Sound Devices 7.20 Firmware Update for 8-Series Mixer-Recorders

Audio Gear News

by Jeff LochDecember 9^th, 2020

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Sound Devices has just announced a new 7.20 firmware update for 8-Series mixer-recorders and the new SD-Remote App for iPhone. Also, the NoiseAssist plugin for 8-Series mixer-recorders can now be applied to four/eight-instances simultaneously. Let’s take a closer look at it!

The Sound Devices 833, 888, and Scorpio are the company’s top of the line mixer-recorder, made for professional sound recordists. After a major 7.0 firmware update to its premium Sound Devices 833/888 8 channel mixer-recorders earlier this year, the company is already back with a new 7.20 firmware update.

Sound Devices 7.20 Firmware Update for 8-Series Mixer-Recorder

This Sound Devices 7.20 firmware update for 8-Series mixer-recorders includes several bug fixes, but most notably the support for four and eight simultaneous NoiseAssist plugin instances.

This internal (paid) plugin was introduced back in May 2020 and allowed you to cancel some background noise when recording dialogues.

Also, this firmware update includes support for SD-Remote App on the iPhone, which was previously only available on iPad and Android tablets. This App allows for remote control of faders, trim, pan, transport controls, metadata, monitoring, and more.

Below is the complete changelog of Sound Devices 7.20 firmware update:

• New: Supports four-instance and eight-instance versions of NoiseAssist. NoiseAssist instances can now be applied to any bus.
• Supports SD-Remote for iPhone. There’s also an SD-Remote False Takes function.
• Trim/Fader Group option allows trim gain of multiple channels to be controlled by the channel with the smallest channel number in the group.
• Changes: ‘X’ Output gains and mutes now pass through to Dante and USB outputs when ‘X’ outputs are selected as sources.
• Fixed: Rare event where audio is missing at power-up has been eliminated.
• Red display artifact is no longer shown on CL-16 screen while in record.
• Channels routed pre-fade to the Left and/or Right bus are no longer muted following a power cycle.
• CL-16 fader movements intermittently not registering after power-up no longer occurs.
• Pressing the top row knobs on the CL-16 while in Bus Sends on Faders mode no longer incorrectly exits the mode.
• After power on, trims or faders are no longer intermittently unresponsive.
• Various issues with the calibration tone of the Wisycom MCR54 have been resolved. Proper operation requires Wisycom MCR54 to be running v1.7 or later.
• Frequency settings of the Wisycom MCR54 made from the 8-Series interface are no longer lost following a power cycle. Proper operation requires Wisycom MCR54 to be running v1.7 or later.
• Reordered the bEXT chunk contents so that Notes are always readable by DAWs and NLEs that can only read bEXT and not iXML metadata.
• Start timecode values of recordings that elapse after midnight are no longer stamped incorrectly.
• X7/X8 is no longer incorrectly interpreted as X5/X6 when routed to Dante and USB Outs on the 888.
• Changes to a channel’s stereo linking status no longer result in muted audio on the bus the channel is sent to pre-fade.
• The system no longer goes unresponsive when finalizing a new recording following the copying of a large folder.
• USB Outputs are no longer silent when X3 and X4 are selected as the source audio on the 833.

As you can see, Sound Devices closely listen to its customers, and all these changes/bug fixes are most welcomed for such a high-end product.

Price and Availability

The Sound Devices 7.20 firmware update for 8-Series mixer-recorders is available to download now on Sound Devices’ website. NoiseAssist for 8-Series products is also available now, and it retails for $600 for 2 Instances, $1100 for 4 Instances, and $2000 for 8 Instances.

What do you think about this firmware update? Do you already own an 8-Series product? Did you purchase NoiseAssist for your Sound Devices recorder? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!