Topic: Zaxcom Nomad

[SClassical]

Interesting recorder...looks like a SD recorder but have more options...Anyone know the price?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl9GYoEv_EY&feature=player_embedded

http://zaxcom.com/Nomad.html

[flipp]

Interesting recorder...looks like a SD recorder but have more options...Anyone know the price?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl9GYoEv_EY&feature=player_embedded

http://zaxcom.com/Nomad.html

$3,300 at Trew Audio (for the Nomad 4)

< see this thread about the Zaxcom Nomad for prices on the Nomad 6, Nomad 8 and Nomad 12 >

[SClassical]

That is very reasonable.

[H₂O]

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=144496.0

[jn]

There has been a great demo video about Nomad posted and a very positive review:

http://www.trewaudio.com/audioflow/2012/01/12/zaxcom-nomad-presentation-with-glenn-sanders/

http://www.trewaudio.com/audioflow/2012/01/12/zaxcom%e2%80%99s-nomad-the-next-step-in-field-recording/

[F.O.Bean]

Looks like one badass machine

[acidjack]

$500 less than a 788T new for the Nomad 8... Oddly it appears to only have 44.1, 48, and then two weird almost-48kHz sample rates that I assume are for film/TV (??)

For that diff in price I feel like I'd stick with Sound Devices, though both it and Zaxcom are U.S. made, which I feel is important to me at this price point.  The Sonosax SX-R4 which only has 4 phantom channels is a touch more than the 788T at $6100. 

FWIW, Jerry at Posthorn runs exclusively SD boxes, and I'm pretty sure he could run whatever he wanted.  Of course, actual audio professionals on this board may have seen more deviation from SD as the standard, but that seems to be the standard for recording music....

[hi and lo]

I have not an abundance of great things said about the nomad boxes. A decent first review can be found on Gotham Sound's website, albeit certainly catered towards a different audience than concert tapers.

Personally, I would touch these with a 10-foot pole. At their price point the 788t is already an option, as pointed out by AJ, as well as the Aeta 4Minx which, simply based on my love of Aeta and limited review of documentation available, should blow the Zaxcom boxes out of the water and definitely contend with the 788t. It doesn't have the amazing iphone/ipad app that the SD box has, nor is it domestic to the US which makes initial pricing more expensive and eventual repair or servicing more difficult, but Aeta is a top-notch audio company with the likes of Nagra, Sonosax, etc and their box has everything but the kitchen sink.

[H₂O]

but it has Zaxnet....

[wbrock001]

Anyone know why the price keeps jumping up on it?!!  Jeesh started at $3300 for 4 channel, then $3600, and now $3900...so in less than 6 months its gone up $600...that's pretty steep increases and not particularly warm and fuzzy behavior on Zaxcom's part.

[John Willett]

Anyone know why the price keeps jumping up on it?!!  Jeesh started at $3300 for 4 channel, then $3600, and now $3900...so in less than 6 months its gone up $600...that's pretty steep increases and not particularly warm and fuzzy behavior on Zaxcom's part.

Probably raw material costs due to the shortages caused by the Tsunami in Japan.

Also the mobile phone market have incredible clout when buying components and smaller manufacturers then have to buy on the open market at considerable higher cost.  I know of another manufacturer caught out like this a few years ago where their contracted supplier had sold all the stock to mobile phone companies and they suddenly had to buy on the open market at considerably higher cost and the cost of teh equipment had to jump quite a bit.

Another reason may be a miscalculation in the actual manufacturing costs from when they did the calculation at the design stage compared to actually making it.

Not that I'm a fan of Zaxcom very much - but I can see the reason they had to do this.

[wbrock001]

Thank you for your input.  I was just taking a look to see if there were any new video reviews, updates, etc and each time I looked, the thing was up another $300...so was a bit disconcerting since I had wanted to get one.  If only stocks performed so well!

[RichT]

Had a play with one of these yesterday, and it didn't really do it for me- although the pre's were clean and quiet, the top end seemed a bit 'dead'.  Maybe I'm a bit too used to Sonosax loveliness, but I A-B'ed it against an SD552 and preferred that.

All the routing options are great, but I don't think the ergonomics really suited me- too many operations seemed to require long button presses and/or 2 handed operation.  Although the machine we were using was probably a couple of firmware updates away from the latest, it was a little buggy (meters seemed to go into the red on a couple of channels which weren't plugged in, out of the blue) - which isn't something I'd be inclined to trust.

The other guy I was with liked it though, so some of you might too (and a lot of location mixers seem to like them already- there's still a queue to get hold of them)

[DigiGal]

Apparently Zaxcom had a bunch of stuff stolen from their booth at the NAB show.  Below is link to topic with serial numbers of the stolen gear.

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=155061.0