Scorpio is a 32 channel, 36 track mixer-recorder and the most powerful product ever designed by Sound Devices. With 16 mic/line preamplifiers, 32 channels of Dante in and out, AES in and out, 12 analog outputs and multiple headphone outputs, Scorpio is well-suited for any production scenario. A fully-customizable routing matrix enables sound professionals to send any input to any channel, bus, or output. Up to 12 buses may be individually mixed. Due to its compact form factor, the Scorpio is equally at home over-the-shoulder or in a mobile rig.

Since its release in April 2019, Scorpio has received the 56th CAS Outstanding Product in Production Award, the 2020 AMPS Excellence in a Production Audio Project Technical Award, PSNEurope Best of Show Award at IBC2019, Editor’s Choice 2019 Award from Professional Audio, and Resolution Magazine Award for Best Recorder, 2019.

Scorpio incorporates Sound Devices’ most cutting-edge technology. An ultra-powerful engine comprised of three FPGA circuits and six ARM processors deliver the horsepower needed for the most complex tasks. FPGA-based audio processing with 64-bit data paths ensures the highest sound quality and reliability. The Scorpio also features Sound Devices’ latest and best in analog microphone preamplifier design. These preamps have the smoothest sound and lowest noise of any preamp in the company’s 20-year history and include built-in analog limiters, high pass filters, delay, 3-band EQ and phantom power.

The Scorpio has an internal 256GB SSD and can simultaneously record to two SD cards for redundancy. For additional flexibility, sound professionals can send different files to their choice of media.

Great attention to detail has been paid to every aspect of the Scorpio’s design. Most common menus are accessible with only one or two button presses, and many menu shortcuts can be achieved with only one hand. Scorpio features a built-in dual L-Mount battery charger and may be powered with L-Mount batteries or via the TA4 DC inputs using smart batteries, NP-1 batteries, or in-line power supplies. The ultra-accurate, fully-featured timecode generator contains its own battery to hold timecode for up to four hours after power off.

Enable Dugan Automixing or MixAssist to automatically attenuate unused microphones in multi-microphone applications. Up to 16 channels can be automixed at a time, and two separate groups can be mixed simultaneously. Scorpio’s intuitive LED metering and sunlight-readable screen display accurate Dugan channel attenuation and gain distribution across all channels. If you are recording in a noisy environment, enable the optional NoiseAssist or CEDAR sdnx plugins to suppress common background noises instantly on-location.

Get the perfect fit on your cart with the Sound Devices CL-16 or one of several supported USB control surfaces for remote fader and transport control. Download the companion Android and iPad app, SD-Remote, to access to transport controls, metering, and sound reports on a large touch screen. The SL-2 Dual SuperSlot Wireless Module easily mounts to the top panel, providing up to four channels of wireless audio in each slot.

Sound Devices Scorpio Features

16 ultra low-noise, 8-Series microphone preamplifiers
32 channels, 12 buses, 36 tracks
32 channels of Dante I/O
256 GB internal SSD, 2 SD card slots
USB-A and C ports for SD-Remote app, linear fader control via MCU, keyboard, and file transfer
Dugan Automixing/MixAssist for up to 16 channels
Optional NoiseAssist and CEDAR sdnx noise suppression plugins

