I am reading articles from writers with a modest amount of understanding about technical things in mainstream publications such as Fortune and Rolling Stone, who tout the benefits and joys of high-definition television and immersive sound. Well, it’s about time; the entertainment industry has defined what the scope of audio and video is in an advanced entertainment world, and hardware manufacturers have scrambled to figure out what the consumer wants and how much they will pay.

In other publications I have read vague and confusing explanations about what an immersive entertainment experience is, and some businesses and writers predict that immersive sound and “Goggle TV” maybe the last frontier in television production. 

But I believe there is more to come. The picture people have tried to make 3D work while, in the end, the picture is still 2K, 4K and 8K—just bigger and better of the same thing. The way to make 3D pictures work is through the “goggle experience,” which arguably has brought us to the current marketing hype with the metaverse. Sold my stock a long time ago.

Future-generation sound is more than just bigger and better, but clearly Next Generation Audio (NGA) is different. A digital audio path gave us more channels and more control. The consumer can use their bandwidth for 3D immersive sound or interactive channels or any combination that the bandwidth will permit. If I want to immerse myself with team radio chatter or no babble at all from the commentators, the possibilities are endless. But what about just watching the news, baseball game or an old movie? 

Active or Passive?
First consider that screen experiences are either “active involvement” such as with games and VR, or “passive involvement” as with traditional television. I think there is some confusion about what the future of broadcasting is and how TV technologists fit into a new reality entertainment experience. Next Generation Television (NGT) will be differentiated by several capabilities/features. For example, consider those who provide live real-time events such as the purveyors of news and sports, and those who playback or stream on-demand content.

Clearly, future entertainment, future audio and the future experience will only develop, but venture carefully. Surveys show that most people can only stomach a limited amount of the “goggle experience.” A little out-of-the-box thinking brings to mind the possibilities of a new technology paradigm—the DEVO energy dome hats where the playback inside the hat replicates a “domed” experience of pictures and sound completely immersing the wearer.

What is Immersive Sound?
We hear the hype about immersive sound, but what is immersive sound? I contend immersive sound is a certain “frame of mind” and here is what I mean. Baseball occupies the broadcast space for 162 days a year. How do you produce baseball in immersive sound? The basic definition is to add height sound. Well, that just enhances the dimensional space, but is that “real” immersive sound? 

At the MLB All-Star Game in July, Joe Carpenter, senior audio engineer at Fox Sports, had microphones on the umpire, in the nets over the infield, on the outfield walls, microphone operators, microphones in the bases and only he knows where else. But he took the sound to another level when commentator John Smoltz was coaching the pitcher in real time during the game. This is total entertainment immersion. Bravo to my sound hero Joe Carpenter who receives my “TV Tech Best Sounds of 2022” award.

Finessing the sounds is more than just adding more microphones. I came from the recording studio to outside broadcast and was always surprised at the amount of time spent on a drum sound and how little time was spent on the sound of commentary microphones. Things are slow to change anyway, but clearly unless someone pushes the boundaries then nothing is learned or advanced.

There is a symbiotic relationship between technology and sound development. With digital audio you can pack more sound into smaller packages. Radio microphones are in places that were impossible to reach only a short time ago and I think audio has earned some respect over the years, especially during the sound-starved Covid pandemic. We are a long way from when I started and was told audio was 10% of the show and 90% of the problems.

In the past audio has been like having a five-star chef serve you the sound and the All-Star Game was a feast served up by Joe Carpenter and Fox Sports. But the future of audio is à la carte: future audio practitioners will not only be tasked to provide a scalable audio mix—anything between stereo and full immersive—but they will also have to manage the signal flow and content of many different audio configurations. Add other feeds and splits to rights holders, archives and intercoms, and it is no wonder that many audio folks are losing their hair from pulling it out.

I am looking forward to television in 2023. Remember, it’s only entertainment in
the end. 

In my opinion, most student films focus too much on the visual, and not enough on the audio. With 4K, 6K, and 8K, the images look stellar; but the often-ignored sound is just as important. With the release of Tascam’s Portacapture X8, you now have a six input/eight track multitrack recorder. The large touchscreen, much like that on a mobile phone, dominates the unit but still makes it user friendly to almost everyone.

