be lucky to still be able to buy these new in a few years. I suppose there will always be a few obscure manufacturers making them, just like cassettes or blank vhs tapes, but the format has long-since been a specialty product and you might find yourself looking high and low (heh) for a reliable brand.

In all fairness, the rest of the 702/722 feature set is still pretty good. They're definitely tanks, with the build quality of a Sound Devices unit, and for a two mic/line channel device they're still a luxury device with all the bells and whistles. Redundancy, time code, a tone generator, internal and external powering with voltage monitoring, keyboard compatibility, etc. Oh yeah, and they have fancy lights, too. Unfortunately, if you don't need these features then the 702/722 is a terrible investment and here's why...

The used market for 702/722s has maintained higher prices than normal, selling anywhere from 60% - 90% of their retail value. This is in comparison to the 744T and even the 788T which both have seen drastic price drops on the used market in the last 6 - 24 months. In my opinion, a used 744T for < 50% of the $4,400 msrp is still a great value, but you simply won't find a 702 for $1000. $1300, or 65% the price of new, is probably the lowest you will find. How long will this keep up? My guess and hope is that it will probably come to an end soon because I'm not sure Sound Devices can ignore their recording lineup any longer. As soon as they are officially discontinued, replacement or no replacement, prices are going to tank. SD simply can't continue selling a Firewire 400 device until 2020 (or can they?).

So, after all of that, my advice would be to buy a 744T used for a little more (2000-2200) or buy another brand all together. Maybe consider a Trashcan device as a temporary solution... for $200-300 you could get the 70d and at least get your feet wet while the market shakes out an SD maybe decides to refresh their product lineup.

[hi and lo]

Kinda hard to hand over $2,000 for a 744T knowing that it requires an external preamp to get 4 mic channels when 70ds are going for under $300.  The $1,700 difference buys some pretty nice mics.

For the average concert taper, absolutely, but $2000 is very competitive if you need more than just mic inputs. Would it be nice if the 744T had four mic preamps, sure, but it also provides a slew of features that Tascam can't compete with until you move up to the HS-P82 which is an expensive machine with a very large footprint. In my opinion, if you're "serious" then Tascam isn't a real option  (ymmv on what the quotes means). As a brand, they have chosen quantity over quality and mass-produce low-quality, disposable products. Not only do I think it's unsuitable for serious work, I find it wasteful and offensive as a consumer. For any that can appreciate the quality of Sound Devices and also afford to use their products, there's no argument.

There are some good other good options outside SD and Tascam. I still consider the R-44 to be a very good unit with features not available on the 70d and the R-26 is a decent handheld. It will be nice to see more in the coming years.

[2manyrocks]

Two candid and refreshing posts.

Plush recently posted a recommendation on GS to not buy anything less than 4 channels for serious remote recording, FWIW, (main pair, soloist mic and one spot mic) although he is still favorable towards SD units.  Consequently,  I didn't bid on the 702T even though I gave it consideration. 

[MakersMarc]

Huge help thanks guys! I was not aware of the potential hd issue down the line, that's enough to scare me off a 722.

[voltronic]

For a while I was strongly considering getting a 702, as a few months ago there were a couple very clean ones that went for just over $1000 on eBay.  What made me decide against it was that I really didn't think it was going to produce recordings that were of far superior quality to my FP24 > M10 setup, which was already producing recordings with a sufficiently low noise floor what I do (mostly choirs in churches and quiet halls).  I decided that if I was going to drop serious money on a new recorder, then it really should be 4 channels, preferably with good built-in pres.  I also was reading the post 2manyrocks referenced and I was convinced that an expensive 2-channel recorder would be a bad investment, at least for me.  What I really wanted was a 788T which also has the best preamp circuits SD makes, but that's way out of my price range.

When the DR-70D came out, I like many others jumped on that bandwagon.  Other than some significant issues which really can be fixed by a simple firmware update, I am extremely happy with going that route and saving thousands of dollars that I don't really have.  I now record in 4 channels frequently, and I love having that flexibility.  I've been recording straight into it and haven't used the FP24 for my last several recordings and the quality is great.

So if all you really need is 2 channels, maybe consider getting a high-quality external pre to go with your current recorder such as the SD MixPre / Shure FP24 which pops up all the time on eBay, and I believe Darktrain has one for sale now in the YS.  Otherwise, go after a 4 channel unit like the ones that have been mentioned here.

[MakersMarc]

Thanks Voltronic. I've got the hq pre covered with the 148, you're right, I'm not going to achieve better sound with a 7xx so why lay out the cash? its those hypnotic lights that got me.....

[MakersMarc]

There's a clean 702 on eBay with nice extras, but still 1700 bin.

[voltronic]

There's a clean 702 on eBay with nice extras, but still 1700 bin.

Yeah I saw that one, but as hi and lo pointed out the 702s and 722s showing up there lately seem pretty overpriced unless you really do need all those other options on a 2-channel recorder.

[MakersMarc]

Its only appealing because way back I really got used to never having to worry about my used portadat, that thing was a tank. But the incremental reliability of a 7xx over a number of relatively inexpensive solid state decks is probably not comparable to an hhb versus a d8 or m1 from a failure rate perspective most likely. It's more of a feature set thing, and I could give a crap. None of what I do is mission critical anyway.