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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:05 pm

Guest

I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it.

Charles Tomaras...

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:50 pm

Guest

<richreillymail at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message
news:25a4d6d3-3fb8-45f4-aa0b-691d37e71263 at (no spam) x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

Quote:

I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it.

Lots to look at here:
http://forums.sounddevices.com/

Soundhaspriority...

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:58 pm

Guest

<richreillymail at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message
news:25a4d6d3-3fb8-45f4-aa0b-691d37e71263 at (no spam) x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

Quote:

I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it.

Rich, if you're going to dump it via firewire, permit me to acquaint you
with my paranoic precautions. Firewire burnout has been reported, and I
have been a victim of such.

1. When I connect a 744T to a computer, I run the 744T off batteries, to
avoid ground loops.
2. I do not connect or disconnect the 744T while it is powered up.
3. If the computer has a 6 pin Firewire connector, I do not connect or
disconnect when the computer is on, either. However, the 4 pin Ilink
connector on a laptop does not carry power. Therefore, the principle danger
in this case is to the laptop, not the 744T.

The 744T hard disk uses a FAT file system, which is vulnerable to corruption
if you simply yank the plug. If running XP, before you disconnect, right
click on the 744T drive, and select "eject." It's a good idea to reformat
the drive every day.

Other than that, it has the complexity typical of a professional instrument.
I would say, know everything about the production spec before you show up
for the job, so you can set up the machine beforehand.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

...

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:18 am

Guest

On Aug 18, 9:58 pm, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

Quote:

richreillym... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message

news:25a4d6d3-3fb8-45f4-aa0b-691d37e71263 at (no spam) x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...

I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it.

Rich, if you're going to dump it via firewire, permit me to acquaint you
with my paranoic precautions. Firewire burnout has been reported, and I
have been a victim of such.

1. When I connect a 744T to a computer, I run the 744T off batteries, to
avoid ground loops.
2. I do not connect or disconnect the 744T while it is powered up.
3. If the computer has a 6 pin Firewire connector, I do not connect or
disconnect when the computer is on, either. However, the 4 pin Ilink
connector on a laptop does not carry power. Therefore, the principle danger
in this case is to the laptop, not the 744T.

The 744T hard disk uses a FAT file system, which is vulnerable to corruption
if you simply yank the plug. If running XP, before you disconnect, right
click on the 744T drive, and select "eject." It's a good idea to reformat
the drive every day.

Other than that, it has the complexity typical of a professional instrument.
I would say, know everything about the production spec before you show up
for the job, so you can set up the machine beforehand.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

The best method, if it's practical, is to use the 744T with a FW-
connected burner. SD's burner is highly recommended because of it's
small profile and buss-powering. Using a 3rd party burner also
involves making sure the chipset is compatible.
WIth this setup you write simultaneously to the burner, HD, & Compact
Flash. There is a menu function that will check & make sure you've
written all the appropriate files, and then copy any that are missing;
this is a good practice near the end of the day.

If you must use a laptop as a burner , I've found the FW 744 <-

Quote:

computer setup to be clumsy. I carry 2 4GbB CF cards, and when
necessary I would pull one and connect it to the laptop with a card

reader. The readers come in USB or FW. While doing this I swap in the
other CF card on the 744; this allows you to keep recording on the
744 while loading files onto the computer. It also allows you to avoid
the FW connection issues described in the post above.
Andy Rovins

...

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:21 am

Guest

On Aug 18, 9:58 pm, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

Quote:

The best method, if it's practical, is to use the 744T with a FW-
connected burner. SD's burner is highly recommended because of its
small profile and buss-powering. Using a 3rd party burner also
involves making sure the chipset is compatible.
WIth this setup you write simultaneously to the burner, HD, & Compact
Flash. There is a menu function that will check & make sure you've
written all the appropriate files, and then copy any that are missing;
this is a good practice near the end of the day.

If you must use a laptop as a burner , I've found the FW 744 <-

Quote:

computer setup to be clumsy. I carry 2 4GbB CF cards, and when
necessary I would pull one and connect it to the laptop with a card

Jason...

