6^th September 2001 Words:

Sonifex recently celebrated its largest sale of Courier portable hard disk recorders in a deal brokered by its distributor, Hiroshi Systems Ltd, in China. Shandong Provincial Radio Station took a delivery of 30 Couriers as part of an equipment upgrade for their reporters. The reporters cover news across the whole Shandong province, which has a population of around 50 million people. All reporters were previously reliant upon audio cassette, DAT or MD, which meant a rush back to the studio to dub, edit and file a report. The Courier can be operated by standard camcorder batteries, or AA cell batteries, and from a car cigarette lighter with the special adapter. PCMCIA hard disks or flashcards are the operating media, all of which means that operators no longer have to change batteries or tapes half way through that all important interview. Special rubber buffers also protect Courier from all the knocks that it will inevitably encounter out in the field.

The radio station was initially attracted to the Courier because of it's adaptability which makes it so eminently suitable for life in the field. Mr Zhang Jie, Director of Recording Section for Shangdong Radio commented "The main difference between Courier and other digital newsgathering recorders is not only that the recorded data stored in the PCMCIA media can be transmitted to any standard desk top computer with editing software to carry out fast and easy editing functions, but that the Courier also contains within itself powerful non-destructive cut and paste editing functions. Courier also provides the most complete audio file recording formats among the digital newsgathering recorders that we have known so far. It can record and playback eight different formats."

The radio station was also impressed with the technical support and backup provided by Sonifex. Marcus Brooke, Managing Director of Sonifex, commented "A lot of hard work went into winning this order both from ourselves and our distributor. There was also a lot of stiff competition from other manufacturers, which makes it even more pleasing that we were chosen. We have enjoyed a very good year with Courier both in the UK and export market and this sale further confirms our belief that the Courier is the best of its kind in the market place."