Sound Devices 552 User Manual And Technical Information
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Sound Devices 552 User Manual And Technical Information

Five-channel portable production mixer with integrated recorder
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552
Five-Channel Portable Production Mixer
with Integrated Recorder
User Guide and Technical Information
Sound Devices, LLC
300 Wengel Drive • Reedsburg, WI • USA
+1 (608) 524-0625 • fax: +1 (608) 524-0655
Toll-Free: (800) 505-0625
www.sounddevices.com
support@sounddevices.com

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  • Page 1 Five-Channel Portable Production Mixer with Integrated Recorder User Guide and Technical Information Sound Devices, LLC 300 Wengel Drive • Reedsburg, WI • USA +1 (608) 524-0625 • fax: +1 (608) 524-0655 Toll-Free: (800) 505-0625 www.sounddevices.com support@sounddevices.com...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Table of Contents Quick Start Guide ..... . .3 Metering ......28 Meter Ballistics Front Panel Descriptions .
  • Page 4 LLC. SOUND DEVICES is not responsible for any use of this information. SOUND DEVICES, LLC shall not be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifi cations, repairs, or alterations to this product, or failure to strictly comply with SOUND DEVICES, LLC’s operating and installation instructions.

  • Page 5: Quick Start Guide

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Quick Start Guide This Quick Start Guide provides a brief overview for fi rst use of the 552. Connect power. For internal powering from AA batteries, unscrew the battery cap (counter-clock- wise), insert four AA batteries (not included) positive (+) side fi rst into the battery tube.
  • Page 6 2) Slide the SLATE MIC/TONE switch left. Apply Phantom Power to an input. The 552 supplies 48 V to inputs set to receive phantom power (PH). Phantom pow- er can be set to 12 V in the Setup Menu. To apply phantom power, hold an input’s PFL switch, then slide the SLATE MIC/TONE switch to the right.
  • Page 7 552 User Guide and Technical Information Set Input Faders in use to unity gain (0 dB or 12 o’clock). Faders not used should be set to off (full counter-clockwise position). Set Input Trim Levels. Push to release the recessed Trim (gain) Control. Turn the Trim Control clockwise to raise the level of the input.
  • Page 8 Output Meter LEDs. The internal AA battery level is displayed on the left meter and external DC voltage level is displayed on the right meter. Connect the 552 analog outputs to the next device in the signal chain (audio recorder, wireless transmitter, or camera).
  • Page 9 552 User Guide and Technical Information Voice Prompt The 552 features a Synthetic Voice for Enhanced Navigation, or SVEN. SVEN provides spoken word feedback when Setup Menu features are adjusted. He is designed to simplify control and provide important information to the user. Additionally, SVEN provides status information about the digital audio recorder and time and date information.

  • Page 10: Front Panel Descriptions

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Front Panel Descriptions All 552 settings are accessed and controlled from the Front Panel. This allows the unit to be placed in a production bag while having complete control of the unit. 20 21 22...
  • Page 11 +20 dBu. To engage Zoom mode, press teries, the LED illuminates green when in on the Headphone Controller. the 552 is on, turns yellow when low Metering. voltage point is reached, and fl ashes red when voltage reaches a critical level and batteries should be changed.
  • Page 12 552 User Guide and Technical Information Front Panel Descriptions cont. 20 21 22 Power Switch RTN A/B Switch Three-position slide switch, selects be- Two-position momentary switch. Slide tween internal battery power or external left for RTN A headphone monitoring, DC sources, middle position is Off.

  • Page 13: Rear Panel Descriptions

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Rear Panel Descriptions SD Slot Factory Programming Port Protective rubber cover for SD (Secure Mini USB port used for initial factory Digital) memory card slot. Insert the programming. This connection has no SD/SDHC card into the slot until it sits user function.

  • Page 14: Right Panel Connectors And Controls

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Right Panel Connectors and Controls Mono Mic Out Tape Output Unbalanced mono mic-level output on Unbalanced tape-level stereo output 3.5 mm female connector, designed to on TA3 connector. Pin 1 = Ground, connect to wireless IFB transmitters or pin 2 = Left, pin 3 = Right.

