Topic: Zoom F3 Part 2

[adrianf74]

He ‘said’ that it wasn’t the hold button … which would have been slightly embarrassing 😀

He's quite technically savvy and knows gear.  He just likes to be a Zoom basher while I bash Trascan's.

I agree with your buddy!   

Hey, who asked you, anyhow, since you don't have any current Zoom gear.

Just kidding!  I'm putting his issues down to operator error. And I'll let your comment side.

[unidentified]

When the F3 powers on it is NOT ready to record, I have to press one of two buttons to make the menu disappear (back or menu) before I can activate the record function.

Strange -- I have three of the little beasts and none of them have this quirk.   After they power up, all I have to do is to push the hold/record slider on the right side upwards to start recording.  I then slide the slider downwards towards me to engage hold.

That's how it behaves without the bluetooth adapter. Perhaps you don't run the bt?

Aha!  That explains it!  I did not realize that the first of your two concerns--the F3 not being ready to record upon start up--was also related to the use of BT.  Yup, I don't need to run BT in my use of the F3.

[grawk]

I stopped using bluetooth back when I had an F3 because it was relatively unreliable.  But I mostly used the F3 as "set and forget".

[Gutbucket]

[snip..] while Spectral Denoise can do wonders for steady-state noise, it doesn't help that much with the constant HF ticking from the switching noise.

You might try a "declick" type filter on it.  Or one intended for cleaning up the noise on LP transfers.

Yeah, one nice thing about standard taper recording methods is clean battery-supplied DC power.  Although one thing I've long wondered about is how clean the output of the voltage regulators / converters in modern external batteries actually are.  Susceptibility to a noisy switch-mode power supply will vary depending on the gear being powered and the quality of its supply filtering, but standard batteries without regulators/converters in them will always be cleanest.

[morst]

Yeah, one nice thing about standard taper recording methods is clean battery-supplied DC power. Although one thing I've long wondered about is how clean the output of the voltage regulators / converters in modern external batteries actually are.  Susceptibility to a noisy switch-mode power supply will vary depending on the gear being powered and the quality of its supply filtering, but standard batteries without regulators/converters in them will always be cleanest.

Pad down a 5v power line and run it into a line input at your highest sample rate and take a look-see? #HalfAssedOscilloscope

[Gutbucket]

Creative! Will also make for a DC offset check of the recorder.

[commongrounder]

Yeah, one nice thing about standard taper recording methods is clean battery-supplied DC power. Although one thing I've long wondered about is how clean the output of the voltage regulators / converters in modern external batteries actually are.  Susceptibility to a noisy switch-mode power supply will vary depending on the gear being powered and the quality of its supply filtering, but standard batteries without regulators/converters in them will always be cleanest.

Pad down a 5v power line and run it into a line input at your highest sample rate and take a look-see? #HalfAssedOscilloscope

Padding down (attenuating) the 5-volts DC will also pad down the noise riding on it. A better solution is to AC couple the voltage (as in using a capacitor) to block the DC, allowing the just fluctuating noise signal to pass. Of course the best way to do this would be to use a real oscilloscope, since a component of the noise could easily be outside of the audio band, but still interfere with proper equipment operation.

[unidentified]

I have noticed that when I power my Line CM3s with 48 volts from my Zoom F3, the F3 will become very very warm if I keep it tucked deep into a pocket, so warm that it will actually shut down. I have taken to actually removing the AA batteries from the battery compartment and running it solely from an external power bank to allow the unit to shed heat through the empty AA battery compartment. I keep the battery compartment door in a pocket while running the F3 this way. I started doing this after the unit shut down on more than one occasion and I noticed that the AA batteries were quite hot when I removed them. I was using an external power bank at the time that these incidents occurred.

[morst]

Got an F3, like what it does well (record 32f), but have a few quibbles with user interface, primarily. Mind if I just crash this thread with my gripes, lol?
...

Got the bluetooth adapter, but when I take my phone out of range, it locks me out until the deck is shut off. While I'm locked out of remote control (Tethered remote!?) I can't use the "magnification" function on the machine via the buttons like usual, again, until the deck is powered off, as far as I can tell. Tried simply unplugging the bluetooth dongle, but then that would not function again until the deck was restarted with it in place.