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:35 am

Guest

On Aug 19, 5:05 am, richreillym... at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:

Quote:

I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it.

Hi Rich,

I now own a 744t, but the first time I used one was a very similar
situation to yours. The most valuable thing (for me) was downloading
the manual from the Sound Devices website, giving it a read-through
the night before, & printing off the Quick Start guide & other
sections I thought most important - just in case the hired-in 744t
didn't have a manual.. (It didn't.)

As a warning, the other weird thing that happened to me on that first
shoot was a powering problem:

I was powering the 744T off of a Hawkwoods shoe using NP1 batteries.
The 744t also had its Sony-type battery connected, which wasn't flat
but did need charging. The combined power-draw of the 744t trying to
both work AND charge its attached battery was too much for the fused
outlet of the Hawkwoods shoe... The shoe kept shutting off its power
output, & instead of the 744t switching to its attached Sony battery
(which it DOES do if you literally disconnect the hirose power), the
recorder just died.... The answer was to remove the Sony-type battery
from the recorder; the current-draw was significantly less & the
Hawkwoods shoe performed just fine. It sounds risky, but as long as
you pay attention to the voltage shown on the 744t's display (or set
up your 'low-voltage warning' beep to the right level) you'll be fine.

If your just running from the 744t's battery, then ignore the
above :)

The things I've found handy to have a good grasp of are::

i) Understanding the headphone monitoring options, setting up my
'favourite' monitoring mode (& using the headphone's push-button
selector accordingly), & configuring the order of monitor modes for
when using the headphone rotary knob (not essential, but sometimes
very handy).

ii) If being used, creating my Scene names asap, because it's a bit
fiddly & slow to do with the rotary knobs. You're also limited on the
number of characters too (which is a pain), so getting used to making
meaningful abbreviations also helps!

iii) Double-check bit rate, sample rate, frame rate on the 744t
correspond with production.

iv) Double-check if production want mono or poly wav files.

v) If you're using the 744t's mic preamps, learning the front-panel
shortcuts to engage/disengage phantom power & high pass filters (for
inputs 1 & 2) is handy.

vi) Learning the front-panel shortcut to delete the last 'false' take.
(Stop + rewind buttons, then confirm).

vii) If your hire machine doesn't have the latest software (i.e. the
last couple of versions), figuring out the input > track routing pages
may be very helpful. (In earlier software revs, recording inputs 1 & 4
only (for example) would result in a four-track file (with tracks 2 &
3 being silent), & NOT a 2-track file as you might otherwise expect.

viii) Check the hard disk (& compact flash if used) is empty (if
required) before you start. If there's files in there from a previous
production, use the erase INHDD (+ separate similar command for
compact flash) option.

ix) Change brightness for front panel LEDS = hold down Backlight on/
off button & simultaneously rotate headphone knob.

Okay... run out of things off the top of my head in the minute!
Apologies if any of that's blindingly obvious (certainly don't mean to
offend) - just trying to help out.

Best,

Jason

...

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:11 pm

Guest

"I would love to hear any tips or troubleshooting advice regarding
SD744T. I am being asked to pick up and use one before I have proper
time with it. "

Quote:

viii) Check the hard disk (& compact flash if used) is empty (if
required) before you start. If there's files in there from a previous
production, use the erase INHDD (+ separate similar command for
compact flash) option.

Be careful erasing files from a previous job on a recorder you don't
own. You may want to ask the person you're getting it from if those
files are "good to go!"

jhyslop...

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:48 pm

Guest

On Aug 19, 12:58 am, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

Quote:

1. When I connect a 744T to a computer, I run the 744T off batteries, to
avoid ground loops.

I'm familiar with the effects of ground loops on analog audio devices.
How do ground loops affect file transfers among digital devices?

--
Jim

Soundhaspriority...

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:26 am

Guest

<yepthisismyemail at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message
news:df72c90f-e50a-4800-8896-0698d51db27f at (no spam) v16g2000prc.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 8:48 pm, jhyslop <jhys... at (no spam) dreampossible.ca> wrote:

Quote:

On Aug 19, 12:58 am, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

1. When I connect a 744T to a computer, I run the 744T off batteries, to
avoid ground loops.

I'm familiar with the effects of ground loops on analog audio devices.
How do ground loops affect file transfers among digital devices?