Features
The Tascam Portacapture X8 may be powered by four AA batteries or the optional PS-P520U AC Adapter. Its 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen allows access to 10 icons that control most of the recorder’s functions. Before selecting any of these icons, you should first choose the “General Settings” icon on the lower right. That opens: Record Settings, I/O Settings, Camera Settings, Other Settings, System, and Power Display.

The Record Settings allows you to set the parameters of your choosing like “File Format” (WAV/MP3), “Sample” (44.1kHz – 192kHz), “Bit Depth/Bit Rate” (16, 24, 32bit float); “Rec Pause”, “Auto Rec”, “Dual Rec”, “Pre Rec”, and “Time File Increment.” 

I/O Settings offers “Phantom Power”, “Mic Trim”, “Speaker”, “MS Decode”, and “Reverb”. Camera Settings has “Output”, “Level”, and “Auto Tone.” Other Settings contains “Peak Mark”, “Auto Mark”, “SD Card Reader”, and “Blue Tooth.” System accesses “Information”, “XRI”, “Date/Time”, “File Name”, “Initialize” and “Media Format.” Last, you’ll find Power Display with its “Auto Power Save”, “Battery Type”, and “Power Save Mode.”

Selecting Launcher opens the main menu with: Browse which shows the contents of the microSD card; ASMR for stereo recordings; Voice, as the name implies, is for mono recordings of interviews and blogs; Music offers reverb effects in different environments; Manual is used for multi-track recordings; Field for double system or for sound design/effects recording, foley recording, environment recording, etc.; Podcast records up four people and sound effects; Tuner gives you the option of tuning instruments; Metronome activates the metronome; and SD Card Reader, if you want to plug the Portacapture directly into a computer.

The front of the Tascam is ruled by a 3.5-inch color LCD touchscreen which accesses all the unit’s functions. Directly below are Stop, Record, Play/Pause, and Mark with a rotary knob to adjust levels. The bottom has a Peak and Record LEDs, and the top has two detachable 14.6mm Condenser Microphones that may be configured in the X/Y or A-B positions. 

The left side has XLR/Quarter Inch inputs 3 and 4, two-eighth inch mini jacks – Ext In and Line Out, the headphone output, and the headset volume adjustment. The right side has XLR/Quarter Inch inputs 5 and 6, power switch, microSD card slot, and a USB – C output. The back holds the four AA batteries and has a cold shoe mount and a 1/4-inch threaded female connector.

In Use
I always recommend my students play with the equipment to understand it better before they go out on a shoot. Not following my own advice, I went on location with a shotgun microphone to record some sound effects. 

The first thing I noticed was that there was too much handling noise being picked up by the two onboard microphones. I was unable to select inputs 3 through 6 because they were greyed out. Going to Input Select on the Main Menu, you can choose which microphone inputs you want Inputs 1 and 2 to be. In all the modes but Manual, only Inputs 1 and 2 are active. 

Therefore, you must select Input 3 and 4 or 5 and 6 to go to Inputs 1 and 2 if you want the other features (Music, Outdoor, etc.) to be active. To make it a little more complicated, if you choose Inputs 1 and 2 to be Inputs 3 and 4 in Music, you must do the same thing in Field—it doesn’t remember your settings from a previous menu or when you power off the system. I guess that does make sense, but I can’t see where you’d ever want Inputs 1 and 2 to be the onboard microphones unless the Portacapture were mounted on a tripod (probably not handheld) and you weren’t recording outdoors because of the lack of a windscreen.

There were so many different uses I had envisioned for the Portacapture X8, I decided to limit it to six different “tests.” In the first test, I used six microphones to record a small combo consisting of an acoustic guitar with an omnidirectional lavalier clipped to the guitar’s body and a cardioid on a stand pointed at the guitarist (XLR inputs 3 and 4). 

Another cardioid was placed near the bass guitar’s amp (XLR input 5). The vocalist had his own Fathead ribbon microphone (XLR input 6) and the onboard cardioid microphones (inputs 1 and 2) captured the ambient sound of the TV studio at a lower level. Tom selected Manual on the touchscreen and got levels for each input. 

The six audio channels where mixed to a WAV stereo track which was displayed on the top of the LCD screen. Wanting the best quality, he recorded in 32-bit float. 

