For a basic setup, start by turning the device on. The power button is on the upper right side of the front panel of the device. Once on, plug an XLR cable in the input port on the left panel of the device. Each XLR input corresponds to a track, which is illustrated by a line of LED’s on the front face of the device. Channel 1 is input one, channel 2 in input 2, etc. The corresponding tracks can be changed in the menus. You will notice there are only two XLR inputs on the left panel of the 744t. Inputs 3 and 4 are accessible only with female TA3 cables.

Once the device is on and the cables are plugged in you can change the recording level of inputs 1 and 2 by turning the knobs on the left side of the front face of the 744t. To record, press the record button. To stop recording, press the stop button. To play back the last clip recorded, press the play button.

To switch between monitoring modes when monitoring audio over headphones, spin the black wheel on the right panel of the device. The channels you are monitoring will be displayed on the screen in the bottom right corner, indicating which ear is hearing which channel.

An important feature of the 744t is that you can record to a variety of sources including the on-board hard drive, a compact flash card and an external hard drive. Always choose which media you want to record to before you begin recording. To do this, press the menu button on the front panel of the device. Use the black knob on the right panel to scroll through the menus and press the knob to select. To select your media, scroll to the menu entitled “media select” and then choose which one you want. If you prefer, you can record to more than one media at the same time. Sometimes this is a good idea in order to automatically create a backup of your files.

For more information on the intricate menu system of the 744t, please check out the manual at the following link:

http://www.sounddevices.com/download/guides/744t_en.pdf