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Author Topic: Zoom F8 - Part 2  (Read 125334 times)

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Offline connloyalist

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #390 on: September 06, 2016, 10:31:38 AM »
The discussion about the F4 on (ahem) GS is turning toxic. I must say it pains me to see that happen.

Regards, Christine

stevetoney

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #391 on: September 06, 2016, 11:35:40 AM »
Maybe I've missed it in the manual, but is there a way to separately adjust levels for the summed L/R tracks?  The individual component track levels are fine, but the summed stereo L/R tracks are recorded way too hot.  I grant that the summed L/R tracks are unnecessary since I will do my own matrix in post, but it would be kind of nice just to hear them on the fly.

Thanks!

On page 72 of the manual... In the F8 menu choose...

Output > headphone > headphone routing

When you see the grid, toggle so the red triangle is in the upper left under the L column on the first line.  Then toggle so the red triangle is in the lower right under the R column in the second line.  Finally continue to toggle on this same screen to set these up as being post fader in the boxes below the grid.

Lock that selection in by pressing the big black knob.

Now go back to the home screen  and rotate the big black knob until you get the mixer screen which shows all eight channels.  This is the screen similar to page 10 in the manual.  (It doesn't look exactly the same as the manual anymore bc of a firmware update.) 

Press the big black knob.  Now toggle through each channel to set your monitoring details for what you hear in your headphones.  Each channel has a pan and level control so you can send whatever you want into the headphones.  Remember this is a mixer so you're mixing all of the active channels to the summed l and r output, which youre monitoring through your phones. 

So let's say you have four mics flying and they're connected to channels 1 through 4.  By monitoring l and r post fader, you can listen to any combination of inputs however you want to on the headphones.  Here's what I'd do with four mics...Pan mics 1/3 all the way to the left and 2/4 all the way right.  Now if you want to hear what the 1/2 pair sounds like, raise the level of 1/2 and lower the level of 3/4 pair to zero using the individual channel sliders on the mixer controls.  If you want to monitor the 3/4 pair raise their level and drop the level of channels 1/2 to zero.  Then pay around with the ratio of each to get a feel for whether the combo sounds better than each pair by itself.  Once you've figured out which sounds best, make a note of it and replicate that in post.

Another use is simply to use the monitor to boost the monitoring volume during the show so you can hear better what you're recording.  So say your inputs are set at -12db and you can't hear through the headphones all that well, just crank the post fader monitor level...i think you can add up to 12db.  I do this all the time.

I love the monitoring capabilities of the f8.  I do wish the headphone amp was better quality but it does the job for what I need it to do.

Offline voltronic

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #392 on: September 06, 2016, 06:02:03 PM »
I'm curious if any Team Classical / Jazz / Quiet Acoustic / etc. folks have had experience recording straight into the the F8 and can post samples.  I remember WiFi Jeff was using his for solo piano sessions, but that's the last I've heard any quiet acoustic music recorded with the F8.  I can't really judge the quality of a preamp from an AUD tape, maybe because that's so different from what I'm doing.

My long-term plan has been to save my pennies until I can afford a SD 788, since I'd like 6 or 8 channels of P48, with preamps that offer low(ish) noise at high gain.  Currently I can only do that with my FP-24, and the F8 obviously looks attractive.

I don't expect the F8 preamp performance to equal Sound Devices.  I just am curious how close it gets. ;D
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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #393 on: September 06, 2016, 10:19:11 PM »
Maybe I've missed it in the manual, but is there a way to separately adjust levels for the summed L/R tracks?  The individual component track levels are fine, but the summed stereo L/R tracks are recorded way too hot.  I grant that the summed L/R tracks are unnecessary since I will do my own matrix in post, but it would be kind of nice just to hear them on the fly.

Thanks!

On page 72 of the manual... In the F8 menu choose...

Output > headphone > headphone routing

When you see the grid, toggle so the red triangle is in the upper left under the L column on the first line.  Then toggle so the red triangle is in the lower right under the R column in the second line.  Finally continue to toggle on this same screen to set these up as being post fader in the boxes below the grid.

