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Author Topic: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3  (Read 95645 times)

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Offline H₂O

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #15 on: September 22, 2016, 07:55:24 AM »
If you want a true comparison wouldn't running a single pair of mics with a pair of XLR splitters afterwards in the 2 different recorders be a good enough comparison

I have done this before to compare pre amps and found it pretty easy to setup and provide good results.

As long as only one of the preamps/decks supplies phantom you should be good to go
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Offline voltronic

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #16 on: September 22, 2016, 06:46:25 PM »
The film / TV sound tests like one you linked can be fun, but don't give those of us who record music much to go on.  I'm waiting for someone to do a true comparison like you're suggesting in an actual concert situation, using a matched pair of mics and in [gasp!] stereo.  Why is it that mic manufacturers always put out lots of music samples, but you almost never see that with recorders, even at the professional level?  Maybe it's because of the bold part of your quote above.

Your point is well taken; sample music recordings would be useful. Since that is not my area, I will have to pass on to other readers.

But music is relatively easy to record and is a lot more forgiving than trying to capture nature sounds, ambiance, and so on. For one thing, music can tell us nothing about the self-noise of a microphone or recorder, since that is well masked. For another, the quality of a music recording is determined largely by the quality of the music. Our natural tendency to judge that first -- on aesthetics, performance, and so on. So sometimes even poor fidelity concert recordings are lauded.

This is why even professionals were happy using previous generation hand-held recorders which would be completely unusable for my applications. But for dialogue, music etc. they were adequate.

While you may be right that as listeners we gravitate towards the quality of the performance first, I think you're grossly over-generalizing, especially in the bold sections above.

I have great respect for people like you who do ambient recording, but to say "music is relatively easy to record"... seriously???  Also, for the type of quiet acoustic music in quiet spaces that some of us do, self noise of a recorder and/or microphone can definitely come into play and be audible.  For your recordings you may need a recorder to have lower noise at high gain levels, but some of us record music that has very similar requirements.  It wasn't until I was able to get my current equipment that I've been somewhat satisfied with the gain vs noise.

Also I'm not sure what professional music recording engineers you know that use handheld recorders, but all of the ones I've encountered use Sound Devices, Nagra, JoeCo on location gigs - definitely not cheap handheld recorders.

Finally, a point of fact: the recordings linked to are certainly in stereo. The author used a pair of Sennheiser MKH 8040 mics in ORTF configuration. In fact, it seems he had two pairs, one for each recorder. Not many people have four 8040s on hand!

Thanks for the clarification - I wasn't commenting on the recordings on that German site, but all of the other demo videos I've seen of the F8 which are using a single lav or boom mic and was just expressing frustration that no one seems to think it's worthwhile to demonstrate how these units perform with music.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2016, 07:01:04 PM by voltronic »
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Offline voltronic

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2016, 06:59:31 PM »
If you want a true comparison wouldn't running a single pair of mics with a pair of XLR splitters afterwards in the 2 different recorders be a good enough comparison

I have done this before to compare pre amps and found it pretty easy to setup and provide good results.

As long as only one of the preamps/decks supplies phantom you should be good to go

That's pretty much what I'm waiting for someone to do.  Either that or 4 matched mics, 2 identical arrays stacked directly on top as is done for mic shootouts.

Something I've wondered about for a while with a splitter setup is if having only one preamp supplying P48 could influence the comparison.  I'm thinking about if one unit had an iffy / off-spec phantom supply, or one that leaked noise into the signal path where you obviously wouldn't hear it when phantom was disabled.  I think I remember reading here that some of the older cheap Zoom handhelds had phantom issues, though I'm sure they have sorted that out on the F8.  My OCD self would want to run two takes, with a different deck supplying phantom for each take.
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Offline H₂O

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #18 on: September 22, 2016, 08:30:54 PM »
I have only done this with high quality pre-amps that have adequate protection and provide solid 48v phantom


I know Mark Nutter of Sonic Sense also did this a lot back in the late 90's - early 00's when he ran comparisons of preamps and to experiment with various mic/pre-amp combos

Others have done this as well

« Last Edit: September 22, 2016, 08:33:48 PM by H₂O »
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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #19 on: October 03, 2016, 11:10:13 PM »
Hey, does someone here have the email address for efksound3d who makes the extended knobs for the F8?  I don't see it on his Facebook page (of course I could have missed it) and I need it for PayPal.

