About Us
Zaxcom, Inc. designs and manufactures innovative professional audio equipment for the television and film industries. A pioneer in audio technologies for the sound mixing and ENG professionals, Zaxcom engineered the first digital wireless microphone and the first wireless microphone to feature integrated audio recording.
A brief history:
Zaxcom was founded in 1986 by Glenn Sanders. He started Zaxcom after working in post production and seeing the need for a piece of equipment to create a more efficient workflow, so he created the first TBC System (Time Base Control System) used for video editing. The TBC System became an industry staple and won the Emmy for outstanding achievement in Engineering Development in 1989-90.
The company then took a different course and began making gear for the professional audio industry. In 1992 Zaxcom introduced their first full feature digital audio mixer for post-production, the DMX1000. In 1995 the 6-channel digital mixer, Arria, was introduced. Arria was expanded in 1998, becoming the Arria HD, an 8 channel expandable digital audio mixer specifically for high definition edit suites and live applications.
In 1996 Zaxcom began work in the field they are today, Location Audio. Glenn Sanders, president, and Howard Stark, chief engineer, designed, developed and manufactured Deva, the first 4-channel portable hard disk recorder. Deva has since changed the way professional location recording is done.
In 1999 two digital mixers were released, the Cameo LRC and Cameo SV.
2001 brought Zaxcom Digital Wireless to the market. It was the first time digital modulation was used on a professional body-pack wireless system.
At the 75th Annual Academy Awards in March 2003 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented a Scientific and Engineering Award Academy Plaque to Glenn Sanders and Howard Stark of Zaxcom for the concept, design and engineering of the portable Deva Digital Audio Disk Recorder. On the plaque reads “This innovative design employs advanced hard disk recording technology and digital audio techniques for use in both production and post-production recording applications.”
That summer Zaxcom moved from Midland Park, NJ to their current facility in Pompton Plains, NJ. The space grew to accommodate their growing staff and production line.
In 2004 the next generation of Deva was released – the Deva IV & Deva V. They boast an intuitive color touch screen, an optional internal DVD-RAM drive, and record up to 10 tracks of audio. Stereo ENG wireless was also released. For the first time you could transmit two channels of audio using one transmitter and one receiver, making the perfect bag to camera link.
In 2006, Zaxcom released the Deva Mix-12, a mixing panel for the Deva IV or V and their second generation of wireless, the TRX series, featuring recording wireless microphones.