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Author Topic: Zoom F8  (Read 124885 times)

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Offline H₂O

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #60 on: July 08, 2015, 03:01:06 PM »
I would hope it surpasses the quality of the DR-680 as this is a Make or Brake It offering for Zoom (in this category)

I personally have no interest in buying this unit but it is very interesting
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Offline voltronic

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #61 on: July 08, 2015, 03:50:49 PM »
The F8 really looks great on paper.  Given my experience with other Zoom products though, the "wait and see" aspects for me are the quality of the mic preamps and the overall long-term reliability.

2manyrocks, does the F8 not allow channel ganging?  I haven't seen it mentioned one way or another, but for a "pro" recorder I think that should be a standard feature.
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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #62 on: July 08, 2015, 04:19:46 PM »
I suspect lots of people are in "wait and see" mode for the F8.  Published features are attractive and it has kind of an SD clone look.  It appears to be better constructed (i.e. metal) than other Zoom and some other competing manufacturer models.  But I think that many of us will wait until it is available and the braver souls among us buy one and put it through its paces.  Sound quality is paramount and all the glitzy features and "pro" design look won't mean much if the preamps are mediocre.  All the features need to work well together and it needs to be reliable too.  I suspect that there are a substantial number of folks who might have otherwise purchased an SD or Tascam unit that are now holding off to see how good the Zoom unit really is.  Despite my inherent skepticism, I am hoping that Zoom really does pull it off.
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
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Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #63 on: July 08, 2015, 10:51:03 PM »
The F8 really looks great on paper.  Given my experience with other Zoom products though, the "wait and see" aspects for me are the quality of the mic preamps and the overall long-term reliability.

2manyrocks, does the F8 not allow channel ganging?  I haven't seen it mentioned one way or another, but for a "pro" recorder I think that should be a standard feature.

I don't know. 


Offline carlbeck

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #64 on: July 09, 2015, 12:05:14 PM »
I'm really curious to see the metering with a few pairs of mics, in some screen shots I can see the overall mix level that is displayed as a stereo track but I haven't seen say six channels so you can monitor & adjust levels. I would "assume" it's in the menu's but none of the images are showing that. Since I won't be mixing six tracks down to stereo a master level does me no good, I run pairs of microphones as individual stereo files so being able to glance at my levels like I do with the 680 & see all of them on one screen is key.

Touching back on the physical hardware switch vs the menu activated function, I have had numerous situations with my 680 where one of the mic inputs get's bumped to high gain since my battery is next to the switches in my bag. Eliminating that with a software function would be appreciated.

Finally (for me) ganging channels for gain adjustment is key, if they implement that I would be more than willing to purchase this. The quality of the preamp's doesn't really matter to me since I use external preamps but if the quality was a little better than the 680 preamps I would call this a win for Zoom. I hope they get it right on this one since there's a lot of hype surrounding it & additional competition is a win for us who use these deck's as a hobby vs profession.

I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

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Offline fguidry

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #65 on: July 09, 2015, 02:14:58 PM »
...

What I don't understand is how they keep cramming more into recorders at lesser prices, yet microphone prices seem to keep going up.

Audio recorders are constructed of integrated circuits. IC technology follows Moore's Law.

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Offline H₂O

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #66 on: July 09, 2015, 03:16:09 PM »
...

What I don't understand is how they keep cramming more into recorders at lesser prices, yet microphone prices seem to keep going up.

Audio recorders are constructed of integrated circuits. IC technology follows Moore's Law.

Fran


Analog circuitry doesn't directly follow Moore's law - the DSP/Processor, memory and long term storage typically do
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Offline carlbeck

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #67 on: July 09, 2015, 05:54:12 PM »
Bummer, just heard back from Zoom in regards to ganging channel's together.

Dear Carl,

Unfortunately not. You can link two tracks together but because of the analog style gain controls they each have to be adjusted manually.


Sincerely,

ANDREW CUZZO
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline yltfan

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #68 on: July 09, 2015, 06:01:15 PM »
Bummer, just heard back from Zoom in regards to ganging channel's together.

Dear Carl,

Unfortunately not. You can link two tracks together but because of the analog style gain controls they each have to be adjusted manually.


Sincerely,

ANDREW CUZZO

This is not a dealbreaker for me, as you can still adjust two at a time with your two hands. The ganging is more input on the 680, with it's one knob.
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Offline WiFiJeff

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #69 on: July 09, 2015, 08:07:48 PM »
I'm really curious to see the metering with a few pairs of mics, in some screen shots I can see the overall mix level that is displayed as a stereo track but I haven't seen say six channels so you can monitor & adjust levels. I would "assume" it's in the menu's but none of the images are showing that. Since I won't be mixing six tracks down to stereo a master level does me no good, I run pairs of microphones as individual stereo files so being able to glance at my levels like I do with the 680 & see all of them on one screen is key.


If you look about halfway down the Zoom product page for the F8 (https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/handy-recorder/zoom-f8-multitrack-field-recorder), there is a picture of the iphone app in which the phone seems to be showing meters for all eight inputs.  I am hopeful this will be on one of the menus for the recorder screen as well.  Full Compass claims they will get the machine in around July 17.

