Sound Devices 552 5-Channel Portable Production Mixer

552 Five-Channel Portable Production Mixer with Built-In Recorder
The Sound Devices 552 Production Mixer uses top analog and digital technologies, along with advanced mechanical construction, to give professionals a superb sounding, compact, lightweight and power-efficient mixer that is equally at home in simple run-and-gun applications or in complex multi-input, multi-output production setups.

Portable Studio Quality
The 552 contains five precision, high-dynamic-range, transformer-balanced microphone inputs with expanded gain and headroom. The studio-grade inputs have their own limiter, sweepable high-pass filter, and pre-or-post-fade direct output.

Multiple Recording Sources
The 552 integrated digital audio recorder writes industry-standard Broadcast Wave files to SD and SDHC cards. The recorder is ideal for applications where a high-quality, 24-bit local recording is required. Either the outputs or combinations of inputs and outputs can be assigned as record sources.

Rugged Durability
The 552, like all Sound Devices products, is built to withstand the physical and environmental extremes of field production. Top and bottom chassis panels are made from molded, metallized carbon fiber for superior durability and weight reduction. The front panel is gasketed for water resistance.

Key Features

• Five high-performance mic/line inputs with limiters
• Direct outputs per input, pre/post and mic/line selectable
• Ultra-light and strong metaliized-carbon-fiber top and bottom chassis panels
• Integrated two-track 16- or 24-bit audio recorder to SD/SDHC cards, Wave or MP3
• 44.1, 48, 48.048, 88.2, and 96 kHz sampling rate
• Four-track AES3 digital output running at same SR as recorder
• Front-panel control of mic/line input & phantom status with LED indication at each input
• Sweepable high-pass filter with silent engagement
• 92 dB of gain (maximum) from input to analog output
• Sunlight-viewable, 21 segment Peak/VU meters with zoom mode
• Stereo linking of inputs 1 & 2 and 3 & 4
• Two return audio inputs for two-camera confidence monitoring
• Extensive headphone monitoring including input solos, record source, and return audio
• Powered by four AA batteries or external 10-18 VDC

Included With 552

• 1 X 552 Field Mixer with Integrated Recorder
• 1 X Front Panel Shortcuts card
• 1 X Setup Menu Chart card
• 4 X Adhesive rubber bumpers
• 6 X Color dots
• 1 X Product registration card
• 1 X Full-line Audio Catalog

Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 50 kHz, +/-0.5 dB
THD + Noise: 0.09% max (50 Hz – 20 kHz, +18 dBu at line out, fader fully up)
Equivalent Input Noise: -126 dBu (-128 dBV) maximum. (22 Hz – 22 kHz bandwidth, flat filter, trim control fully up)

Maximum Input Level

• XLR mic – 0 dBu (0.78 Vrms)
• XLR line – +40 dBu (80 Vrms)
• RTN A,B – +24 dBu (12.4 Vrms)

Maximum Gain

• 93 dB – mic in to line out
• 53 dB – mic in to mic out
• 79 dB – mic in to tape out
• 107 dB – mic in to headphone out

Input Type

• XLR mic – Transformer-balanced for use with <600 ohm mics
• 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

Input Impedance (ohms actual):

• XLR mic – 2k ohms
• XLR line – 16k ohms
• RTN A,B – 20k ohms

Input Clipping Level: 0 dBu minimum (trim control fully down)

Common Mode Rejection Ratio: 120 dB minimum at 80 Hz, mic input, 100 dB minimum at 10 kHz, mic input

High-Pass Filters: sweepable 80 Hz to 240 Hz, 12 dB/oct at 80 Hz, 6 dB/octave at 240 Hz

Mic Powering (each mic selectable):

• no power applied
• 12 V Phantom – through 680 ohm resistors, 10 mA per mic available
• 48 V Phantom – through 6.8k resisters, 10 mA per mic available

Input Limiters: affects the output of the mic preamps only (‘Trim’ stage), +18 dBu threshold, 20:1 limiting ratio, 1 mS attack time, 500 mS release time.

