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by Glen Trew
A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Europe, and while there visited Aaton’s headquarters in beautiful Grenoble, France to better get to know the company that makes the new Cantar audio recorder. Aaton President, Jacques Delacoux, met me at the Grenoble train station. We walked to an historic part of the city where, in the same well-seasoned brick and wood buildings that produced the famous Aaton 16mm motion picture cameras, seeming almost out of place was the ultramodern, precision-built, nothing-else-like-it, Cantar X3.
Aaton President Jacques Delacoux (L), Glen Trew (R) holding the Cantar X3
Trew Audio is happy to be representing Aaton in the US and Canada, and will soon have factory service training to support our Cantar customers. Keep in mind that there is a delivery backlog, so contact your favorite Trew Audio location to hold your place in line.
The Aaton Digital company, restructured two years ago under the new leadership of Jacques Delacoux, has a refreshing approach of focusing on the needs of the market. Aside from the similar unique appearance and layout shared with the X1 and X2, that is why the Cantar X3 is a very different machine.
The two-day visit with Aaton was relatively short, but my journey to the Cantar X3 actually began about ten years ago…
Aaton’s first Cantar recorder, the X1, started making its way into the US market around 2004. It had a striking and unique appearance that instantly made it intriguing, received the respect of all, and was embraced by many, but even ten years ago I found its reliance on traditional hardwired controls and routing to be limiting at a time when microprocessor-based mixer/recorders were available with functions that could evolve (improve) with a user-installed firmware revision. With the advantage of hindsight over the last ten years, it’s clear that “future proof” microprocessor-based, digitally controlled design was, indeed, the way to go. The Cantar X3 is future proof.
A universal comment about the X1 and X2 was that it was difficult – if not nearly impossible – to remember the sequence of wheel turns and button holds needed to accomplish even commonly needed tasks. But if that is what the name Cantar conjures up for you, it’s time to let it go… The X3 is sensibly laid out and fast to configure. Its wide display shows the settings, levels, and routing in a way that they are easily seen a glance. It even has a “help line” at the bottom of each screen to describe how to select various functions of that screen. The Cantar X3 is intuitive.
Spending most of the very pleasant second day at the Grenoble facility, I received a thorough tutorial by Pierre Michoud (Aaton sales and customer support) and met the engineering and assembly team.
Click for high resolution image
Briefly:
The Cantar X3 is a 24-track file-based recorder with timecode. It has a built-in mixer with 10 vertical faders, 8 high quality mic pres with rotary gain controls, 4 additional line inputs, 2 AES42 inputs, 8 AES/EBU inputs, 8 analog outputs, 8 AES outputs. It is waterproof (within reasonable limits). A port is available for an optional Dante module, giving it up to 64 additional channels. It can record simultaneously to four storage devices: An internal removable SSD drive (256G included), two SD cards, and a USB drive.
The three monochrome displays of the earlier Cantars have been replaced with a very nice large, bright, high-resolution color display that easily tilts for best viewing position. The display size makes it ideal for a touch screen, though it is not. The decision was made to go with a non-touchscreen so the X3 could fill the market demands now instead of delaying delivery. Touchscreen technology does exist for the display, so I predict that a touchscreen will be available in the future when there is time to write touchscreen software. The display is easy to remove with just a few screws, so in the event a touchscreen becomes an option it will be an easy change. An external 12-fader control surface called the CantaRem-2 is in development, as is an Aaton designed carry case (with a very different approach), both of which should appear before the end of this year.
When first holding the Cantar X3 most will be surprised by how lightweight it is. This is primarily due to the fact that the aluminum chassis is now machined (the older ones were cast) and the new lithium batteries (two, hot-swappable). Another surprise will be how smooth the 10 vertical faders are. While using the same magnetic linkage as the X1 and X2, the fader control surface on the X3 has less friction, and therefore much smoother. The knobs on the 8 gain controls (think of them as input trim) are amazingly smooth, and should remain that way for life because they are actually riding on steel ball bearings pressed into the chassis. These rotary controls have no mechanical connection to the circuit. Instead, they have an embedded magnet positioned above a sensor on the circuit board. The sensor detects the orientation of the magnet to determine the position of the knob. Nothing to wear, nothing to get dirty, nothing to get noisy. Genius.
