Since I record acoustic classical chamber music, most of the samples posted of F8 recordings don't help me. I finally got a chance to try out my new F8 yesterday, in what I hoped would be a gentle test - recording only two tracks stereo of piano with a Josephson C617 pair with Gefell LD omni caps (MG102.1) on a Jecklin Disc. These are really hot mics so require not too much help from the interal pres.
First, I need some help understanding the gain of the F8. I have been using the Josephsons on piano directly in to a Sound Devices 633, last week with a rather muscular young Russian pianist. The stubby gain knobs on the 633 line-in run roughly from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock and add from +22 dB to +72 dB, last week I had them set just short of 9 o'clock so I figure about 30 dB of gain. For a loud pianist this was just about perfect, the wav kissed zero once. So yesterday with a quieter pianist I started around 30 dB on the F8, but during rehearsal found I had to cut to +15 dB on the mic-in of the F8. The wav took a 1.7 dB boost in post to peak at 0. The position of the piano and the mic stand may not have been identical, but were close enough. Any idea what is going on here?
The headphone amp was okay after I got used to it. Most of the issues I had with setup had to do with learning the ropes of a new machine (even though I have played around with it at home). Luckily I left myself enough time.
Okay, so how does it sound? Given that I didn't do a direct comparison and that different pianists do record differently, and also the possibility that after 10 years I finally hit the super-sweetest spot yesterday, I can't be sure. But it is one of the best sounding piano recordings I have made, very impressed with the F8. Next week I will tape a string quartet using a Josephson C700S, three tracks. Not as sensitive a mic, and strings are quieter than piano, so will use more gain from the F8 pres.
Jeff