Topic: Firmware: Sound Devices 7XX Badger ***BETA***

[mmedley.]

Good Afternoon,

In April at NAB, Sound Devices previewed several new features for the
7-Series recorders. We are pleased to announce that these new features
are now available in a public beta version of firmware, version
"Badger". Additionally, we have made available a Windows software
utility, Wave Agent. This utility is used to convert 7-Series FLAC
files into Broadcast Wave files.

The link to the main download directory is:

 www.sounddevices.com/download/

Please note that Badger and Wave Agent are not production firmware and
software, respectively. They most likely contains bugs. We have
performed extensive testing, and we invite brave souls to apply Badger
and run Wave Agent. In general, these are very stable releases but,
again, they are considered beta and should not be used for
mission-critical applications.

Key new features in 7-Series firmware Badger:

 - MP2, MP3 compressed file recording
 - Lossless data-compressed FLAC file format recording
 - FLAC file playback
 - Sample-accurate record start/stop of multiple, linked recorders

Key features of the Wave Agent software utility (www.waveagent.com for
a shortcut URL):

 - FLAC to WAV file conversion
 - Monophonic to polyphonic file conversion
 - Polyphonic to monophonic file conversion
 - File Properties viewer

The present production release of firmware, version 2.15, is still
recommended for production applications. It is available, along with
the revision history, from the download page.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Sound Devices, LLC
support@sounddevices.com
+1 (608) 524-0625

[H₂O]

I just flashed my 702 with Badger and my record time with FLAC doubled - go figure.

Has any one else performed this BETA upgrade?  Any major issues?

I understand the risks - I'll be running next at the Gathering of the Vibes and their will be many other great rigs will be there - so if it doesn't work out - so what.

The sets I really wan't to grab I'll run WAV and run FLAC on the rest

[F.O.Bean]

I just flashed my 702 with Badger and my record time with FLAC doubled - go figure.

Has any one else performed this BETA upgrade?  Any major issues?

I understand the risks - I'll be running next at the Gathering of the Vibes and their will be many other great rigs will be there - so if it doesn't work out - so what.

The sets I really wan't to grab I'll run WAV and run FLAC on the rest

awesome. please let us know how the initial running goes I want SD to fix the CF card issue fast tho. my 722 takes FOREVER to actually shutdown the 722. ONLY when I record with the cf card tho. i usually run just the cf card tho and it takes 5+ minutes to shutdown, maybe even longer if it even shuts it down. then i have to worry about losing the file i just recorded and tried to turn off.....And when i record INHDD+CF Card, it also takes a long time to shutdown. ONLY when the cf card is in the picture. they need a fix for this so it shutsdown alot quicker like running JUST the INHDD does....shit makes me nervous that the file its trying to close will be gone when i have to pull the battery to get it to shutoff....

[boojum]

I am interested in the stability of the FLAC recording option in the *Badger* beta release.  FLAC itself is rock solid.  It only has to be demonstrated that SD has implemented it well/correctly.  Here's hoping.

Keep us posted on the FLAC issue those of you who are using it.  Thanks!

[ghellquist]

As per long shutdown - the answer on Sound Devices forum came around beginning june:

Hi,
Just wanted to let everyone know we have located the bug responsible for the prolonged shutdowns and are currently working on a fix to include in a future revision of firmware. It is not dependent on a specific brand of CF card. Thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts and experiences with this issue.

It seems like turning off cue markers may help some.

Gunnar

[F.O.Bean]

As per long shutdown - the answer on Sound Devices forum came around beginning june:

Hi,
Just wanted to let everyone know we have located the bug responsible for the prolonged shutdowns and are currently working on a fix to include in a future revision of firmware. It is not dependent on a specific brand of CF card. Thank you to everyone who offered their thoughts and experiences with this issue.

It seems like turning off cue markers may help some.

Gunnar

Thanks alot bud, +T

Now what about file cues I have it sets on file markers, not cues........

[H₂O]

I ran Badger with FLAC enabled for the first time today on my 702 and here's what I have found so far.

