Zaxcom ZMT4 Wireless Audio Transmitter Released

Wireless Audio

by Jeff LochMay 7^th, 2021

Zaxcom has recently released a new wireless audio transmitter: the Zaxcom ZMT4. The ZMT4 is an extremely small, compact, and lightweight unit with a brand new microphone pre-amp, NeverClip technology, internal recording capabilities, and extended battery life. Let’s take a closer look at it!

Zaxcom is well-known amongst audio professional for making robust, high-quality wireless audio transmitters/receivers and state-of-the-art audio recorders. Their gear is used by sound recordists all over the world on documentaries, feature films, tv series and so on.

The company recently released a new wireless audio transmitter called the Zaxcom ZMT4 that improves, based on user feedback, many features of the ZMT3 that we discovered during NAB 2017.

Zaxcom ZMT4 – Features

The Zaxcom ZMT4 is a compact and lightweight wireless audio transmitter which measures only 2.2″ x 1.6″ x .55″/55.8mm x 40.6mm x 14mm and weights 62 grams/2.2oz with a battery. Speaking of the battery, the ZMT4 is powered by a FUJIFILM NP-50 battery. According to Zaxcom, “a single NP-50 battery provides up to 6 hours of runtime with a lavalier running at 5v and up to 4.5 hours of runtime while using a 12-48v boom microphone.”

On top of the ZMT4, you’ll find the antenna slot and a 3-Pin Micro LEMO microphone connector. The transmitter supports 12/24/36/48V balanced microphones and 3.3/5V lavalier microphones.

On front of the unit, you’ll find an OLED display, a power/card button, a menu/play button, and navigation buttons that doubles up as Rec/Stop triggers.

Indeed, the Zaxcom ZMT4 is a wireless audio transmitter that can also record a safety track to a removable microSD. Zaxcom claims that they are using “highly reliable MARF (Mobile Audio Recording Format) which eliminates file corruption common to recordings due to a dead battery or early card removal.” Peace of mind is key here!

Zaxcom ZMT4 – What’s new?

However, most of the changes on the ZMT4 compared to the previous model are on the inside. Here are all the new features:

• New microphone preamp design. The noise content of the preamp and A-D combination now utilizes NeverClip with both lav and balanced boom mics, making the environment and self-noise of the microphone the dominant noise components.
• NeverClip is available in all modes on the ZMT4. It works by utilizing two A-D converters to extend the dynamic range of the transmitter to 136 dB, so there’s never any limiter distortion.
• The ZMT4 is equipped with ZaxNet, a long-range remote-control system allowing the user to change the frequency, pre-amp gain, sleep mode, and place the internal recorder in record, playback, and stop modes – all without ever needing to disturb talent.
• PowerRoll, a technology that adjusts the ZMT4’s power level to 50mW when the audio received from it is being recorded by a ZaxNet compatible recorder. When the transmitter audio isn’t being recorded the power is automatically reduced to 10mW so you save some battery life.
• Modulation choices: Zaxcom High-Density modulation (ZHD) increases the number of available channels from 4 to 9 for every 1 MHz of spectrum space, perfect for reflective environments like busy city streets. XR gives you the maximum distance in less dense/more controlled spaces.

As you can tell, these high-end features and improvements are for serious audio professionals that need top-notch quality and reliability.

Price and availability

The Zaxcom ZMT4 will start shipping this month for $1995.00. For more information, please visit Zaxcom’s website here.

Did you ever use Zaxcom wireless audio systems or recorder? What is your go-to wireless audio microphone? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!