Scorpio Premium Portable Mixer-Recorder1
XL-WPTA41
XL-ANT2.41
XL-LCD-PROTECT1

Analog Inputs
- Frequency Response: 10Hz to 80kHz ± 0.5dB (192kHz sample rate, re 1kHz)
- THD + Noise: 0.005% max (mic in, 1kHz, 22Hz–22kHz BW, trim at 20, fader at 0, -10dBu in)
- Equivalent Input Noise: -131dBV (-129dBu) max (mic in, A-weighting, 76dB 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
- 32 channels in, 32 channels out (up to 96 kHz)
- 1 Gb/s Ethernet, 2 ports, transformer-balanced
Inputs
- Mic/Line inputs: 16 total, all fully featured; 6 on full-size XLR, 2 on TA3, 8 on TA5
- Inputs
  - Mic-level inputs: (XLR, TA3, TA5): Class-A, discrete differential long-tail pair, 4k ohm input impedance
  - Line-level inputs: (XLR, TA3, TA5): active-balanced, 4k ohm input impedance
  - 48V phantom: full 10mA to all 16 inputs simultaneously
  - 22 Total analog inputs: 16 mic-line inputs, 6 on returns
  - AES3 or AES42 available on XLR inputs 1 and 6
  - AES42: +10 V, 250 mA available, mode-1, auto-ASRC
  - USB Audio: 2 Inputs
  - Rtn A, B, C (3.5 mm/10-pin): unbalanced 2-channel, 4k ohm input impedance
  - Com Rtn 1,2 (TA3, 3.5mm) 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, C: +18 dBu (6.2 Vrms)
  - Com Rtn 1, 2: +24 dBu (12.3 Vrms)
  - External Slate Mic: +12 dBu (3.2 Vrms)
Buses
- 12 Buses (L, R, 1-10)
- Left and Right Mix Bus receives post-fade isolated channels. Optional NoiseAssist plugin instances can be applied to any bus.
- Buses 1-10 can receive pre-fade, post-fade, or independent send level from isolated channels, Returns A, B, or C, and Com Returns 1 and 2.
High-Pass FiltersAdjustable 10Hz to 320Hz, 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
Outputs
- Outputs
  - XLR (L, R) active-balanced, 250/3.2k/120 ohms (mic/-10/line)
  - Hirose 10-pin (L, R) active-balanced, 250/3.2k/120 ohms (mic/-10/line)
  - TA3 (X1-X6) active-balanced, 250/3.2k/120 ohms (mic/-10/line)
  - 3.5mm (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)
  - X7/X8 Out: +6 dBu (1.5 Vrms)
  - Headphone outputs (¼”, TA-5, X9/X10): +14 dBu (4.0 Vrms)
- Digital Outputs
  - AES3 transformer-balanced, in pairs; 1-2 (XLR-L), 3-4 (XLR-R), 5-8 (Hirose 10-pin A)
  - 110 ohm, 2 V p-p, AES and S/PDIF compatible
Recording
- A/D Converters
  - 32-bit, 120dB, A-weighted dynamic range typical
  - Sampling rates 44.1, 47.952, 48, 48.048, 96, and 192 kHz
- Bit Depth: 16, 24
- Recording
  - Internal 256 GB SSD; two removable SD Cards. Each 10% over-provisioned (reserved free space) for optimum performance
  - Simultaneous recording to internal SSD and the two SD cards
  - exFAT formatting
  - 36 tracks (32 iso channels, 4 buses)
  - Broadcast WAV monophonic (48048 and lower) and polyphonic file format
  - 64-bit WAV (RF64) monophonic and polyphonic; support for files > 4 GB
  - 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 Mix bus
Noise Suppression
- Via optional paid Sound Devices NoiseAssist or CEDAR sdnx Plugins
- Two, four, or eight instances of Noise Suppression can run on any combination of isolated channels (excluding 17-32 on Scorpio), or buses.
- Attenuation range: 0-20 dB
- NoiseAssist operates with sampling rates of 44.1 kHz to 48.048 kHz.
- CEDAR sdnx operates with sampling rates of 44.1 kHz to 96 kHz.
- NoiseAssist audio path latency: 0.77 ms @ 48kHz
- CEDAR sdnx audio path latency: 0.27 ms @ 48kHz, 0.14ms @ 96kHz
USB
- USB-C (USB 3.1 type 1) for file transfer of internal SSD, both SD Cards
- USB-C 2-in/2-out USB audio interface
- 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, 0.3V – 3.0V p-p (–17dBu – +3dBu)
- Timecode Output: 75 ohm impedance, 5V p-p (+7dBu)
Remote Control
- Sound Devices CL-16 Linear Fader Controller
- Sound Devices CL-12 Linear Fader Controller
- USB MIDI MCU Control – supported 3rd party fader controllers
- SD-Remote Android Tablet app via USB or Bluetooth LE
- SD-Remote Android Phone app via Bluetooth LE
- SD-Remote iPad and iPhone app via Bluetooth LE
- USB Keyboard
- External Timecode Record Trigger
File Delivery to Cloud
- Compatible with Frame.io Camera to Cloud
- Compatible with Viviana Cloud
LCD
- 320×240, Transflective, excellent sunlight visibility
- Larger touchscreen display available via USB-connected SD-Remote app
Power
- External: dual 10-18 V inputs on locking TA4 connectors, (pin 4 positive, pin 1 ground), supports Smart Battery telemetry
- Dual rear-mount Sony-style L-mount batteries with chargers
- Current Draw, at 12 V no battery charging
  - All mic preamps off: 950 mA
  - All mic preamps on: 1.26 A
  - All mic preamps on, 192 kHz sample rate, recording to internal SSD and 2 SD Cards: 1.42 A
  - All mic preamps on, 192 kHz sample rate, recording to internal SSD and 2 SD Cards, Dante enabled: 1.67 A
  - Intelligent power-down of unused mic preamps and other internal circuits
Environmental
- Operating: -20° C to 60° C, 0 to 90% relative humidity(non-condensing)
- Storage: -40° C to 85° C
- Dimensions (HxWxD)2x12.6x8.1 inches (5.1x32x20.5 cm)
- Weight
  - 5.8 lbs (unpackaged, without batteries)
  - 2.63 kg (unpackaged, without batteries)