Topic: Lectrosonics SPDR Stereo Dig Recorder

[jerryfreak]

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.

I think it was jwsoundgroup.

i posted my finding over there, there is a lectro rep over there. didnt personally take issue with any of his posts, but it was basically crickets when i brought up its limitations

great device i guess for film/eng. not so much for our purposes

Yeah, he was not a helpful guy.

Are you returning it?

already did. though markertek wanted to charge me restock, i had to take them to task because i had the sales guy in writing confirming it was still covered under their normal 'worlds best ever hassle free return policy' despite it being a drop ship from mfr.

id use b&h over markertek for something like that next time. I'm not one to buy shit just to try it and return it but when im the guinea pig and your equipment does not do what it says it does, its going back....

[dogmusic]

Thanks for the research you’ve done on this recorder. Where I live in this rural area makes it impossible to test anything without buying. And I hate the pita of returns.  I was attracted by the SPDR’s small size and was going to order one. But when I went on another forum to get info, I encountered the company rep who was such a dickhead that it put me off the product.

^
Which forum did you go to to gather info on on the SPDR?  If the info was valuable I wouldn't mind reading it too.

I think it was jwsoundgroup.

i posted my finding over there, there is a lectro rep over there. didnt personally take issue with any of his posts, but it was basically crickets when i brought up its limitations

great device i guess for film/eng. not so much for our purposes

Yeah, he was not a helpful guy.

Are you returning it?

already did. though markertek wanted to charge me restock, i had to take them to task because i had the sales guy in writing confirming it was still covered under their normal 'worlds best ever hassle free return policy' despite it being a drop ship from mfr.

id use b&h over markertek for something like that next time. I'm not one to buy shit just to try it and return it but when im the guinea pig and your equipment does not do what it says it does, its going back....

Glad to hear they took it back.

[scb]

so this is still no good? have they fixed anything in newer firmware or anything?

[tim_k]

I don't think anything has changed. I can't really comment on anything brought up by others since I don't use it the same way. I've taped a little over 100 shows now with DPA 4061s and the SPDR. I'm happy.

[grawk]

so this is still no good? have they fixed anything in newer firmware or anything?

I've only used mine a few times with the m2d2, but I didn't notice any problems with it.  I didn't record a parallel stream to compare if the files were bit-identical, however.

[Regel1974]

I just bought SPDR recently (December 2024) from a fellow soundie here in the UK. Have to say that I am impressed with it especially that it's now an 8 years old recorder. Here are the reasons why it is still a valid choice in 2024.

As a location sound mixer I have used a lot of up-to-date recorders with 32 bit float, I own couple of Tentacle Track E's and I have tested all F-series Zooms as well. Those are all lovely with their bluetooth, larger displays, animated menus etc, but Lectro is very much on par in terms of sound quality and has other useful functions. I haven't done any scientific tests (mainly because I don't really see the need) but to my ears it sounds absolutely brilliant - using the pair of DPA 4060s I'm able to record crystal clear AB stereo image for several hours on two Eneloop batteries.

Timecode generator jammed in the morning with Tentacle system had no drift after 10 hours - I was recording backup mix all day long and was also drawing power from the distro and a smart battery instead of AA's. AA batteries were there for safety.

It is good to know that Lectrosonics are still supporting it - last firmware update was as recently as in July 2024. I can pretty much promise you that Tascam and Zoom in 2030 won't spare a single hour on updates for today's gear...

As for the menu. I have read somewhere that it is clunky and outdated. Is it really? Probably for the younger generation who is used to 5 inch displays in 16 million colours I think it is pretty intuitive and because actual display it tiny, it doesn't draw too much power either. My only complain (but this is me being an old fart with deteriorating eyesight) is that I struggle a bit seeing it without glasses.

Another (not mine) problem reported by someone is the fact you can't switch off the limiter or LF rolloff. If I can set it down to 35hz in the menu I have no problem with it at all. My 50 yo ears can't hear anything this low anyway

All in all I am pretty happy with the purchase especially that I have paid less than a half of the original price from 2018 and had few cables (incl AES) thrown into the bargain.


BTW... this security check and questions if you want to post!!! Jeeez 
 

[TheJez]

I just bought SPDR recently (December 2024) from a fellow soundie here in the UK.

Hi Regel1974,
As you're a new SPDR owner, I'd like to make you aware of this piece of software that might be handy if you use the 'split gain' feature of the SPDR:
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=206443.0
In a way, it turns your recorder into a kind-of multi-ADC 32 bit float recorder...