Our university has dozens of Tascam 2 input recorders. Not having access to 32-bit float on those recorders, I wanted to see what this new setting had to offer. I know the files would be much larger. They were, but audio files are much smaller than video files and still load quickly. Could I hear the difference between 32-bit float and those recorded at 16 or 24 bit? Yes, I could, and I also believe it justifies the larger file size. I couldn’t really tell the difference between 16 and 24, but 32 is “clearer” sounding that 16 in my opinion.

Tom is one of the few people who can remain totally motionless when handholding the Portacapture.

 Wanting to add some reverb to the female vocalist on the next song, Tom switched to the Music icon and dialed it in. 

Another exciting feature that was new to me involved the process of downloading files from the Micro-SD card onto a computer. Instead of just having one stereo file to download, the Micro-SD card contained individual files for: 1-2 Wav, 3-4 Wav, Wav 5, Wav 6, and MIX Wav. This way, I can input each track onto an NLE Timeline and remix them or simply use the Mix track supplied—thanks, Tascam! You now have control of each file.

In my second test, I used the Portacapture to record a Portuguese audio track while the narrator watched the screen. Setting up the boom stand with a Sennheiser 416 shotgun microphone, Ellie selected Manual again, disabled microphones 1 and 2, and connected the XLR into input 3. She found it easier to use the touchscreen to adjust the level because the rotary knob was more of a finetuning adjustment.

In the third test, we recorded a Steinway Grand Piano and a very talented freshman musician. Choosing the "Music" icon, I used the onboard microphones on Inputs 1 and 2 because we were indoors and the two microphones were separated enough for a good stereo configuration. I chose the "Large Hall" preset with a reverb level of 54 even though we were recording in a TV Studio. This added bit of reverb accentuated the sound of the piano. 

While in college, I was always taught to record at the fastest speed to obtain the best fidelity. Back in my day that meant using the Nagra 4.2 at 15 inches-per-second (IPS) rather than 7.5 IPS. In the digital world, tape doesn’t “move” but the bit depth is essentially “increasing the recording speed” when you increase the bit depth. For me, 24 bit was a happy medium.

The fourth test involved recording audio for a short film—in several environments. Choosing the "Field" icon brings up a Dynamics Preset allowing you to choose City, Nature, Vehicle, Bird, or No Preset as your ambience background. This was especially helpful when I chose Vehicle when I wasn’t shooting in a vehicle. It lowered the background ambience, so it wasn’t as strong—much like when shooting in a vehicle with the windows up to dampen the outside noise. 

“Background levels” are very different on each environment selection and it does make your sound more pristine. However, when recording outside, the touchscreen is difficult to see when in bright sun, especially when the operator is wearing polarized sunglasses. 

In the fifth test, we used the Portacapture with a vintage Sennheiser MDS 1 Stereo Dynamic microphone. Bringing 1960s microphone technology over 50 years in the future with the Portacapture was an interesting combination. Wanting to see if the microphones functioned, I plugged the left 1/4-inch plug (red) into Input 4 and the right (yellow) into Input 6. 

Not needing an XLR to Quarter Inch adapter, I plugged each cable into the center of the XLR port. The sound quality was fantastic and mounted on a stand—could be used to record two singers.

The final application was something I had missed in the previous versions of the Tascam and that was to record a line input. Our Tascam recorders are set to record microphone inputs rather than line inputs. I did a high school radio show back in the 1970s and had a reel-to-reel recording of our last show. Wanting to transfer the analog recording to digital, I would have had to purchase two attenuators to convert the stereo line outputs of the reel to reel to a microphone input. 

With RCA outputs from my Teac X300 Reel to Reel Deck, I got an 1/8-inch male mini adapter with two female RCAs and plugged that into the External In on the Portacapture. It’s amazing how I could use a 40-year-old Teac and hook it into a 21st Century Teac/Tascam recorder! 

The fidelity on the 1/4-inch tape was a bit “dull” when I monitored it with headphones connected to the Portacapture. Using the new digital file from the Portacapture, I brought it into Adobe Premiere Pro, used the Tube Modeled Compressor, and had a file that sounded just like I remembered.

There are so many other features on the Portacapture 8 that I wanted to try: instrument tuning, Blog recording, metronome, and others. With the six different recording environments I chose, the unit performed flawless and was the perfect recorder.

Lastly, I would recommend investing in the optional AC power supply as the 4 AA batteries don’t last very long because of the touch screen’s energy consumption.

