Deity’s new HD-TX which was announced back in September last year will start shipping from the 22nd of January. The HD-TX is an accessory for the Deity Connect wireless system.
Essentially, the HD-TX is a transmitter with a recorder built-in, that allows you to monitor the recording and files using headphones plugged into the device. As Deity says, You wouldn’t use a camera without a monitor, why would you record audio if you can’t hear it?
Key features
- Transmit and record simultaneously*
- Multiple RF Outputs (10mW, 25mW, 50mW, 100mW, AUTO)
- Guard Rail Analog Limiter
- 75Hz and 150Hz Low Cut Filters
- Boost Audio Frequencies 7KHz – 20Khz
- Assign User ID’s to each transmitter
- 1.3″ OLED display
- Screen and button lock
- Record 24bit/48kHz WAV files to MicroSD card
- Both a XLR input and 3.5mm Mic/Line input
- +48V Phantom Power
- ~10hrs of battery life at 100mW**
- 8hrs record time on a 8Gb MicroSD card
- Headphone jack for live monitoring and listening to playback
- Screen and button auto-lock
- Firmware updatable
*Deity HD-TX units sold inside the USA will disable audio transmission when you hit record. Only internationally sold units will feature the ability to transmit and record simultaneously.
No internal recording on models sold within the US
Now, if you are living in the US, then, unfortunately, the HD-TX won’t have the ability to internally record and transmit at the same time. Why? Well, Zaxcom has a patent on it. Back in 2010 Zaxcom received a patent that was awarded by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent Number 7,711,443 covers the entire Zaxcom TRX family of digital wireless systems with built-in backup recording.
This patent, among others, is for the invention of the recording wireless microphone which is a tiny audio transmitter with an internal micro SD card recorder.
So, what all this means, is that no other company can sell a wireless transmitter than also records internally within the United States.
So how is Deity getting around the patent?
What makes this even more interesting is how Deity got around a Zaxcom patent they hold for recording internally on a wireless transmitter. Deity explained to us that the HD-TX doesn’t have timecode and the USA models cut the audio transmission when you hit record and resume transmission when you hit stop. This functionality isn’t included in Zaxcoms patent. The international units won’t have limitations as the patent only pertains to the US market.
“We at Deity felt like there was a huge gap in the market between hardware. That people were having to buy lots of backups and spares that often go unused but still have to get hauled out to every give as a just-in-case insurance policy of sorts. So we felt that we could combine a few pieces like a spare lavalier transmitter and pocket recorder. We had lots of request to make an XLR transmitter for the Deity Connect wireless eco-system and we felt this would be a good platform to host all of these backup systems that people often have to buy and bring to set. Now for the first time you can transmit and record from a single device that features a headphone jack. For those living in the USA, the US units will transmit or record, doing both is not permitted but the recorder will serve as a great backup for situations when your wireless signals are acting up or when using wireless is not permitted at a live event like a national sporting event.”
Andrew Jones Deity Microphones
Deity HD-TX Back Up
Data loss is a huge deal. That is why they added three safeguards to help prevent you from losing your recorded audio files. The first safeguard is a built-in battery. This eliminates the fear of sudden power failure from a battery door being opened or the use of mislabeled batteries. The HD-TX is charged via USB-C on the side.
Secondly, the HD-TX can predict the internal lithium battery’s power depletion curve so it knows when the battery is about to die, automatically saving the current recording before powering down the unit.
Lastly, they made it so that even if the power button is pressed in the middle of a recording the unit will stop the recording, save the file to the micro SD card, and then power down. Using the HD-TX screen and button lock can prevent even this last type of user error.
Deity states getting over 10Hrs of run time when transmitting at 50mW, recording, and having phantom power enabled to power a Deity S-Mic 2S.
The HD-TX allows you to playback files through the headphone jack, rename, and delete takes. File names are determined by the USER ID assigned to the HD-TX, so if multiple units are being used file management in post-production will be easier to keep organized.
- Max Card Size – 128Gb
- Card Type – microSD
- Card Format – FAT32, exFAT
- Max File Size – 2Gb automatically keeps recording and creates new file
- File Type – 24bit/48kHz Uncompressed PCM WAV File
Price
The Deity HD-TX retails for $249 USD and is available from January 22nd.