  • Page 15: Top And Bottom Panels

    Voice Prompt The 552 features a Synthetic Voice for Enhanced Navigation, or SVEN. SVEN provides spoken word information in headphones when Setup Menu features are adjusted. SVEN is designed to simplify control and provide important information to the user. Additionally, SVEN provides status informa- tion about the digital audio recorder and time and date information.

  • Page 16: Input Setup And Control

    The inputs of the 552 can be used as balanced or unbalanced. To unbalance, tie pin-3 to pin-1 of the XLR connector. There is no change in gain between unbalanced and balanced connections into the 552.

  • Page 17: Phantom Power

    Make certain to disable phantom power with Line-level output devices that are susceptible to damage from DC. The 552 can provide up to 10 mA to each input at 48 V, suffi cient for the most power-hungry con- denser microphones. Many phantom powered microphones do not require 48 V and can be properly powered with 12 V.

  • Page 18: Gain - Trim And Fader Relationship

    (0 dB or 12 o’clock), make the appropriate adjustments using the Trim control. Once the coarse gain is set to the desired level, recess the Trim control to hide it from the 552’s mixing surface. Trim level is adjustable from 22 to 72 dB of gain.

  • Page 19: Pan Control

    When possible, attempt to equalize at the sound source with microphone selection, placement, windscreens, and onboard microphone fi ltering. Many microphones have on-board high pass fi lters. Use the high-pass fi lters on the 552 in conjunction with the microphone’s fi lter to increase the fi lter’s slope.

  • Page 20: Stereo Linking

    Stereo Linking The Stereo Link feature allows two pairs of 552 inputs to be linked as stereo pairs. These are inputs 1,2 and inputs 3,4. In the Setup Menu inputs can either be linked as either a Stereo Pair or an MS Stereo Pair.

  • Page 21: Xlr

    Direct Outputs. The nominal output level is selectable in the Setup Menu as Mic, -10, or Line level. See Setup Menu. Tape Outputs Tape Outputs are typically used to interface with consumer devices such as MiniDisc and compact transcription recorders. The 552 includes two unbalanced tape level outputs, a TA3 connector and...

  • Page 22: Mono Mic Output

    552 User Guide and Technical Information a 3.5 mm jack. These two connectors are resistively in parallel and are isolated from the balanced outputs. Tape Outputs, by default, send the Left and Right stereo program. Using the RTN Loopback func- tion, the Tape outputs can be used to send the incoming RTN A or RTN B signals directly to receiving devices.

  • Page 23: Limiters

    When the 552 Limiters are engaged, it is nearly impossible to clip (overload) the 552 mixer. Activate the 552 limiters by setting the front-panel “LIM” switch to either LINK or ON. This enables both the input and output limiters and determines the behavior of the output limiter. Sound Devices recom- mends that the limiters be active at all times.

  • Page 24: Digital Audio Recorder

    File Format WAV (Broadcast WAV) The 552 records two-channel, polyphonic AES-31 Broadcast Wave formatted audio fi les. These fi les place additional information in the fi le header, called the Broadcast Audio Extension data chunk, and in the iXML chunk. Audio editing software that does not recognize this additional information will ignore it and read the fi...

  • Page 25: Sampling Rate

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Bit Depth When recording WAV fi les, the 552 records either 16 or 24 bit fi les. 24-bit recording provides greater dynamic range and addition headroom for signal peaks. Sound Devices recommends 24-bit record- ing for all critical production.

  • Page 26: Folder Structure

    Automatic File Splitting While it is possible to have thousands of fi les on the 552 SD card, the largest any single fi le may be is 2 GB. The 552 automatically splits an audio fi le before the 2 GB size is reached and begins writing to a new fi...

  • Page 27: Recorder Controller

    The Record LED indicates the overall media status. When no media is present or detected the LED fl ashes yellow. The LED will be off when media is attached and ready. When the 552 is actively recording the LED illuminates solid red. When recording is paused or in the event that a record command is given and the media is not ready, the LED fl...