Lock that selection in by pressing the big black knob.

Now go back to the home screen  and rotate the big black knob until you get the mixer screen which shows all eight channels.  This is the screen similar to page 10 in the manual.  (It doesn't look exactly the same as the manual anymore bc of a firmware update.) 

Press the big black knob.  Now toggle through each channel to set your monitoring details for what you hear in your headphones.  Each channel has a pan and level control so you can send whatever you want into the headphones.  Remember this is a mixer so you're mixing all of the active channels to the summed l and r output, which youre monitoring through your phones. 

So let's say you have four mics flying and they're connected to channels 1 through 4.  By monitoring l and r post fader, you can listen to any combination of inputs however you want to on the headphones.  Here's what I'd do with four mics...Pan mics 1/3 all the way to the left and 2/4 all the way right.  Now if you want to hear what the 1/2 pair sounds like, raise the level of 1/2 and lower the level of 3/4 pair to zero using the individual channel sliders on the mixer controls.  If you want to monitor the 3/4 pair raise their level and drop the level of channels 1/2 to zero.  Then pay around with the ratio of each to get a feel for whether the combo sounds better than each pair by itself.  Once you've figured out which sounds best, make a note of it and replicate that in post.

Another use is simply to use the monitor to boost the monitoring volume during the show so you can hear better what you're recording.  So say your inputs are set at -12db and you can't hear through the headphones all that well, just crank the post fader monitor level...i think you can add up to 12db.  I do this all the time.

I love the monitoring capabilities of the f8.  I do wish the headphone amp was better quality but it does the job for what I need it to do.

Thanks!  Let me give that a whirl.  I did not consider that the mixing function would control the recording level for the L/R tracks.  I have used it for the headphones to monitor the different channels, but not to control the levels of the recorded mixed tracks.
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 2manyrocks

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #394 on: September 07, 2016, 04:12:42 PM »
pohaku.-you own a fair sampling of recorders.   If you could keep only one recorder, which one would you keep and why?  If there's a runner-up, which one would you pick as number two?

Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #395 on: September 07, 2016, 06:01:51 PM »
Right now, I am really quite happy with the F8.  I don't stealth, so size really isn't an issue as long as it is reasonably luggable.  Second choice is the M10.  It is small, pretty fool proof and runs forever.  If I am just doing a two track, I don't really need more for a recorder.  I would use a tiny box or USBPre2 for the pre.  My DR680 has become superfluous (I suppose I can keep it as back up or lend it out to friends) and the DR70 has also been bumped by the F8.  The F8 is so small that there really isn't any particular advantage to using the DR70 if I am looking to record more than 2 tracks.
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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stevetoney

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #396 on: September 07, 2016, 07:46:06 PM »
Right now, I am really quite happy with the F8.  I don't stealth, so size really isn't an issue as long as it is reasonably luggable.  Second choice is the M10.  It is small, pretty fool proof and runs forever.  If I am just doing a two track, I don't really need more for a recorder.  I would use a tiny box or USBPre2 for the pre.  My DR680 has become superfluous (I suppose I can keep it as back up or lend it out to friends) and the DR70 has also been bumped by the F8.  The F8 is so small that there really isn't any particular advantage to using the DR70 if I am looking to record more than 2 tracks.

My line up is similar...F8, D50, DR70, DR100mkii, PMD660, and two paperweight micro-crappers (uggh!).  The order I have them listed is my 'line-up' for just about all of the same reasons you list pohaku.  I like the feature set of the F8 and the size, even when I'm doing 2 track recording.  The D50 comes out on occasion when I feel like a really light load or of course if I'm undercover.   One limitation of the D50 is you can't control channels independently, so I really liked the D100 alot better when I had one, but it's so much more expensive.  The D50 is also the recorder I run at the second stage when I'm doing more than one stage at a festival.  The DR70 makes it out if I'm covering multiple stages at a festival or if either of the other two recorders might be having issues.  I rarely use the DR100mkii anymore, but it's so well used that it's worth more to me sitting in the basement than the $50 or so I'd sell it for.  I actually used the PMD660 recently because I was short on time and had about five minutes to put together a rig so just grabbed the 660, mics, cables and batteries.  Recording sounded fantastic.  The PMD660 is an Oade mod and even though it's only 16 bit, it's still one of the best sounding modded all-in-one units I've ever heard, so when I had a chance to pick it up for $100 a couple years ago, I went ahead and got it.