Breaking News
I just learned that the Portacapture X8 and Atomos now offers wireless Bluetooth connectivity with several devices. By purchasing the optional Tascam AK-BT1 dongle, you can wireless connect with your camera—video, mirrorless, or DSLRs. 

Ditching the wire is just the first step. If you’re shooting double system—recording the visuals and sound on two separate devices, sync-ing the picture and sound is time consuming. From as far away as 30 meters, timecode can be generated by the Atomos Ultrasync Blue and any camera and the Portacapture X8 will be wirelessly synchronized. 

This will revolutionize the way we shoot location video at the university. With Bluetooth everywhere, huge amounts of time may be saved with this wireless connectivity. There’s so much more the Atomos can do and I’m looking forward to trying the AK-BT1 on my next location production.

Application
I can foresee the Tascam Portacapture X8 being used in any situation that requires a digital audio recording. All of its features make it more versatile—blogs, field shoots, instrumental recordings, etc. Do you need everything it offers? No, but no matter what environment you encounter, this device can handle it. It may be intimidating on its first use, but once you know its capabilities it quickly becomes routine.

Key Features
Multitasking unit with fast touchscreen access. Multiple inputs eliminate the need for an external mixer with several recording options.

Price 
Tascam Portacapture X8 - $499 (Street price)

Contact
Teac America
10410 Pioneer Blvd Unit #1
Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
323.726.0303
www.tascam.com

MELBOURNE—Tascam and Atomos have announced the availability of wireless Bluetooth synchronization for the Tascam Portacapture X8. 

With the addition of the optional Tascam AK-BT1 Bluetooth dongle for the Portacapture X8 and either the newly announced Atomos CONNECT devices, AtomX SYNC or Ultrasync Blue timecode sync adapters, videographers and audio professionals are now able to seamlessly—and wirelessly—synchronize the Portacapture X8’s 8-track recording capability using 192kHz/32-bit float point recording technology with a wide array of video cameras, including DSLR and Mirrorless models, the companies said. 

The result is superior audio that enhances the visuals, fully synchronized for maximum flexibility throughout production, the companies said. 

“We’re delighted that Tascam have integrated Atomos AirGlu Bluetooth timecode synchronization into the Portacapture X8 audio recorder,” Paul Scurrell, senior vice president of product, Atomos. “This means Atomos and Tascam products can be wirelessly paired and timecode locked together. This greatly simplifies the nature of separate audio and multi-camera production, transforming what has been a rarefied workflow into one that can be easily accessed by filmmakers everywhere.” 

The companies noted that syncing via timecode greatly helps the post-editing process by aligning files on a time basis, especially for projects using multiple cameras or recorders.

Used as the master timecode device, the Atomos Ultrasync Blue is an easy-to-use, low-cost, wireless timecode adapter that can synchronize any compatible camera and the Portacapture X8/AK-BT1 using Atomos AirGlu connectivity. With wireless Bluetooth transmission up to 30 meters for as many as six devices, the combined system provides greater freedom to shoot from creative angles using smaller, more mobile cameras.

This setup can be expanded with the addition of the Atomos Ultrasync One, which offers the flexibility to function either as a transmitter timecode server or as a receiver client device. Using the Ultrasync One as the Master Timecode source, a more sophisticated camera setup can receive a direct timecode feed while the Ultrasync One wirelessly sends timecode to the Ultrasync Blue, which in turn, can wirelessly feed the Tascam Portacapture X8/AK-BT1 plus a variety of other devices.

For production environments using either the Atomos SHOGUN CONNECT, NINJA V or NINJA V+ to record and monitor on-set, the Atomos AtomX SYNC is yet another solution. Mounted to the rear panel of either the NINJAV/V+, the AtomX SYNC connects multiple Atomos devices, cameras, and audio recorders using reliable long range RF wireless technology. For example, when synchronizing with the Ultrasync One, the AtomX SYNC can also bring the Tascam Portacapture X8/AK-BT1 and other devices into the synchronized system via wireless Bluetooth synchronization.

To facilitate wireless timecode synchronization via Bluetooth, the Portacapture X8 control app will be updated to include the tools necessary to use this new wireless sync function. Other commercial apps will also be compatible, including Apogee Metarecorder, Mavis Pro Camera, and MovieSlate 8 Logging. 

The download of the Portacapture X8 update is available here.

