There’s been radio mic comparison table up on this site for years now, and I had the bright idea of doing one for recorders, partly as a lot of people don’t really know what’s out there (and some assume it’s just Sound Devices). I’ve only included those with features suitable for professional use in the field – timecode, metadata input, DC power, reasonably sturdy build and those that are current products. I have missed off the Sound Devices 702T and 744T as they have relatively low track counts compared to most of the other machines.
Also, there isn’t any info on ergonomics or sound quality as they’re both subjective. The only machine it’s not possible to mix on (but you can route) is the Sound Devices 970- which is really designed to have a mixer in front of it, in some ways that is a bit of a different beast and is the only one which can accept a MADI feed. Please let me know if I’ve made any mistakes or omissions, this is mostly from published specs:
Edit: Added Aaton Cantar Mini specs. I’ve also missed off the Sound devices 664 as it’s similar in specification to the 688
2019 Update- added Sound Devices 666 (or ‘Scorpio’, as they insist on calling it) and Zaxcom Nova
| Mic/line inputs | Line inputs | AES3 inputs | AES42 inputs (pairs) | Max Inputs to tracks | Rec Tracks available (192kHz) | Rec Media | |
| Aaton Cantar X3 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 24 (24) | SSD, 2xSD, USB |
| Aaton Cantar Mini | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 16 (16) | SSD, 2xSD, USB |
| AETA 4minx | 4 | 6***** | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 (8 at 96kHz) | SD |
| Nagra VI | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 8 (8) | HDD, CF, USB |
| Roland R-88 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 10 (4) | SD, USB |
| Sound Devices 633 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10 (6) | SD, CF |
| Sound Devices 688 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 16 (6) | SD, CF |
| Sound Devices 788T | 8 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 12 (4) | SSD, CF, Firewire |
| Sound Devices 970 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 64 | 64 (32 at 96kHz) | 2xSSD/CF, 2x eSATA |
| Sound Devices 666 (or Scorpio) |
16 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 36 (18) | SSD, 2xSD |
| Sonosax SX-R4+ | 4 | 2 | 10* | 4 | 16 | 16 (16) | 2xSD |
| Tascam HS-P82 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 10 (4) | 2xCF |
| Zaxcom Deva 24 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 8 | 24 | 24 (24 at 96kHz) | SSD, 2xCF |
| Zaxcom Maxx | 4 | 2 | 0/4*** | 0/1*** | 8 | 8 (4) | CF |
| Zaxcom Nomad | 6 | 4 | 0/8*** | 0/1*** | 10 | 10/12*** (10/12 at 96kHz) | 2xCF, USB |
| Zaxcom Nova | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 2xCF |
| Zoom F4 | 4/6**** | 2 (unbalanced) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 (8) | 2xSD |
| Zoom F8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 (8) | 2xSD |
| Balanced Outputs | Unbalanced Outputs | AES3 Outputs | Output buses | Multichannel Options | Control surface | Extras | |
| Aaton Cantar X3 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 40 | Dante 32×32 | Cantarem 2 Cantaress |
Monitor output, waveform display, play/rec, wifi, bluetooth |
| Aaton Cantar Mini | 8 | 0 | 4 | 12 | Cantarem 2 | Monitor output, waveform display, play/rec, wifi, bluetooth | |
| AETA 4minx | 4 | 6***** | 6 | 4 | MIDI | Soundfield monitoring | |
| Nagra VI | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | MIDI | ||
| Roland R-88 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 8 (direct) | USB interface 10×8 | MIDI | |
| Sound Devices 633 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | CL-12 | Wingman Remote | |