Offline 2manyrocks

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #397 on: September 07, 2016, 09:56:56 PM »
Thanks.  If anyone else would like to pick their no. 1 recorder and no. 2 recorder,  it would be interesting to see what other members have to say. 

Offline dogmusic

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #398 on: September 08, 2016, 09:24:48 AM »
Right now, I am really quite happy with the F8.  I don't stealth, so size really isn't an issue as long as it is reasonably luggable.  Second choice is the M10.  It is small, pretty fool proof and runs forever.  If I am just doing a two track, I don't really need more for a recorder.  I would use a tiny box or USBPre2 for the pre.  My DR680 has become superfluous (I suppose I can keep it as back up or lend it out to friends) and the DR70 has also been bumped by the F8.  The F8 is so small that there really isn't any particular advantage to using the DR70 if I am looking to record more than 2 tracks.

How do the preamps of the F8 and the DR70D compare? Do the F8's sound better?
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

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Offline pohaku

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #399 on: September 08, 2016, 01:20:14 PM »
Right now, I am really quite happy with the F8.  I don't stealth, so size really isn't an issue as long as it is reasonably luggable.  Second choice is the M10.  It is small, pretty fool proof and runs forever.  If I am just doing a two track, I don't really need more for a recorder.  I would use a tiny box or USBPre2 for the pre.  My DR680 has become superfluous (I suppose I can keep it as back up or lend it out to friends) and the DR70 has also been bumped by the F8.  The F8 is so small that there really isn't any particular advantage to using the DR70 if I am looking to record more than 2 tracks.

How do the preamps of the F8 and the DR70D compare? Do the F8's sound better?

While the pres in both units sound perfectly acceptable to me on an individual basis, especially for recording amplified rock music, I haven't done a split feed from a single pair of mics to be able to do a side by side with different kinds of music.  In my most recent foray with the F8 I actually used my USBPre2 to feed it, so another variable introduced.  Has anyone else here actually done a comparison?
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 vwmule

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #400 on: September 08, 2016, 11:15:35 PM »
can someone remind me if there's a cheat sheet for menu settings that fit our use? Just got a new unit after LCD went bad on my last one and want to be sure I've got everything correct.

Offline swaneon

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Re: Zoom F8 - Part 2
« Reply #401 on: September 17, 2016, 04:55:06 PM »
Right now, I am really quite happy with the F8.  I don't stealth, so size really isn't an issue as long as it is reasonably luggable.  Second choice is the M10.  It is small, pretty fool proof and runs forever.  If I am just doing a two track, I don't really need more for a recorder.  I would use a tiny box or USBPre2 for the pre.  My DR680 has become superfluous (I suppose I can keep it as back up or lend it out to friends) and the DR70 has also been bumped by the F8.  The F8 is so small that there really isn't any particular advantage to using the DR70 if I am looking to record more than 2 tracks.

How do the preamps of the F8 and the DR70D compare? Do the F8's sound better?

While the pres in both units sound perfectly acceptable to me on an individual basis, especially for recording amplified rock music, I haven't done a split feed from a single pair of mics to be able to do a side by side with different kinds of music.  In my most recent foray with the F8 I actually used my USBPre2 to feed it, so another variable introduced.  Has anyone else here actually done a comparison?
I did a rough comparison a while back with the Mix Pre D and F8 and the F8 literally was astounding. The F8 is much better than the DR70d imo.

 

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