There are many more details about the operation of the X3 that we will cover soon in a thorough review and video tutorial. Until then, possibly the most important feature that should be emphasized about the Cantar X3 is that it is a microprocessor-based digitally controlled device. This basically means that all of the buttons, knobs, faders, meters, and lights, display, as well as the input and output routing, are controlled by its internal computer. So, as needs change, or as better ideas are thought of, every one of these functions can be altered with a firmware revision. To a large degree, this makes the Cantar X3 future proof, extending the useful life of this important investment. And you will want to use this amazing machine for a long time to come.
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Do you think you might adopt this machine for your own prod sound work? It seems like some people working on high-end jobs tried earlier Cantars and then moved on to Zax systems, which is what I've seen you using…. Do you think Cantar will try to do the sort of system approach incl wireless and TC that Zax has?
thx
That is it! That's what I've been waiting for someone to build. That will be my next recorder.
Hi Philip,
My apologies for the delayed response...
The earlier versions (X1 and X2) were limited in several ways compared to microprocessor controlled mixer/recorders of the day, including cumbersome unintuitive metadata entry, mirroring, mix tracking options, and routing, which is why I chose other recorders at that time. However, the Cantar X3 is a very different machine that is fast, easy, and intuitive, while keeping the emphasis on Aaton build quality. In fact, even the mechanical properties of the X3 are superior to the already respectable physical attributes of the earlier versions. So, yes, I would gladly use it in production myself, and look forward to it. But, like everyone else, I'll wait in line while orders are filled :)
We are in a period when we have the most and best choices for production sound equipment than ever before. So, of course, no recorder can be the best choice for every person or every need, but the Cantar X3 will definitely be the best choice for many, and will be the recorder many aspire to have.
Glen
Hey Todd,
Lots of great recorders to choose from these days, even a couple of new ones, but I can definitely see you liking the X3.
Glen
How long have these machines been used in the field in Europe now. I'd love to hear some feedback from guys that have been using them.
Todd, there is a comprehensive thread (14 pages to date) on JWSound that starts in early 2014 when the X3 was unveiled in Paris, to the first deliveries, and the thread is still active. http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/20583-aaton-cantar-x3-launch/&page=1. There are some inaccuracies - particularly in the early parts of the thread - so, as always, keep that possibility in mind, but it is a very good discussion.
gt
Hey Glen,
Thanks for the review. I look forward to a more comprehensive one once the machine has been out there for a while.
One question: can higher amp hour batteries be used internally in the Cantar, providing a longer over-the-shoulder run time?
Thanks,
Moe
hi
can you send x3 to iran? how? thanks.
I've being dreaming about Aaton, since the X1, I'm definitely going to invest in to either X3 or next one. Recorder of my dream.
Ok, here a comment from Europe, The Netherlands. I work As a sound engineer on Feature Films, series And documentaires. Around 30 years now.
Last 8 (?) years with Cantars. I bought One of the first (#33) first few days where terrible...
When i had to change setups fast...pfff. But when i got to know the Cantar i was king on set. Logisticaly, soundwise, battery wise... In all sort of ways. I needed a second Recorder for a job in And outdoors on the Northpool. Second Cantar performed well in minus 60 Celsius (i had it more difficult) i sold My first Cantar a while after that job.
Recently i bought the X3. I did the first real big drama production in the World using Cantar #0001. Now i own Cantar #0058. First there is the X3 than a while nothing than the older Cantars. Than a long time nothing an than the rest... The X3 is a pleasure to work with. It is State of The Art.
Moe,
The X3 has a XLR 4 power input. So you can use an extra extern battery.
And the batteries within the Cantar are used separate. First Cantar will drain battery 1
And than it will jump over to number 2. During the hours battery 2 is used you can replacements battery 1 while running And after that vice versa. Best regards,Leo
The way i am working now with the Cantar X3 is :
I make 1 routing with all tracks possible for every situation involved.
For instance :
Track 1 & 2 : Mix L & R
Track 3. : Boom
Tracks 4,5,6,7,8,9 : 6x wireless mic.
Tracks 10 & 11 : extra mics
I keep this setup for every situation.
The only thing i have to do is arm And disarm tracks if i want more or less tracks.
So easy.....