Every year before NAB, Glenn Sanders sets up his NAB booth in the back of his offices so that he can visualize how the booth will look and flow.  The weekend before, Glenn invites me over to give him my feedback. I've always looked forward to this annual ritual, but this year I was especially excited to see how the Deva Thirty-Two, Oasis and Nomad Touch were progressing. And happily, both Glenn and Jack Norflus (who happened to be visiting that day) graciously agreed to let me film them. - Peter Schneider

The Deva Thirty-Two is really a revolutionary product for film and TV production. First and foremost, it is a digital mixer designed for location sound use. It's got all the inputs and outputs you'd expect from such a product in 2015 including AES42 and Dante, and of course, analog.

Somewhat radically, the Deva Thirty-Two recorder itself is merely an option - a user installable card that slides into the mixer. Another radical feature of the Deva Thirty-Two is the companion computer application that comes with it. Although not entirely clear from the video, the Deva Thirty-Two requires a computer in order to have a GUI (technically the mixer doesn't need a computer, but I wouldn't want to operate the mixer without a GUI for more than an hour or two, if that).

Here's the really radical part: You are free to supply your own computer (Mac or PC) and your own screen. Although Glenn is seemingly promoting it as a touchscreen mixer and the GUI is certainly built with a touchscreen in mind, I would likely operate it without a touchscreen and use a trackpad or mouse intead. The dealer will offer a specific "hockey puck" Zaxcom sold low-power computer, but end users are not locked into it and the software will be supplied so that you are free to run it on your own hardware and configure it as you like it, which is a great choice on Zaxcom's part. The mixer application itself requires little horsepower, freeing up a computer to do other things, such as display video using cheap SDI-USB converter dongles.

The application itself seems solid, and I'm especially excited by the ability to display and really integrate with the script (although I am skeptical that production will be 100% on board with supplying native Final Draft files until hardware based authentication is in place. I remember on Sopranos each *paper* script had individual crew member's names watermarked on the page - I can only imagine things being more paranoid with a native digital format). I also look forward to seeing the playback app grow into a full featured application. 

The remaining products are interesting but not as radical as the Deva Thirty-Two. The Oasis is a solid control surface for the Nomad 12 and provides a wonderful bridge for those sound mixers who work part-time from a bag and part-time on a cart.

The Nomad Touch brilliantly leverages the Windows tablet platform to provide a robust touch solution freed from the shackles of Apple's "walled garden" ecosystem. I also love the laser-cut mount that allows the tablet to be flipped over to become a slate.

The RX200 is an affordable single slot wideband receiver with antenna diversity in the 500MHz to 700MHz range.

At NAB 2015, Sound Devices will preview the new PIX-E Series of portable field recording monitors, including three camera mount models and a variety of accessories made for camera operators who need fast, high-quality tools to ensure their vision is captured with complete confidence.

The monitors are equipped with a full suite of precision monitoring tools, tactile touchscreen controls, SDI and HDMI I/O, and the ability to record 4K and Apple ProRes 4444 XQ edit-ready files to affordable mSATA-based SpeedDrives. Shipping is estimated to start Summer 2015

• PIX-E5 5" 1920 x 1080 Touchscreen Monitor with 3G-SDI/HDMI input & output
  Estimated shipping date: Summer 2015
   
• PIX-E5H 5" 1920 x 1080 Touchscreen Monitor with HDMI input & output
  Estimated shipping date: Approximately two months after the PIX-E5
   
• PIX-E7 7" 1920 x 1200 Touchscreen Monitor with 3G-SDI/HDMI inputs & output
  Estimated shipping date: September 2015
   
• PIX-E Accessory Kit with hard case, sun hood, articulating arm, two SpeedDrives, L-mount batteries, USB3 Y-Cable, and video I/O cables.
   
• PIX-LR screw-on audio interface with two XLR inputs and two XLR outputs
   
• SpeedDrive mSATA SSD drive that plugs directly into PIX-E series monitors. Available as a 240GB model or as an enclosure.