--
Jim

I've never experienced any sort of ground loop issue.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[snip]

The ground loop issue shows up in documentation about Firewire port
failures. But I may have made a mistake in citing it here. There are three
other causes that blow the PHY chip in the interface:

1. If there is a potential difference between the two devices, and the
shield does not contact first, the data pins can take the potential
difference. The physical shield tolerances are sloppy. With some connectors,
there is a small chance you could do it.

2. The 6 pin port carries power. If the pins are misaligned, or the cable is
bad, or one attempts to plug in the connector backwards, power can short to
data.

3. There is an undefined instability when two devices supplying power over
Firewire are connected together, causing an overcurrent surge.

I was a disbeliever until I blew my 744T, and realized that I'd previously
blown a Datavideo video capture device. Take a close look at a Firewire 400
connector. The shell tolerances are rather loose. In attempting to plug it
in, without looking closely, it may be possible to cock the plug in such a
way to short power to data. It doesn't go all the way in, and you won't see
any deformation of the shell.

With all these possibilities, I never figured out how I blew my 744T. It
could be any one of the three. If you transfer to a laptop, you are safer
than with a desktop, because the 4 pin Ilink interface does not transfer
power. But the 744T does supply power, so you could damage the laptop by
methods 1 and 2 above.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

wildt®ax...

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:17 am

Guest

On 20 Aug., 17:26, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

Quote:

yepthisismyem... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote in message

news:df72c90f-e50a-4800-8896-0698d51db27f at (no spam) v16g2000prc.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 19, 8:48 pm, jhyslop <jhys... at (no spam) dreampossible.ca> wrote:

On Aug 19, 12:58 am, "Soundhaspriority" <nowh... at (no spam) nowhere.com> wrote:

1. When I connect a 744T to a computer, I run the 744T off batteries, to
avoid ground loops.

I'm familiar with the effects of ground loops on analog audio devices.
How do ground loops affect file transfers among digital devices?

--
Jim

I've never experienced any sort of ground loop issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------

[snip]

The ground loop issue shows up in documentation about Firewire port
failures. But I may have made a mistake in citing it here. There are three
other causes that blow the PHY chip in the interface:

1. If there is a potential difference between the two devices, and the
shield does not contact first, the data pins can take the potential
difference. The physical shield tolerances are sloppy. With some connectors,
there is a small chance you could do it.

2. The 6 pin port carries power. If the pins are misaligned, or the cable is
bad, or one attempts to plug in the connector backwards, power can short to
data.

3. There is an undefined instability when two devices supplying power over
Firewire are connected together, causing an overcurrent surge.

I was a disbeliever until I blew my 744T, and realized that I'd previously
blown a Datavideo video capture device. Take a close look at a Firewire 400
connector. The shell tolerances are rather loose. In attempting to plug it
in, without looking closely, it may be possible to cock the plug in such a
way to short power to data. It doesn't go all the way in, and you won't see
any deformation of the shell.

With all these possibilities, I never figured out how I blew my 744T. It
could be any one of the three. If you transfer to a laptop, you are safer
than with a desktop, because the 4 pin Ilink interface does not transfer
power. But the 744T does supply power, so you could damage the laptop by
methods 1 and 2 above.

Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

Use the CF and a card reader instead.

It´s

A) safer in terms of damaging your FW-port

and

B) faster than the FW speed of the 744T

and

C) you can keep on working during the transfer.

frank.

Ed Anson...

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:25 pm

Guest

Soundhaspriority wrote:

Quote:

1. If there is a potential difference between the two devices, and the
shield does not contact first, the data pins can take the potential
difference. The physical shield tolerances are sloppy. With some connectors,
there is a small chance you could do it.

I always touch the plug into the 744T's socket at an angle before
plugging it in, so that the shield makes contact first. That's a whole
lot less effort than cycling power on both devices, and I have never had
a problem.

Ed

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