Sound Devices 888 Mixer Recorder

Meet the 888 – the portable mixer-recorder that’s compact and light enough to use in a bag, yet has the high channel count and power required for mobile cart productions. The 888 is the smallest portable mixer-recorder on the market that offers Dante for sending and receiving audio over Ethernet. With 8 ultra low-noise, 8-Series microphone preamplifiers, 16 channels, 20 tracks, multiple powering methods, and support for multiple USB control surfaces, the 888 can be easily tailored to your workflow. An updated processing architecture and multiple FPGAs enables the 888 to be fully routable: any physical input may be sent to any track, bus, or output. 

Many features have carried over from the premium Sound Devices’ Scorpio, such as the new 8-Series preamplifier design, 2 SD card slots, internal 256GB SSD, and dual L-Mount battery charging and powering. Alternatively, power your 888 using a smart battery, NP-1 battery, or an in-line power supply via its TA4 DC input. The ultra-accurate, fully-featured timecode generator contains its own battery to hold timecode for up to four hours after power off. 

Dedicated coms and slate allows for professional bi-directional communication with other crew members. Send customized mixes to the camera or crew with multiple mix buses. With the ability to record to three media simultaneously, you can turn over an SD card to production, AAC files for transcription, and keep a backup on the internal 256 GB SSD.

A built-in three band EQ may be set to either pre- or post-fade for each channel to tackle any problems directly on-set. Enable Dugan Automixing or MixAssist to automatically attenuate unused microphones in multi-microphone applications. Up to 16 channels can be automixed at a time.

Get the perfect fit on your cart with one of several supported USB control surfaces for remote fader and transport control. Download the companion Android app, SD-Remote, to access to transport controls, metering, and sound reports on a large touch screen.

Elevate your kit with the 888 Portable Production Mixer-Recorder.

888 Specifications 

Frequency Response
10 Hz to 80 kHz ± 0.5 dB (192 kHz sample rate, re 1 kHz)

THD + Noise
0.005% max (mic in, 1 kHz, 22 Hz–22 kHz BW, trim at 20, fader at 0, -10 dBu in)

Equivalent Input Noise
-131 dBV (-129 dBu) max (mic in, A-weighting, 76 dB gain, 150 ohm source impedance)

Processing Engine
Highly extensible, full FPGA-based audio processing, 3 FPGAs
Six-way ARM multiprocessor system
64-bit audio processing precision

Audio over Ethernet
Dante, AES67 compatible
16 channels in, 16 channels out (up to 192 kHz)
1 Gb/s Ethernet, 1 port, transformer-balanced

Inputs

• Mic/Line inputs: 8 total, all fully featured; 4 on full-size XLR, 4 on TA3
• Mic-level inputs: (XLR, TA3): Class-A, discrete differential long-tail pair, 4k ohm input impedance
• Line-level inputs: (XLR, TA3): active-balanced, 4k ohm input impedance
• 48V phantom: full 10 mA to all 8 inputs simultaneously
• 12 Total analog inputs: 8 mic-line inputs, 4 on returns
• AES3 or AES42 available on XLR input 1
• AES42: +10 V, 250 mA available, mode-1, auto-ASRC
• USB Audio: 2 inputs
• Rtn A (TA3): unbalanced 2-channel, 4k ohm input impedance
Rtn B (3.5 mm): unbalanced 2-channel, 4k ohm input impedance
• Com Rtn (TA3) balanced, 1-channel, 8k ohm input impedance
• External Slate Mic (TA5): balanced, 8k ohm input impedance, menu-selectable 12 V phantom 
• Maximum Input Level
• Mic: +8 dBu (2.0 Vrms)
• Line: +28 dBu (19.5 Vrms)
• Rtn A, B: +18 dBu (6.2 Vrms)
• Com Rtn: +24 dBu (12.3 Vrms)
• External Slate Mic: +12 dBu (3.2 Vrms)

Buses

• 10 Buses (L, R, 1-8)
• Left and Right Mix Bus receives post-fade isolated channels. Optional NoiseAssist plugin instances can be applied to Left and/or Right Mix Buses.
• Buses 1-8 can receive pre-fade, post-fade, or independent send level from isolated channels, Returns A or B, and Com Return.
• High-Pass Filters
• Adjustable 10 Hz to 320 Hz, 18 dB/oct. 1st stage analog (before preamp), 2nd stage digital.

Limiters

• Limiters available at all channels, buses, headphones, for all sample rates
• Analog first stage, all subsequent stages digital
• Attack time: adjustable 1 to 200 ms
• Release time: adjustable, 50 ms to 1000 ms
• Threshold: adjustable, -2 dBFS to -12 dBFS
• Selectable ratio: inf:1, 20:1, 18:1, 16:1, 14:1, 12:1, 10:1
• Knee: soft, hard

Compressors

• Compressors available at all channels (pre or post-fade) and buses for all sample rates
• Attack time: adjustable, 1  to 200 ms
• Release time: adjustable, 50 ms to 1000 ms
• Threshold: adjustable, 0 dBFS to -40 dBFS
• Selectable ratio: adjustable, 1:1 to 20:1
• Knee: soft, hard