Video Devices' PIX-E monitors feature compact, die-cast metal housing and an LCD display protected by Gorilla Glass 2. This makes them the ideal choice for cinematographers and videographers looking for a monitor that can stand up to the rigors of the most extreme and demanding production environments. PIX-E monitors come standard with PIX-Assist™, an impressive suite of monitoring tools including TapZoom™ for unrivaled focusing speed, false colors and zebras to help set exposure, guide markers for framing, LUTs and a range of scopes including waveform monitor, histogram and vectorscope. These new on-camera monitors incorporate a ‘best-of-both-worlds’ user interface that combines easy-to-access real tactile buttons and intuitive touch screen. With their ability to record the highest quality Apple ProRes edit-ready video, the PIX-E recording monitors are an affordable, must-have tool for any video production professional.

LCD - Detail, Accuracy, Brightness
Discerning cinematographers and videographers need high-resolution, color-accurate, sunlight-viewable monitoring with a wide angle of view. The PIX-E Series monitors excel in all those aspects with their IPS, 500 nit LCD displays.

PIX-Assist™ Monitoring Tools & Scopes

• Waveform Monitor
• Vectorscope
• Histogram
• TapZoom™
• Peaking
• Zebras
• False Color
• Frame Markers
• Four Way View
• LUTs

TapZoom™
Its never been faster to zoom in and check focus! TapZoom provides instant 2x or 4x zoom to where you tap on the touchscreen. Tap again to zoom out. Once zoomed in, tap on the screen in the direction of a moving subject to keep it centered - the perfect tool for quickly checking focus when an actor lands short or overruns a mark

Outstanding Recording Capabilities
The 4K-compatible PIX-E Series are the first on-camera monitors to offer the full range of Apple ProRes codecs including the highest quality Apple ProRes 4444 XQ*. This is a 12-bit codec designed to preserve the detail in wide dynamic range imagery captured by today's high performance digital image sensors. PIX-E can record 4K up to 24 fps, UHD up to 30 fps and 1080p or 720p up to 60 fps.

​* Available only on the PIX-E5 and PIX-E7 models.

SpeedDrive™ Recording and File Delivery
The PIX-E records to the affordable, super fast SpeedDrive, an industry standard mSATA drive contained within a custom-designed enclosure. The SpeedDrive, which plugs directly into the PIX-E, doubles as a USB 3.0 thumb drive for very high speed offload to any computer without the need for a special cable or drive docking station. Two SpeedDrive options are available, a 240 GB SpeedDrive and an Enclosure-Only version that allows the user to choose and easily fit any size of mSATA drive. mSATA drives are available in sizes ranging from 128 GB to 1 TB.

Best-of-Both-Worlds User Interface
Some functions are better controlled via touchscreen and others by real buttons. PIX-E incorporates both types of control. The touchscreen is best used when interacting directly with a specific area of the displayed image such as zooming in to a point of interest with TapZoom. Buttons allow the operator to locate a control without looking and instant tactile response leaves no doubt a function has been activated. Button control is well suited to commands such as 'Record' where failure to activate can be catastrophic.

Mechanical Construction and Powering
With their compact, die-cast metal chassis, nutted connectors, and an LCD protected by scratch-resistant and optically-bonded Gorilla Glass 2, the PIX-E field recording monitors are designed to withstand the most extreme and demanding production environments. The PIX-E monitors are powered by external DC (10-34V) or dual L-mount Sony batteries with powering seamlessly switching from one source to another should one become depleted or removed.

Music by Kevin MacLeod, www.incompetech.com

We're pleased to announce the next generation in Sound Devices' distinguished product lines: The 688 Twelve-Input Production Mixer/Recorder is built to work with the SL-6 integrated powering and wireless system to give you a complete audio kit in a very small space. All the best features of the 633, 664, and 788T and the latest technology are combined in the 688 with none of the interconnection bulk or hassle!

The 688 will be available in mid-March with the SL-6 to follow this summer with special introductory pricing on both through April 30th!

Check out more details here or stop by the shops in Atlanta or New York to see a demo unit next week!

Enhance your Zax life with these accessories and cases for the Zaxcom TRX, ERX, and ZFR series!

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Both are in stock now, so order away!

Gotham is pleased to be a dealer for Ear Trumpet Labs' very pretty microphones! We have the Edwina in the NY shop, so Better Call Sal at (212) 629-9430 to schedule a demo or check out eartrumpetlabs.com for more info!

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