| Sound Devices 688 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 8 | CL-6, CL-12 | Mix Assist, Dugan, Wingman remote, SL6 | |
| Sound Devices 788T | 6 | 2 | 6 | 6 | CL-8, CL-9 | Mix Assist, CL-Wifi, GPIO | |
| Sound Devices 970 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 64 | Dante/MADI 64×64 | RS422/GPIO/Network remote | |
| Sound Devices 666 (or Scorpio) |
10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | Dante 32×32 | MIDI (MCU) | Android app |
| Sonosax SX-R4+ | 0/2** | 2/6** | 2/6** | 4/8** | TBC network audio | RC8+ | wifi web interface |
| Tascam HS-P82 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 10 (direct) | RC-F82 | ||
| Zaxcom Deva 24 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 10 (12 direct) | Mix-16, Oasis | Nomad Touch, MixAhead | |
| Zaxcom Maxx | 4 | 2 | 0/4*** | 4 | Zaxcom digital tx option, Automix | ||
| Zaxcom Nomad | 10 | 2 | 0/6*** | 6 | FC8, Oasis, Mix8 | Zaxnet, Nomad Touch, Automix | |
| Zaxcom Nova | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | Oasis | 2x receiver slots for QRX212 | |
| Zoom F4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | USB interface 6×4 | FRC-8 | |
| Zoom F8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | USB interface 8×4 | FRC-8 | Bluetooth remote app |
| Battery / power connection | Dimensions (mm) | Weight (kg) | Notes | ||||
| Aaton Cantar X3 | 2x eSmart 2054, XLR4 | 90x320x240 | 3.55 | ||||
| Aaton Cantar Mini | 2x eSmart 2054, XLR4 | 90x259x234 | 2.3 | ||||
| AETA 4minx | Sony DV, HR10 | 75x260x195 | 1.9 | ***** EXT I/O connector shared | |||
| Nagra VI | Nagra, XLR4 | 74x310x285 | 3.8 | (weight with battery) | |||
| Roland R-88 | AA, XLR4 | 93x260x235 | 2.67 | ||||
| Sound Devices 633 | AA, DV, HR10 | 60x240x160 | 1.1 | ||||
| Sound Devices 688 | AA, HR10, NP1 (in SL6) | 53x320x198 | 2.21 | ||||
| Sound Devices 788T | DV, HR10 | 45x257x153 | 1.7 | ||||
| Sound Devices 970 | 2x XLR4 | 84x218x262 | 3.4 | ||||
| Sound Devices 666 (or Scorpio) |
DV, 2x TA4 | 51x320x205 | 2.63 | ||||
| Sonosax SX-R4+ | eSmart 2054, HR10 | 50x200x144.5 | 0.91 | *2 shared with aes out, **2nd figure with xlr5 output board | |||
| Tascam HS-P82 | NP1, AA, XLR4 | 100x270x260 | 3.65 | ||||
| Zaxcom Deva 24 | 2x HR10 | 76.2x267x177.8 | 2.45 | ||||
| Zaxcom Maxx | AA, HR10 | 51x191x133 | 1.13 | ***option variants | |||
| Zaxcom Nomad | AA, HR10 | 51x251x178 | 1.72 | (weight with batteries) | |||
| Zaxcom Nova | 2x HR10 | 51x210x152 | 1.16 / 1.56***** | ***** weight with 2x QRX212 modules | |||
| Zoom F4 | AA, HR10 | 54x178x141 | 1.03 | ****line level only on jack, additional input option APH6XLR | |||
| Zoom F8 | AA, HR10 | 54x178x141 | 0.96 |
SD 664 …. missing!
I know, I also left it out as it’s pretty much been superseded by the 688 without some of the extra bells and whistles. With I/O the only difference is there are 4 output buses, and there’s an option of 6 direct outs when not in ’12 channel’ mode
I believe Zoom F8 has the Bluetooth F8 Control app
It does- will amend the table
thanks for this! I’d be interested in an approximate price comparison as well… cause there is a big margin (e.g. SD vs. Zoom) and I guess people are interested in this.
I’ve left prices off as they vary from region to region and will change too. I’ve done this as a reference so you don’t have to pull up lots of spec sheets at once
Just a little correction for the Aeta 4Minx: The 2 line inputs and 2 line outputs are *stereo* I/O . i.e. it has 4 channels of line inputs and 4 channels of line outputs.
http://www.lemicrophone.fr/client/document/product_sheet_4minx_1618.pdf
Thanks Nathaniel – I’ll update. I’ve never really had a proper go with the 4minx except at a trade show years ago