The UWP-D21 wireless microphones are now available, with the UWP-D22 and UWP-D26 expected to ship in December.

In addition to superior audio quality, the UWP-D series wireless systems offer support for Multi-Interface Shoe™ (MI shoe) and a new Digital Audio Interface. The UWP-D series enables direct digital audio interface and delivers high sound quality with low noise by skipping the D/A and A/D process in combination with a new SMAD-P5 MI shoe adaptor and compatible camcorders including Sony’s PXW-Z280 and PXW-Z190 XDCAM models, using firmware version 3.0, as well as the α7R IV (ILCE-7RM4) 35mm full-frame camera.

It shares audio information such as RF level meter, audio mute status and low battery alerts for the transmitters and displays them on the viewfinder. Utilizing the SMAD-P5 MI shoe, audio signals are transmitted from the wireless receiver to a connected camera without a cable connection.

The new “NFC SYNC” feature is designed for easy frequency setting. By simply holding the NFC SYNC button on the receiver for a few seconds, it automatically scans for the appropriate frequency, and allows this channel to be sent to the transmitter via ‘Near Field Communication’ (NFC).

The wireless systems’ reduced size and weight enable the mobility required for a wide range of applications, including news, remote, documentary, sports and wedding production.

The new UWP-D series includes the following range of audio components:

· UWP-D21: URX-P40 Portable Receiver and UTX-B40 Bodypack Transmitter (available now)

· UWP-D22: URX-P40 Portable Receiver and UTX-M40 Handheld Wireless Microphone (planned to ship in December)

· UWP-D26: URX-P40 Portable Receiver, UTX-B40 Bodypack Transmitter, & UTX-P40 Plug-on Transmitter (planned to ship in December)

For more information on this series, please visit pro.sony/products/wireless-audio/uwp-series.

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Sound Devices presented expanded recording capabilities, along with greater flexibility and ease-of-use outdoors for the company’s flagship 664 Production Mixer. Sound Devices showcased the benefits of the 664’s latest firmware update, Version 1.05, at the 135th International AES Convention (Gotham Sound and Communications, Booth 2738).

Sound Devices 664 features six ultra-low-noise, high-dynamic-range preamps that accept mic- or line-level signals and include analog peak limiters, high-pass filters, input trim control and direct outputs per channel. Featuring full analog audio paths for high-performance audio and superb power efficiency, the 664 also has numerous digital capabilities. Inputs 1 and 6 can be selected as AES3 or AES42 inputs for digital microphones, each with its own SRC for simplicity in system clocking. The 664’s analog output compliment includes four output buses. The L and R buses are on balanced XLR, 10-Pin and TA-3M connectors and on unbalanced TA-3M or 3.5mm connectors. Secondary output buses X1 and X2 are available on balanced TA-3M connectors. Users can route inputs and buses to four AES3 connections for eight digital outputs on the XLR and 10-pin connectors.

Firmware version 1.05 brings additional features to the mixer, including greater flexibility and ease-of-use outdoors. The “LCD Daylight Display” mode incorporates a daylight-specific color scheme and solid bar metering option for improved readability in direct sunlight. Sound Devices has also incorporated additional front-panel button shortcuts, including “LCD Daylight Display” mode (HP + SELECT encoders) and Phrase list (HP + RTN B/C) for fast entry of metadata notes. Version 1.05 also incorporates the shortcut for activating different setup tone modes. Users also have new “Track Names in Meters” options (without color gradient/ramp) that are selectable for either right- or left-side display.

With version 1.05, 664 now offers users Monophonic Broadcast WAV file support, with the ability to record up to 10 tracks to two cards, with up to three seconds of record pre-roll. If a card not optimized for multichannel monophonic file recording is used, or if the monophonic 10-track limit is exceeded, a warning message is displayed on the LCD when starting a recording. Polyphonic mode or reducing track count is recommended. In addition, when formatted in the 664, SD cards 64GB and larger are now automatically formatted as ExFAT (in accordance with the SD Association’s recommendation). All CF cards and lower-capacity SD cards remain FAT32. Version 1.05 also enables a Headphone Volume or Headphone Preset default option, which sets the HP encoder to operate as headphone level or to select HP presets when rotated. Pressing the headphone encoder momentarily activates the alternative function.

Existing 664 users can download version 1.05 for free by visiting http://www.sounddevices.com/download/664-firmware/.