>The SX-R4+ is limited as shipped, because of the Zaxcom patent, but the 135dB range is restored via a software update via the sonosax website. In other words, the limited >range is a legal fiction.
>I don't know if there is a similar issue with the SX-M2D2's dynamic range. But if there is, it is a non issue, solved in minutes by anyone with an internet connected computer.
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I have no sympathy for Zaxcom, but we should remember that in US law, if you do not defend a patent, you lose the protection. I think Zaxcom is aggressively litigious anyway, but they probably have a lawyer telling them they must be seen to protect their patent, whether it is justifiable or not.
aside from that, can you provide a link to where on the "on the Sonosax site" the dynamic range upgrade for the US R4+ is available? I have looked hard and cant find it. Your mention is the first I have seen anywhere. If I could find such a link, I'd be a lot happier about paying full price for a "crippled" US version. 114 dB does not reach 24 bit depth.
The M2D2 has the full dynamic range, and the 'same preamps' as the EU recorder, says Sonosax.
I would think for USERS to download such a file and use it is our own business, like unlocking a phone, but for Sonosax to supply such a link on sisght might be construed as negating the 'US version" so-called patent avoidance (IMO we need not call it "patent compliance", because there is no proof there is a conflict, and Jacques does not want to test it at law with technical disclosure etc.). If they do it anyway, hurray for them.
TG