  • Page 28: Record Mode

    See Time Code for details. Time Code The 552 stamps the metadata of recorded WAV and MP3 fi les according to the internal time and date clock or according to incoming time code signals on the RTN B TA3 input connector. Time Code Mode is off at factory default.

  • Page 29: Sampling Rate

    Playback After a fi le has been recorded, the 552 can play back the fi le. The last fi le recorded is always the fi le that is immediately available for playback. Playback audio is sent to the headphone monitor. The Headphone Selector position determines the monitoring behavior.

  • Page 30: Metering

    In VU mode, the front panel meter labeling is in volume units. VU meters are always referenced to an actual signal level in dBu, the 552 VU meter is referenced with 0 VU corresponding to 0 dBu at the Line-Level outputs. If needed, the reference level can be changed in the Setup Menu to +4 or +8 dBu.

  • Page 31: Peak Hold + Vu

    Like the Channel Peak LEDs, the headphone circuit also has a peak overload indicator. This LED is useful because headphones can often overload before overloading the 552’s stereo output bus. Moni- toring without a visual indication of headphone clipping can mislead the sound mixer into thinking...

  • Page 32: Headphone Monitoring

    Headphone Controller, the headphone gain level is temporarily displayed on the Right Output Meter. The 552 can drive headphones to dangerously high volumes. Turn down the headphone gain before selecting a headphone source to prevent accidental signal extremes. Headphone Source Selection...

  • Page 33: Rtn A And B

    Return Loopback During typical operation the 552’s Left and Right output buses are sent to both the Tape outputs and the Mono Mic output. When set, Return Loopback allows Return A and/or Return B to be directly routed to the Tape and Mono Mic outputs.

  • Page 34: Powering

    External Powering The 552 can be powered from any DC voltage from 10 to 18 VDC. Pin-4 of the locking, Hirose con- nector is positive (+) and pin-1 is negative (–). The external DC supply is fully isolated (fl oating) from the rest of the mixer for easy and safe interconnection with other external audio gear.

  • Page 35: Voltage Metering

    Power Consumption The 552 varies in the amount of current it draws. Several features of the 552 directly affect current draw in different ways. The following list highlights the larger current drawing functions. 1. Microphone powering - the main source of extra 552 current draw.

  • Page 36: Slate Microphone

    Tone Oscillator Tone is used to set gain structure between the 552 and the next device in the signal path. The tone oscillator uses the right position of the slide switch. Slide right to activate, hold for two seconds to latch on.
  • Page 37 Mic to normal operation. That is, regular program audio will be muted and the slate mic signal will be sent to all outputs. If the slate mic is disabled in the Setup Menu, the “all call” is also disabled. The following diagram illustrates a wireless Talk Back setup using a Sound Devices MM-1.

  • Page 38: Time Of Day/Date Clock

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Time of Day/Date Clock The 552 has a built-in time-of-day/date clock used to stamp recorded fi les with the time recorded. All clock references are in 24-hour format. To check the current time, press-and-hold the Battery Check button. If an SD card is inserted, the Remaining Record Time will precede the Time and Date announcement.

  • Page 39: Linking To Other Mixers

    To Link two 552s together: Connect the Link I/O of 552 A to the Link I/O of 552 B using a TA5F to TA5F cable (Sound Devices XL- TA55 optional accessory). This will send the stereo mix of each 552 directly to the stereo output bus of both 552s.

  • Page 40: Accessing The Setup Menu

    User Settings The 552 can save and recall a User Setup File. To save a User Setup File, hold Input 1’s PFL then press the Stop button. SVEN announces “Save Settings. Press Battery Button if ok, press Stop to cancel.” To proceed with the saving user settings, press the Battery Check Button.

