Sound Devices has released the 970 rackmount recorder, offering 64 channels of Dante and Madi recording for high-track-count audio in drama, reality production and live concert applications.

The a half-rack, 2U-high unit records 64 channels of monophonic or polyphonic 24-bit .wav files from any of its 144 available inputs. Inputs available include 64 channels of Ethernet-based Dante, 64 channels of optical or coaxial Madi, eight channels of line-level analogue and eight channels of AES digital. Any input can be assigned to any track. In addition, 32-track recording at 96kHz is supported.

The 970 records to any of four attached drives, which include two front-panel drive bays and two rear-panel e-SATA connected drives. Audio can be recorded to multiple drives simultaneously or sequentially. This eliminates time-consuming post-record copying and allows for continuous long-form, high-track count recordings.

With built-in Ambient Recording Lockit time code technology, the unit is able to operate as a master clock. It can also slave or be jammed to any other time-code source. All common production time code rates and modes are supported. The 970 also supports word clock synchronisation from external word clock, video sync, Madi or AES. To simplify the connection of multiple digital inputs, SRCs are available for all Madi, Dante or AES inputs.

The unit also features an embedded web-based control panel for machine transport and set-up control over Ethernet networks and as file transfer over the data network with SMB. File metadata editing of scene name, name, notes, track names and reel folders can be noted during, before and after recording across all drives. In addition to RS422 and GPIO control, the unit also allows for format conversion between analogue, AES digital, Madi and Dante.

The 970 uses a five-inch screen for metering of up to 64 tracks and menu control. It also features Sound Devices’ proprietary PowerSafe technology – a built-in 10s power reserve that allows  the unit to operate for up to 10s after a power loss, and then stops any file operation and shuts down. This ensures that a complete power loss has no effect on a recording.