- 24/96 FLAC to my CF card (A-Data 16GB) ran for about 30 minutes or so then got the SLOW message (no splits)
- 24/48 FLAC ran fine for over 1 hour and 30 minutes (no splits)
- 24/96 WAV ran fine for over 1 hour and 20 minutes (with seemless split)

As I haven't listened to the files yet I don't know about any pops, clicks, etc. yet but will keep you all posted

[F.O.Bean]

I ran Badger with FLAC enabled for the first time today on my 702 and here's what I have found so far.

- 24/96 FLAC to my CF card (A-Data 16GB) ran for about 30 minutes or so then got the SLOW message (no splits)
- 24/48 FLAC ran fine for over 1 hour and 30 minutes (no splits)
- 24/96 WAV ran fine for over 1 hour and 20 minutes (with seemless split)

As I haven't listened to the files yet I don't know about any pops, clicks, etc. yet but will keep you all posted

+T, Thanks!

[H₂O]

I ran Badger with FLAC enabled for the first time today on my 702 and here's what I have found so far.

- 24/96 FLAC to my CF card (A-Data 16GB) ran for about 30 minutes or so then got the SLOW message (no splits)
- 24/48 FLAC ran fine for over 1 hour and 30 minutes (no splits)
- 24/96 WAV ran fine for over 1 hour and 20 minutes (with seemless split)

As I haven't listened to the files yet I don't know about any pops, clicks, etc. yet but will keep you all posted

The files sound fine too me, but I haven't listened to any in there entirety.   During the testing of the FLAC files I do get a "WARNING, cannot check MD5 signature since it was unset in the STREAMIN...FO" error - then it says the FLAC file is ok.

To listen to them I had to decompress them because the newest version of WinAmp's (5.35) FLAC plugin (Plugin Version 2.0a) does not work with them on my machine.

The "SLOW" message I mention above occured at around the 26 minute mark.  

So far I have had no other problems with FW 2.24.

[boojum]

For FLAC playback I use foobar2000 (foobar2000.org).  It is free and quite a good player, burner, ripper, tagger, transcoder and maybe even will wash your socks.  I have not tried it on a FLAC file on my 722 but it works fine on WAV so I see no reason for it not to work just fine on a FLAC.  This player reads just about any audio file.   

[Dutchman1101]

I'm bumping this becuase I think I might be in the market for a 7xx. Anyone have any more insight on FLAC recording? Hasit been reliable? If I get a 702 this would be $.

Harrison

[ghellquist]

Well, the need for FLAC decreases over time. FLAC gives at best something like half file size and memory prices are steadily going down. So instead of using FLAC you could simply get a larger memory card. Last week I bought a 4GB memory card to my cell phone, simply as it might be good to have. Both my cameras now have same size memory cards. Not even the current 16GB prices seems scare any more.

Regardless, the 7xx units are solid and dependable with a sound quality far above DAT as well as far above most of the Edirols/Microtracks and so on on the market. It also sports very flexible monitoring options if you ever plan to use MS mics as well as other connectivity options. It comes at a price, but the price is well worth it if you have need for the features it sports. If not, you can get very good service from some of the other units, it all depends. I like my 722 and can recommend it to anyone.

Gunnar

[Kevin]

Do any of you record to an external drive via firewire?

[Kindguy]

So I assume recording in FLAC is all about file size?

You have to go flac>wav to track it out. Just seems like one more step to me.

/lazyguy

[fozzy]

Do any of you record to an external drive via firewire?

Yea, I have a 2.5" external enclosure that I record to.  I have been doing 24/96 to both INHDD and EXTHDD for some time with no issues.

I power the external drive off my 7.2V dummy cell setup via a 5v LDO voltage regulator.

It works flawlessly, i believe i am running 2.15 firmware, w/ the V2 hardware upgrade, i do not use the XL1394 adapter.  I can even plug in the external drive while i am rolling and once it becomes available (~10 seconds) it starts writing to the external drive.  I have not experience any ill effects except for an extra 500mah power consumption which is to be expected.