Delay

• Channel Adjustable 0-50 ms
• Output Adjustable 0-500 ms

Maximum Gain

• Trim stage (mic input): 76 dB
• Trim stage (line input): 50 dB
• Fader stage: 16 dB
• Bus stage: 16 dB
• Headphone stage: 20 dB
• Mic-to-Line: 108 dB
• Mic-to-Headphone: 112 dB
• TA5 (along with mic input pins) for single connection to headset + mic
• High output, 4 ohm output impedance, 400 mW + 400 mW at each connector, all individually driven
• Compatible with headphones of any impedance

• Outputs
• XLR (L, R) active-balanced, 250/3.2k/120 ohms (mic/-10/line)
• TA3 (X1-X4) active-balanced, 250/3.2k/120 ohms (mic/-10/line)
• 3.5mm (X5, X6, X7, X8): unbalanced, stereo, 1.8k ohms

Headphone Outputs

• ¼”, 3.5 mm
• TA5 (along with mic input pins) for single connection to headset + mic
• High output, 4 ohm output impedance, 400 mW + 400 mW at each connector, all individually driven
• Compatible with headphones of any impedance

Maximum Output Level 
(all into 10k load)

• Line: +20 dBu (7.8 Vrms)
• “-10”: +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)
• Mic: -20 dBu (0.078 Vrms)
• X5/X6 Out: +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)
• Headphone outputs (¼”, TA5, X7/X8): +14 dBu (4.0 Vrms)

• A/D converters
• 32-bit, 120 dB, A-weighted dynamic range typical
• Sampling rates 44.1 kHz, 47.952 kHz, 48 kHz, 48.048 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 192 kHz

Digital Outputs

• AES3 transformer-balanced, in pairs; 1-2 (XLR-L), 3-4 (XLR-R)
• 110 ohm, 2 V p-p, AES and S/PDIF compatible


Recording

• Internal 256 GB SSD, two removable SD Cards 
• 10% over-provisioned for optimum performance
• Simultaneous recording to internal SSD and the two SD cards
• exFAT formatting
• 20 tracks (16 ISO channels, 4 buses)
• Broadcast WAV monophonic and polyphonic file format
• 64-bit WAV (RF64) monophonic and polyphonic; support for files > 4 G
• AAC 2 track at 48 kHz, selectable bit rate 32, 64, 128, 192, 256 kbps

Automatic Mixing

• Dugan Automixer up to 16-channels on left and right mix bus
MixAssist up to 16-channels on Left and Right bus

• NOISE SUPPRESSION
• Via optional paid NoiseAssist Plugin
• Up to two instances of NoiseAssist can run on any combination of
• isolated channels (excluding 17-32 on Scorpio), bus L, or bus R.

USB

• USB-C (USB 3.1 type 1) for file transfer of internal SSD, both SD Cards
• USB-C 2-in/2 out audio streaming
• USB-A host for keyboard, external controller, external USB hubs supported for connecting multiple devices

Timecode and Sync

• Modes Supported: Off, Rec Run, Free Run, 24h Run, External, including External Auto-Record and Continuous modes.
• Frame Rates: 23.98*, 24, 25, 29.97 DF, 29.97 ND, 30 DF, 30 ND
• Sample/Timecode Accuracy: 0.1 ppm (0.25 frames per 24 hours)
• Timecode Input: 20k ohm impedance, 0.3 V - 3.0 V p-p (–17 dBu - +3 dBu)
• Timecode Output: 75 ohm impedance, 5 V p-p (+12 dBu)
• Word Clock Input: 10k/75 ohm selectable impedance, 1-5 V p-p input sensitivity
• Word Clock Output: 75 ohm impedance, 5 V p-p output, at SR

Remote Control

• Sound Devices CL-12 Linear Fader Controller
USB MIDI MCU Control  - supported 3rd party fader controllers
• SD-Remote Android app via USB or Bluetooth LE
• SD-Remote iPad app via Bluetooth LE
• USB Keyboard
• External Timecode Record Trigger
• LCD
• 320x240, transflective, excellent sunlight visibility
• Larger touchscreen display available via USB-connected SD-Remote app

Power

• External: 10-18 V input on locking TA4 connector, pin-4 = (+), pin-1 = (-)
• Dual rear-mount Sony-style L-mount batteries with chargers
• Current Draw, at 12 V no battery charging:
• All mic preamps off: 900 mA
• All mic preamps on: 990 mA
• All mic preamps on, 192 kHz sample rate, recording to 2 SD Cards: 1.13 A
• All mic preamps on, 192 kHz sample rate, recording to 2 SD Cards, Dante enabled: 1.38 A
• Intelligent power-down of unused mic preamps and other internal circuits
• Smart Battery telemetry supported via DC Input

Environmental

• Operating: -20° C to 60° C, 0 to 90% relative humidity (non-condensing)
• Storage: -40° C to 85° C
• Dimensions (H x W x D)
• 5.1 cm x 24.5 cm x 18.5 cm
• 2.0 in. x 10.0 in. x 7.3 in

Weight

• 4.0 lbs (unpackaged, without batteries)
• 1.83 kg (unpackaged, without batteries)