Published 18/1/09
Just add your own hard drive
On-board are 24-channels of A-D and D-A conversion, which can operate at sample rates of up to 24-bit/96kHz, plus transport control and the all-important USB socket for connecting the drive.
Designed for live engineers, the Black Box Recorder couldn't be much simpler. It boots up and locates the attached disk drive within 10 seconds, and just one stab of the front-panel touchscreen sets the device recording. Files are transferred to the hard drive in the BWAV (Broadcast WAV) format, from where they can be transferred into DAW software for post-production.
JoeCo is a new venture headed up by Joe Bull, who founded audio recording and editing experts Sadie. The first product from the company is the Black Box Recorder, a seemingly unique device that is best described as a hard disk recording interface. We can't really refer to it as a recorder, because it doesn't have any on-board storage: you supply your own USB 2.0 drive and the Black Box does the rest.
On-board are 24-channels of A-D and D-A conversion, which can operate at sample rates of up to 24-bit/96kHz, plus transport control and the all-important USB socket for connecting the drive.
Designed for live engineers, the Black Box Recorder couldn't be much simpler. It boots up and locates the attached disk drive within 10 seconds, and just one stab of the front-panel touchscreen sets the device recording. Files are transferred to the hard drive in the BWAV (Broadcast WAV) format, from where they can be transferred into DAW software for post-production.
Rear-panel connections include a headphone output and three D-Sub sockets for the unbalanced analogue inputs and outputs. Eight jack sockets provide 'loop thru insert' points, where external processing can be applied to the last bank of inputs. A number of other sockets provide connectivity for MIDI control, LTC, a footswitch (which can be used to place song markers), a qwerty keyboard, and Word Clock.
Factory-fitted upgrades are also available: AES/EBU and ADAT interfaces can be fitted to provide 24 digital inputs and outputs, while a balanced I/O option can be fitted in place of the unbalanced connections. There's a slot for an Ethernet socket, too, but the JoeCo team are still finalising the Black Box's Ethernet implementation. In the UK, the Black Box is expected to cost around £1500.