Output Type

• XLR Line – Transformer-balanced for use with >600 ohm inputs
• XLR -10 – Transformer-balanced for use with >10k ohm outputs
• XLR Mic – Transformer-balanced for use with >600 ohm inputs
• 10-Pin Line – Transformer-balanced for use with >600 ohm inputs
• 10-Pin -10 – Transformer-balanced for use with >10k ohm outputs
• 10-Pin Mic – Transformer-balanced for use with >600 ohm inputs
• TA3 Balanced Mic and Line: pin-2 and 3 driven, for use with >3k ohm inputs
• TA3 Direct Outputs Mic and Line: pin-2 and 3 driven, for use with >3k ohm inputs
• Tape Outs (3.5 mm and TA3-Type): Unbalanced, stereo, for use with >6k ohm inputs
• Mono Mic Out: Unbalanced, mono, for use with >600 ohm inputs
• Headphones (3.5 mm and 1/4″): Unbalanced, stereo, for use with 8-2k ohm headphones

Output Impedance (ohms actual):

• XLR – 85 ohms at Line setting, 3.2k ohms at -10 setting, 150 ohms at Mic setting
• 10-Pin – 85 ohms at Line setting, 3.2k ohms at -10 setting, 150 ohms at Mic setting
• TA3 Balanced Outs – 1k ohms at Mic and Line settings
• TA3 Direct Outs – 1k ohms at Mic and Line settings
• Tape Outs (3.5 mm and TA3-type) – 1.8k ohms
• Mono Mic Out- 150 ohms
• Headphones (3.5 mm and 1/4″) – 50 ohms

Line Output Clipping Level: (1% THD): 20 dBu minimum with 10k load

Maximum Output Level

• Line (XLR, 10-Pin, TA3 Balanced and Direct Outs) – +20 dBu (7.8 Vrms)
• -10 (XLR, 10-Pin, TA3 Balanced and Direct Outs) – +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)
• Mic (XLR, 10-Pin, TA3 Balanced and Direct Outs) – -20 dBu (0.078 Vrms)
• Tape Outs – +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)
• Mono Mic Out – +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)

AES3 Output: Balanced AES Out A,B on XLR connectors, 110 ohm, 2 V p-p, AES and S/PDIF compatible with RCA adaptor

Recording Media Type

• Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC), Secure Digital (SD)
• FAT32 formatted, will format media on-board

Recording File Type

• WAV – 2-Track Polyphonic, 16 bit, 24 bit
• MP3 – 2-Track Polyphonic, 64 kb/s, 128 kb/s, 192 kb/s, 320 kb/s
• fixed file name using date/time as file name, daily folders

Time Code

• Reads external timecode received and stamps BEXT/iXML header for WAV, stamps ID3 tag for MP3
• Frame rates – (auto-sense) 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97DF, 29.97ND, 30DF, 30ND, 30+
• Input – 20k input impedance, 0.3V-3.0V p-p.

Sampling Frequency: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz
A/D: 24 bit, 96 kHz maximum sampling rate
A/D Dynamic Range: 103 dB, A-weighted bandwidth typical

Output Limiters

• Affects the outputs of the mixer
• Threshold selectable from +4 dBu to +20 dBu, 1 dB steps, 20:1 limiting ratio, 1 mS attack time,
• 500 mS release time.

Powering

• internal 16 V (bi-polar) regulated audio rails, 3.2-8 V range internal batteries, isolated (floating) external DC input jack, 5-18 V
• Locking 4-pin Hirose connector, pin-4 = (+), pin-1 = (-),

Temperature: operating: 20C to 60C, 0 to 90% relative humidity; (non-condensing), storage: 40C to 85C

Metering

• 42 segment, sunlight-viewable,
• selectable Peak, VU, or Peak + VU ballistics

Weight: 2.0 kg, (4 lbs 6 oz.) unpackaged without four alkaline AA batteries
Dimensions: 53 mm x 279 mm x 168 mm (H x W x D), 2.1 x 11 x 6.6″