This remote control function is so badly implemented.
Do I need to write to Zoom with my beefs?  Or is it brutally obvious to everyone, do ya think?
Without remote control I can't even SEE the file name or time available on the memory card.
I get it that this box is small, but these are software fixes.

[morst]

I'm getting used to my workflow of setting a file name and then power cycling the F3...


I had a practical question which I have answered for myself and figured I would share the Q/A here, since I don't recall seeing an answer in this thread series.


Given that the F3 records 32-float at the magnification level selected at the time the RECORD function is started...
And given that the F3 is able to start a new file automatically at 32f96 every 46:36...


Question:
If I start a recording at one level, for example x2 magnification, and then increase the level to x4 and let the deck run...
and the length of the recording is such that a new file is created...


Will the new file have the magnification setting from when RECORD was instigated, or the setting of the deck at the time the second file was created?


My hypothesis is that the deck would keep the setting from when RECORD was started, so that the files can be safely joined in post production.


My hypothesis was CONFIRMED when I successfully joined two files, knowing full well that I had changed magnification settings on the deck after starting RECORD but before the second file was created.


I hope this helps someone.


How would I craft a search to find this?
"Zoom F3 Create File Magnification" returns nothing


"Zoom F3 File Magnification" is just me and Gutbucket... 

[Gutbucket]

Yes, and Yes. It's based on file size - once the file size limit is reached the recorder continues recording to a new file.  The 46:36 split when recording 2 channels at 32bit/96kHz that morst reports above corresponds to a 2GB file.  Some recorders allow you to set it to make smaller sized files if prefered (F8 does, which I use, not sure about F3) but most tapers prefer it leave it set to 2GB so as to limit the number of file splits that occur over the course of a single recorded performance.

Recording 2 channels at 32/96 hits the 2GB split point after about 46 minutes.
Recording 2 channels at 24/96 hits the 2GB split point after about one hour.
Recording 2 channels at 24/48 hits the 2GB split point after about two hours.
etc.

File size is determined by the combination of bit-depth, sample-rate and number of channels, so..

Recording 1 channel at 24/48 hits the 2GB split point after about four hours.
etc.

The above applies to any digital recorder writing uncompressed WAV files.  All properly designed digital recorders will make "seamless splits" when starting a new file, but checking that is something folks here always do with any recorder that is new to the market.  There have been cases where a newly released recorder produces a slight gap or incontinuity at the split, but that's usually quickly fixed via a firmware update from the manufacturer.

One of the reasons I set my recorders to record at 24/48, split at 2GB, and write single channel or 2 channel stereo files (regardless of how many channels I'm recording) is so that most any performance that does not feature a set-break will still fit within in a single file without any file-splits, and if there are set breaks I start a new file for each set anyway.   No problem jointing files back together seamlessly when they do split, but that avoids the need to do so, makes file management easier, and keeps the total size of the stored files reasonable.   Since I have the F8 set to write 8 single channel files, a file splits only occurs after around 4 hours.

[jefflester]

Doesn't necessarily help anyone since the battery is no longer made, but Maxoak S12 5200mAh battery fits very nicely underneath.

https://charjishop.com/product/maxoak-5200mah-mini-power-bank-portable-external-battery-digital-display-battery-bank-charger

[mrfender]

Nice, I need to find one like that.  As an aside, you can get "low profile" USB-C cables on Amazon as well so you don't have cords sticking out everywhere.

[jefflester]

I poked around for as low-profile USB cable as I could find, the battery is USB-A. The recorder USB-C end is also right angled.

[morst]

I poked around for as low-profile USB cable as I could find, the battery is USB-A. The recorder USB-C end is also right angled.

F3 doesn't draw so much juice that USB-A is a problem. My Mixpre6 from Sound Devices will not do more than two channels of the good mic preamps on USB-A, but requires a C plug... I like this about the F3.
(also love 32 float, especially for anything where I might have needed to set record levels on other units!)