Offline refrain

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #70 on: July 10, 2015, 10:55:30 AM »
Got this from the Nature Recordists list:

"I reached out to my friend Mark Lanza (who is pictured on their web site and featured in their promo videos). He is an editor at SONY and is also VP at The Motion Picture Sound Editors. So he has options when it comes to having access to top recording gear.

I asked him what he thought of the F8 and how it compared to other recorders, including the 788T ($6,500+ USD), which is one of the main recorders used in the film industry. Here is his reply:

"The F8 is a really great recorder - I played with it for about a week. I actually love my H6 - for the price you can't beat it. The F8 does try to compete with the 788T, The 788T is a standard with the big boys on location and I don't know if they will ever be converted to something like the zoom. I think the [F8] mic pre's were pretty close [to the 788] and the price is WAY below the 788. It also had some great features the 788 does not have like limiters across all 8 channels, even in 192K mode. Also the ability to control from your iphone/ipad. This is amazing when recording in the field! I was seriously considering a 788 and then the zoom came along and I'm skipping the 788, can't justify the price with the F8 being this close in quality and so much cheaper. Also the F8 takes the plug in mics from the other Zoom recorders AND they are working on an extension for the mic so it isn't plugged directly to the unit. With the plug in mic, you can actually record 10 channels at once!"

So lots of pretty nice advanced features and the sound quality seemed to stand up. That's based on using it for 1 week. Hard to say for sure how it will stand up in the field over time."

Just more 2 cents on this recorder, but let's wait to hear more opinions and audio tests...

« Last Edit: July 10, 2015, 11:23:51 AM by refrain »
Mics: 2x Oktava MK-012 Card (XY, ORTF), AT BP4025 (STEREO XY), DIY Primo 172 48v matched stereo, Sony ECM 55B (Lav), DIY piezo mics
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Offline carlbeck

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #71 on: July 10, 2015, 11:03:40 AM »
I'm really curious to see the metering with a few pairs of mics, in some screen shots I can see the overall mix level that is displayed as a stereo track but I haven't seen say six channels so you can monitor & adjust levels. I would "assume" it's in the menu's but none of the images are showing that. Since I won't be mixing six tracks down to stereo a master level does me no good, I run pairs of microphones as individual stereo files so being able to glance at my levels like I do with the 680 & see all of them on one screen is key.


If you look about halfway down the Zoom product page for the F8 (https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/handy-recorder/zoom-f8-multitrack-field-recorder), there is a picture of the iphone app in which the phone seems to be showing meters for all eight inputs.  I am hopeful this will be on one of the menus for the recorder screen as well.  Full Compass claims they will get the machine in around July 17.

I saw that screen shot but I was looking more for levels similar to the stereo output image vs faders, the levels on the 680 are easy to see at a quick glance since it shows all active channels at once. Where it fails miserably is the lack of indication at what the db the level is at. That's been my largest complaint about the new Tascam decks, horrible metetng with no db indication where as in the past they were better than the competition.
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #72 on: July 10, 2015, 11:15:42 AM »
I think that Lanza summarizes the situation as it stands now and the way it will likely go.  The pro sound guys with bigger budgets will tend to stay with SD.  Folks on limited budgets will tend towards the F8 if reasonably well implemented.  If a 788 is just out of reach, there will be the F8. Might not take sales from SD, but F8 price is about half of R88 and tascams 8 track.  So f8 should put pressure on tascam and Roland at these price points if the internal performance is equivalent or better.

Offline carlbeck

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #73 on: July 10, 2015, 11:23:40 AM »
Hearing the preamps are similar is definitely encouraging, performance to price ratio will be key for our market.
I know you like, tape for people's approval and stuff, and wave your tapes around like they're your dick...  but even you can't actually think section tapes from philips sound good.  



Mics: Telefunken Elam 260, 61, 62, MBHO KA200, KA500 > Niant PFA's, AKG C34L-MS
Preamps: Grace Lunatec V2, Shure FP24
Decks: Tascam DR-2d, Zoom F8

Old rig: Recording: AKG C34 & AKG CK1X or CK2X > MK46 > 460 > Aeta Mix2000 > Sound Devices 702

Playback: Thorens TD125, Denon DVD-2900> Bel Canto DAC-1 > Audible Illusions 3B > Rogue Atlas >ZU Wax Shotgun> Hyperion 938
ALL TUBES BABY!!!

Offline MakersMarc

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Re: Zoom F8
« Reply #74 on: July 10, 2015, 12:24:52 PM »
Bummer, just heard back from Zoom in regards to ganging channel's together.

Dear Carl,

Unfortunately not. You can link two tracks together but because of the analog style gain controls they each have to be adjusted manually.


Sincerely,

ANDREW CUZZO

This is not a dealbreaker for me, as you can still adjust two at a time with your two hands. The ganging is more input on the 680, with it's one knob.

Deal breaker.
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