Thanks!
Mics: akg c460 (ck61, ck63), c414buls, c568eb; at4049a, 4051a, 4053a, at853; josephson c42; neumann U87, km84i; beyer m130, m160, m500; aea r84; gefell m71, mt711s, m200, m201, um70S; sony c38; schoeps cmc6, CMBI (mk4, mk21, mk41, mk4v); sennheiser mkh30, mkh40, md421, md431, md541; audix m1290
Pres: API, a-designs, pendulum, purple, millennia TD-1 and HV-32P, gt, littlebox, tinybox, usbpre2, CA 9200, pipsqueak, grace V2, DAV BG1
Cables: KCY, CMR, Naiant AKG actives, PFAs, asst.  GAKables and Darktrain
Recorders/converters/monitors: dr680, m10, dr-2d, d50, zoom f8 & F8n pro, 788T SSD CL-8, lynx aurora 8, Neumann KH20


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Offline rippleish20

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #20 on: October 04, 2016, 09:59:13 AM »
Hey, does someone here have the email address for efksound3d who makes the extended knobs for the F8?  I don't see it on his Facebook page (of course I could have missed it) and I need it for PayPal.

Thanks!

Please contact ekfsound3d via Facebook.

Edited by BSkalinder to remove email address at the request of efksound3d.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2016, 11:05:51 AM by Brian Skalinder »
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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #21 on: October 04, 2016, 05:00:14 PM »
Hey, does someone here have the email address for efksound3d who makes the extended knobs for the F8?  I don't see it on his Facebook page (of course I could have missed it) and I need it for PayPal.

Thanks!

Please contact ekfsound3d via Facebook.

Edited by BSkalinder to remove email address at the request of efksound3d.

Thank you!
« Last Edit: October 07, 2016, 11:06:04 AM by Brian Skalinder »
Mics: akg c460 (ck61, ck63), c414buls, c568eb; at4049a, 4051a, 4053a, at853; josephson c42; neumann U87, km84i; beyer m130, m160, m500; aea r84; gefell m71, mt711s, m200, m201, um70S; sony c38; schoeps cmc6, CMBI (mk4, mk21, mk41, mk4v); sennheiser mkh30, mkh40, md421, md431, md541; audix m1290
Pres: API, a-designs, pendulum, purple, millennia TD-1 and HV-32P, gt, littlebox, tinybox, usbpre2, CA 9200, pipsqueak, grace V2, DAV BG1
Cables: KCY, CMR, Naiant AKG actives, PFAs, asst.  GAKables and Darktrain
Recorders/converters/monitors: dr680, m10, dr-2d, d50, zoom f8 & F8n pro, 788T SSD CL-8, lynx aurora 8, Neumann KH20


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Offline caymanreview

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #22 on: October 05, 2016, 06:55:56 PM »
B&h sent out the daily deals email and it has a unique code in it for 100$ off

If anyone is looking to buy one id be happy to give you my code, not sure it works like that as it says "my individual code"

Offline vwmule

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #23 on: October 07, 2016, 11:59:51 AM »
I have a code, too, if anyone wants to try.

Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #24 on: October 18, 2016, 12:24:33 PM »
New knobs for the F8.  Service was really quick.  He printed them on a Friday, shipped them on a Monday (from Spain) and I received them the following Monday.  They fit on well.  I used a silver sharpie to highlight the edge of the position marker on each knob.  We will have to see how they work in operation.  I have small hands, so the original knobs were not really a problem for me.  These do look nicer however.
Mics: akg c460 (ck61, ck63), c414buls, c568eb; at4049a, 4051a, 4053a, at853; josephson c42; neumann U87, km84i; beyer m130, m160, m500; aea r84; gefell m71, mt711s, m200, m201, um70S; sony c38; schoeps cmc6, CMBI (mk4, mk21, mk41, mk4v); sennheiser mkh30, mkh40, md421, md431, md541; audix m1290
Pres: API, a-designs, pendulum, purple, millennia TD-1 and HV-32P, gt, littlebox, tinybox, usbpre2, CA 9200, pipsqueak, grace V2, DAV BG1
Cables: KCY, CMR, Naiant AKG actives, PFAs, asst.  GAKables and Darktrain
Recorders/converters/monitors: dr680, m10, dr-2d, d50, zoom f8 & F8n pro, 788T SSD CL-8, lynx aurora 8, Neumann KH20


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Offline rippleish20

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #25 on: October 18, 2016, 01:52:51 PM »
I also have the knobs. My suggestion is to use the two sided sticky tape the guy who prints these suggests (or something similar). I love the knobs but they can come off while rustling around in your bag etc. Mine have been reliable with the tape...
AKG C480B (ck61, ck63, ck8) /  Neumann KM100 (AK40, AK50) / AT853s  (cardiod, omni) / CA-14 (cardiod) / CA-11 (Omni) / Mixpre-10t / Mixpre-6 / Roland R-07 / Zoom F-3
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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #26 on: October 18, 2016, 02:11:08 PM »
I was wondering whether there was a more reliable means of attaching the knobs, besides friction.

Thanks!
Mics: akg c460 (ck61, ck63), c414buls, c568eb; at4049a, 4051a, 4053a, at853; josephson c42; neumann U87, km84i; beyer m130, m160, m500; aea r84; gefell m71, mt711s, m200, m201, um70S; sony c38; schoeps cmc6, CMBI (mk4, mk21, mk41, mk4v); sennheiser mkh30, mkh40, md421, md431, md541; audix m1290
Pres: API, a-designs, pendulum, purple, millennia TD-1 and HV-32P, gt, littlebox, tinybox, usbpre2, CA 9200, pipsqueak, grace V2, DAV BG1
Cables: KCY, CMR, Naiant AKG actives, PFAs, asst.  GAKables and Darktrain
Recorders/converters/monitors: dr680, m10, dr-2d, d50, zoom f8 & F8n pro, 788T SSD CL-8, lynx aurora 8, Neumann KH20


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Offline OS_Taper

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #27 on: January 08, 2017, 03:20:25 PM »
Didn't see it in the thread, Firmware version 3.0 is now available for download and installation.

Functions added in Version 3.0
Monitoring input signals of specific tracks without recording
Saving multiple settings for signals sent to headphone output (Headphone Routing)
Setting the keys held (Key Hold Target)
Backing up and loading settings (Backup/Load Settings)
Setting the level meter reference (Reference Level)
Showing total recording time during long recording periods (Time Counter)
Using an FRC-8 as a controller (Connect)
Setting the type of keyboard connected to FRC-8  (Keyboard Type)
Setting user keys used by FRC-8 (User Keys)
Setting the power supply used by the FRC-8 (Power Source)
Setting the FRC-8LED brightness (LED Brightness)
Updating the FRC-8 firmware


https://zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-f8-multitrack-field-recorder#downloads



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Offline caymanreview

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #28 on: January 08, 2017, 04:12:01 PM »
i like the total recordng time feature!

Offline OS_Taper

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Re: Zoom F8 Recorder Part 3
« Reply #29 on: January 08, 2017, 04:19:43 PM »
i like the total recordng time feature!


Agreed!   That freaked me out the first time I used it and noticed towards the end of the show the counter was in the single digits...
Neumann
KMR 82i
KM150
TLM 107
Core-Sound
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Danish Pro Audio
DPA 4060

Recorders: Zoom F8, Zoom H8,  Tascam 100-MKII, Olympus LS-11

 

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