Due to the constantly changing landscape of media and the fact that major card manufacturers are churning out new models/versions of cards practically every month, it is no longer feasible for Sound Devices to continue to certify media through our extensive media approval process.

If you are seeking media for our current and/or legacy products, several options are available:

Purchase readily available Sound Devices approved media, such as the SAM-32CF II, SAM-128SD, or the SAM-64SD from a Sound Devices reseller or directly from Sound Devices via our website.
Purchase cards of your own choice from major manufacturers like SanDisk, Lexar, etc. via reputable sources such as your local or online Sound Devices reseller. Please make sure that your media purchase is from a reputable source, to avoid counterfeit cards/drives! Sound Devices media algorithms are optimized for high-speed writing and will work with most Class 10 cards from respected manufacturers currently on the market.

Should you choose to purchase media not from the Sound Devices brand, we recommend that you extensively test the media before recording critical audio/video. Although our internal media approval process is considerably more intensive than the recommended media testing below, following these steps will help ensure that the media you have chosen is likely suitable for use in our devices:

It is highly recommended to test media suitability by recording simultaneously to all media. For example:
8-Series: simultaneously record to SSD, SD1, and SD2*. You should test by recording to two of the SD cards you would like to use.
MixPre Series: record to the SD card
6-Series: record to both CF and SD card.
Format all media in your Sound Devices product.
Set the parameters of your Sound Devices audio product for very intensive recording operations by setting. For example:
8-Series:
All tracks, monophonic, 48.048 kHz, 24-bit, all media.
All tracks, polyphonic, 96 kHz, 24-bit, all media.
MixPre Series: All tracks, polyphonic, 96 kHz, 32-bit float (24-bit if using the legacy MixPre Series)
If you are testing media for legacy video products, set a high resolution and high frame rate for recording. Allow your Sound Devices product to completely fill the media card/drive.

Playback the last few minutes of the recording from each media to confirm the recording audio quality is good.
Repeat steps 2 and 3. This is essential, because overwriting data is a more intensive process.
If your Sound Devices product does not encounter any errors, such as rebooting, dropping out of record unexpectedly or indicating on-screen warnings like “Media too slow” or “Media I/O error,” etc., the media you have chosen is likely compatible with your device.
Please note that Sound Devices does not manufacture products such as micro-SD cards for our wireless products, thumb drives for the MixPre Series or hard drives for legacy audio and video products. When purchasing a micro-SD card, please make sure that the card is a current product on the market from a major manufacturer selling through a reputable source. Regarding thumb drives for the MixPre Series, please make sure that the drive is truly a compact, low-voltage thumb drive rather than a full-sized USB drive or any other type of drive that connects via USB, as larger bus-powered drives will likely fail during the backup process.