http://www.sounddevices.com/in-action/chris-watson

This looks choice. Nice gear.

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mixers-with-integrated-recorders/633

The 633
The 633 is a compact, six-input mixer with integrated 10-track recorder featuring PowerSafe™ technology. It offers six analog inputs and records to SD and CompactFlash memory cards. The 633 is designed for audio professionals requiring go-anywhere portability, without compromising recording or mixing capability.

633 Kit
The [="http://www.sounddevices.com/633/kit"]633 KIT[/]="http://www.sounddev…"]633 KIT[/] is a complete production mixer recorder kit, containing all the necessary equipment to connect and operate the 633 in a professional audio production environment.

The [[url=http://="http://www.sounddev…"]633 KIT[/]="http://www.sounddev…"]633 KIT[/] includes: (1) 633 mixer, (1) CS-633 bag by Portabrace, (3) XL-2F, (2) XL-2, (1) XL-LB2, (2) XL-B2 Batteries, (1) SD Approved 16Gb CF card and (1) SD Approved 16 Gb SD card.

As studio engineers, I think that we sometimes forget that there's a lot more "music" out there to record than just man-made (or computer sourced) music. There's all kinds of "music".

A device like this seems like a fantastic way to capture those sounds that we don't often think about.

@Chris - this might interest you... http://www.wildlife-sound.org/ (FWIW, Chris Watson is now president of this society.)

When my Grandfather on my Dad's side - who was a botanist/scientist - was dying of cancer, he really got into "remote" recording. He didn't have anything professional of course, he just carried a little battery-powered cassette recorder with him, which he used to record things like crickets and frogs by is pond in the evening, the wind through the tree before a thunderstorm, a crackling fire, rain showers, pretty much everything nature had to offer. He was enamored with sound.

My aunt sent me a box of tapes, years after he died, with all kinds of tapes - upon which he had recorded many of the things mentioned above. There was one that really stood out, it was very haunting (in a nice way) where he recorded the sound of a train in the distance - most of it was just tape noise of course, he didn't really know what he was doing, and he was using cheap Radio Shack gear, but, he managed to catch enough of it to bring goosebumps up on the back of my neck when I listened to it. ;)

He would have LOVED something like this, he could have really gotten some wonderful recordings of nature. He just didn't live long enough to see the technology that would have allowed him to do it. He was really interested in audio recording, too.
I still have an old Wire Recorder that he owned, which he used to record sound effects for a Sunday afternoon radio show he used to do in the 40's. One of my biggest regrets is that he passed away before I became an audio engineer... we could have probably had some really great chats. ;)

He would have gone nuts for something like this, that would have allowed him to capture these sounds in the way he really wanted - but wasn't able to.

A wonderful story Donny.

After reviewing most of their recorders now, I want the 633 kit in the worst way .

Nature is a big part of my life and where I live allows me to go out into the forest where very few people are or have been. There are so many wonderful sounds that I want to capture .

Last year I was sitting in my boat admiring the calm of the water and no wind when I noticed the sound of birds gathering that amazed me. They were talking to each other up in the mountains. Behind me, in the middle of the lake were loons calling back. Everything was in time, they were excited but having this incredible conversation with so many different flocks.
An hour later I looked over another mountain and saw a forest fire coming. Looking back, I see they were all gathering and discussing the fire. If only I could have captured that. It was one of those once in a lifetime events.

I want to travel with a 633 kit now.

I'm much the same way as you. It seems like the only time I really feel at peace is when I'm standing knee deep in a cold, clear stream. Fishing is only part of the experience foe me... it's what I see and hear and smell while I'm doing it that is the real gold.

I was born and raised in the city, but my dad was a country boy, and he instilled in me a love for nature at a very young age. I don't think I was any older than 7 when he picked me up from school one Friday afternoon in the Spring, and told me we were going on a fishing trip. We headed up into the Allegheny Mountains and camped next to a small stream, where we built a fire, and caught more brook trout than I could count.

As we were picking up on that Sunday, getting ready to leave, he made sure that I cleaned up every single bit of what shouldn't have been there...

He told me, "Never leave anything behind but your footprints, and whenever possible, don't leave those, either."

We returned to that spot many times over the years - each time, experiencing something else that nature had to offer. I still go back to that sight from time to time. When my dad passed away in January of 2010, that spring I took some of his ashes to that sight and buried them with some Lilly bulbs. I like to think that he would have approved.

d.

PS... did you see the part of my post above mentioning that Chris Watson is now President of Wildlife Sound.Org ?

Chris,

I don't have personal experience with the 633, but I do have personal experience with Sound Devices 302, 442 and 552 mixers. Over the last 10 years or so, they have become THE choice for field audio recording. Not only for wildlife, sound effects, etc., but for audio-for-video work in television, film, and video production in general. Their preamps are very clean with plenty of gain. They make gear with a lot of flexibility in input and output options, and the build quality is outstanding. I'm guessing you would LOVE the 633. And just a couple of days ago they introduced a new 12-input mixer/recorder that also looks fantastic. Costs a bit more, but hey, what's a few thousand bucks here and there anyway, right?

Have fun!

Rob

Hi Rob, I was looking at the 788T with the optional mixer last night, then contacted them. Is that the unit you are talking about? Thanks for confirming what I was hoping to hear.

I was reading about the guys recording the world, saw Sound Devices and was instantly inspired.
http://recording.org/threads/scientists-are-recording-the-sound-of-the-whole-planet.58133/

A member of ours is apparently working with Krause this summer. I'm assuming its part of this amazing project.

No, the 788T is a great unit as well, I'm sure. Everything Sound Devices makes is great. I was referring to the new 688:

It adds a whole bunch more fun stuff!!

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mixers-with-integrated-recorders/688

DonnyThompson, post: 426131, member: 46114 wrote: PS... did you see the part of my post above mentioning that Chris Watson is now President of Wildlife Sound.Org ?

Ya, very cool! I've been looking over his website and WSRS http://www.wildlife-sound.org/. See their bird with the sound wave following it. So cool.

Oh man, looks looks so nice too.

My buddy has a sound devices recorder, he loves it! It's reliable. And it sounds good, anything I've heard recorded and played thru it was clean clear and full.!

kmetal, post: 426505, member: 37533 wrote: My buddy has a sound devices recorder, he loves it! It's reliable. And it sounds good, anything I've heard recorded and played thru it was clean clear and full.!

kmetal cool, what does he record mostly and do you by chance know the model?

for our google and/or members thinking about hybrid capture devices,... here's what I am thinking.

I would use Sound Devices for field work, small acoustic tracking projects and as a capture and DA monitoring device for my mixdowns (pre-masters) . I'm pursuing a new high quality capture system that will also work great for both tracking acoustic stuff and mixdowns on my Mastering DAW. Most well recorded acoustic stuff I do needs very little editing, at least of the same level that I do when I'm producing the large track count stuff.
If I had one of these it would serve three ways for me. :love:

1. I would bypass my mixing DAW and use a Sound Devices for the master DAW for the field work. Simply export or load the field data right into Sequoia on my Capture DAW (Mastering DAW) done!
2. It would ALSO serve as the Capture ADDA in the same system when I am producing music in my recording studio as the mixdown converters..
3. It would make an excellent mobile system for acoustic music
   With my particular workflow, uncoupling the capture converters between two DAW's like I do works excellent. I don't need the $10,000 mastering converter and a 10M clock investment. A simple but transparent 2 track ADDA like this would be excellent for mastering the best I do.
   I really want one of these. Now need money erk...