  • Page 41: Factory Default Settings

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Factory Default Settings To restore Factory Default Settings, hold Input 4’s PFL, then press the Headphone Controller and the Battery Check button. SVEN announces “Load Factory Defaults. Press Battery Button if ok, press Stop to cancel.” To proceed with loading factory defaults, press the Battery Check Button. To cancel, press the Stop key.
  • Page 42 • 12 Volts (-24) selected the overall power consumption • 48 Volts Line (-22) of the 552 is lowered. Line options allow • 12 Volts Line (-20) phantom to be applied to both Mic- and Line-Level inputs. Using phantom power on microphones at Line-Level is useful in high SPL environments.

  • Page 43: Front Panel Button Shortcuts

    • Full range DC Input (-20) • 14 Volt Lithium Ion (-18) Front Panel Button Shortcuts To speed navigation the 552 has numerous navigation “shortcuts”. For combinations, press and hold down the fi rst identifi ed key then press the next identifi ed key(s). Function...
  • Page 44 552 User Guide and Technical Information Function Key Sequence Action Meter Zoom Press the Headphone Controller Toggles Meter Zoom on and off. When on, the resolution of the Output Meter is increased and ranges from 0 to 20 dB. 3.5 mm HP Gain...

  • Page 45: Connector Pin Assignments

    3 – Right Signal 5-Pin 1 – HP L Used to link the 552 to Sound Devices 302, 442, 552, or Mixer Link I/O 2 – HP R MixPre Field Mixers. Mates with Sound Devices XL-TA25, 3 – Mix R XL-35, and XL-TA55 optional accessory cables.

  • Page 46: Specifi Cations

    XLR Line: Transformer-balanced for use with ≤2k ohm outputs RTN A,B (3.5 mm/TA3/10-pin): Unbalanced stereo for use with ≤2k ohm outputs Link I/O: Unbalanced stereo for linking to Sound Devices 302, 442, 552, and MixPre. Input Impedance XLR Mic: 2k ohms...
  • Page 47 552 User Guide and Technical Information Output Impedance XLR: 85 ohms at Line setting, 3.2k ohms at -10 setting, 150 ohms at Mic setting (ohms actual) 10-pin Hirose: 85 ohms at Line setting, 3.2k ohms at -10 setting, 150 ohms at Mic setting...

  • Page 48: Dimensions And Weight

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Power External Power Supply Isolated (floating) DC input jack, 10-18 V Locking 4-pin Hirose connector, pin-4 = (+), pin-1 = (-). Mates with gold Hirose #HR10A-7P-4P (DigiKey# HR110-ND) or silver Hirose #HR10-7P-4P (DigiKey# HR100-ND) locking connector.

  • Page 49: Block Diagram - Inputs And Outputs

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Block Diagram - Inputs and Outputs...

  • Page 50: Block Diagram - Monitoring

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Block Diagram - Monitoring v. 1.1 Features and specifications are subject to change. Visit www.sounddevices.com for the latest documentation.

  • Page 51: Block Diagram - Aes

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Block Diagram - AES...

  • Page 52: Accessories

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Accessories Several high-value accessories are available for the 552, including production cases, cables, and power accessories. For a full list of Sound Devices products and accessories, visit our web site www.sounddevices.com/products. Optional 552 Related Accessories...

  • Page 53: Wave Agent

    552 User Guide and Technical Information Wave Agent Wave Agent Beta is a WAV fi le librarian for Mac OS and Windows computers. Designed for Produc- tion Sound Mixers and Post Production Editors, Wave Agent provides a comprehensive and indis- pensable range of tools for preparing audio fi...

  • Page 54: Ce Declaration Of Conformity

    According to ISO/IEC Guide 22 Sound Devices, LLC 300 Wengel Drive Reedsburg, WI 53959 USA declares that the product, 552 Five Channel Portable Production Mixer with Integrated Recorder is in conformity with and passes: EN55103-1, 1997 EMC-product family standard for audio, video, audio-visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use.

  • Page 55: Warranty And Technical Support

    Fax: +1 (608) 524-0655 Sound Devices cannot guarantee that a given computer, software, or operating system confi gura- tion can be used satisfactorily with 552 generated fi les based exclusively on the fact that it meets our minimum system requirements.
  • Page 56 552 rev. 1.1 - Printed in U.S.A.

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