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MillimeterShoot Review: Zaxcom TRX900
Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Gary Eskow
Wireless microphone system provides uninterrupted feedback through timecode.
Although the wireless transmission of digital audio has been around for years — turn off your cell phones, please — the power they require has made digital transmitters impractical for the ENG market. With the introduction of the TRX900 product line (theultimatewireless.com), Zaxcom has come up with a solution to this problem.
Zaxcom TRX900 captures and stores up to 12 hours of audio on a 2GB card.
A complete TRX900 package combines an IFB receiver (which should be available for purchase by the end of the year), built into the body of a traditional wireless transmitter, and a digital transceiver. Users will want to consult the Zaxcom website to get a complete list of product options. All packages include a digitally modulated wireless transmitter — with the outstanding audio quality that you would expect — RF remote control of the body pack, digital dropout protection, and the capability of delivering five hours of running time on a single lithium 123 battery (10-hour AA model also available). At the end of the day, a fully functioning TRX900 can do lots more than simply provide wireless miking. Let's take a look.
The lightweight TRX900 unit weighs 4oz. and measures in at 2.3"×.69"×2.1". Significantly, this unit integrates timecode transmission, which means all of your audio can easily be referenced to video. If complemented with Zaxcom's IFB900 RF remote control unit, all of the TRX900's controls — including gain, transmission channel, and high-pass filter adjustment (perfect to minimize the wind shear that's overwhelming your perfectly blow-dried oncamera talent) — can be altered from a remote location while the unit is transmitting.
Up to 12 hours of audio can be captured on a 2BG card with the TRX900; Zaxcom also offers a card with less storage capacity. Once field data has been accumulated, this card can be inserted into any PC or Mac-based workstation. These computers can then quickly rewrite the audio data as broadcast WAV files, making it easy to open up sessions recorded in the field on any DAW. From there, timecode can be referenced, making dialog replacement, if necessary, a simple-to-achieve task. Multiple TRX900s ganged together and receiving the same timecode can function as a multi-track recording system that's embedded in a wireless transmitter.
In my studio, I tested the TRX900, RX900 (its receiver), and the lav microphone and antennas that ship with these devices. After setting the two units to the same frequency and recording audio onto the card, I used the XLR connection on the receiver to port this audio over to my mixer. As expected, the quality of this digital signal was excellent. The low-pass filter and level controls functioned well. Zaxcom was unable to provide me with an as-yet-unavailable IFB900 — the unit that allows for in-ear interruptions — but this functionality is straight ahead.
Users will be able to update software through the memory card itself, and will not be forced to send the hardware in for this kind of servicing. The original Goldline system used much of the same technology, but the new unit has several advantages: It's smaller, consumes less power, runs longer on a battery, and delivers better range than the original. In a typical field application a wireless unit that can transmit at ranges up to 250ft. is considered highly functional. Zaxcom owner Glenn Sanders claims that the TRX900 transceiver can send signals up to 500ft., within the ranges of the best analog systems on the market.
Zaxcom has a patent pending on TRX900's ability to both read and generate timecode. The ability to jam timecode from this device can be critically important in certain live situations. If, for example, a television station is covering a natural disaster for live broadcast, and later editing and rebroadcast, and audio has dropped out during the clip, having matching timecode on both audio and video would make the introduction of substitute audio a much more simplified task. Or, if used on a reality television show, where there may possibly be up to 20 channels of audio feeding a mixing console at one time, a producer suffers dropped audio or a significant loss of quality, timecode will once again be a critically important time saver during audio post.
In both scenarios, simply removing the audio card from the TRX900 and dropping it into a computer makes locking audio and video extremely simple. To make this work, all you have to do is take the output from a master timecode generator and plug it into the TRX900's microphone input. Internal software — unique among wireless microphone units — allows the TRX900 to synch to this running timecode generator. Using the same timecode source, all of your TRX900s — and any cameras that may be used on your shoot — can be locked together, simplifying your post process.
To summarize, a complete TRX900 system, which will include the IFB900 at the end of the year, provides the user with a wireless transceiver, interrupted feedback capability, and, through the use of timecode, the ability to gang a series of these devices together to create a multi-track recording environment that synchs perfectly to your video equipment. Very impressive, and worth checking out if you're shopping for a wireless microphone system.
bottomline
Company: Zaxcom Pompton Plains, N.J.;
(973) 835-5000
www.theultimatewireless.com
Product: TRX900
Assets: Timecode easily references audio to video.
Caveats: None to speak of.
Demographics: Anyone who needs a wireless transmitter.
PRICE: $1,960 (TRANSMITTER); $2,000 (RECEIVER).
To comment on this article, email the Digital Content Producer staff at dcpfeedback@prismb2b.com.
