Zoom F6 Do you Need One? A Capable Field Recorder HD

Zoom F6 A very capable field recorder. Do I need one? Do you need one? Well depending on what you do for living but generally yes, you do need one. This episode is recorded on the Zoom F6 using a matched pair of the Rode M5’s just above the frame here. No post processing was done to the recording apart from normalizing to -23LUFS. You can’t clip the Zoom F6. You just can’t. It’s got 32 bit recording and that means you can record very quiet sounds and bring them up in post… and you can record very loud sound without worrying that you will ever clip the recording because 32 bit saves your day. I am sure you already know all the specs and features of what this little 500 gram device can do. It can accept 6 xlr microphones with phantom power, I mean in such a small package this thing is packed with features. It provides ambisonic mode for binaural recording. It’s got a timecode generator built in. It can accept timecode wirelessly although you would have to buy a Bluetooth addon. Headphone jack with volume controls is easily accessible. It accepts SD cards as you main storage medium and no, there is no dual cards slots. What amazes me is that it can be powered in many ways. You can insert some batteries into the device, you can hook it up to usb-c and keep it powered on forever. Or you can use NP-F batteries. I’m sure you have some lying around. The menu is nice, clear and easy to navigate. It has plenty of track labelling features . It can record many takes of audio without interruption and just by pressing one button splitting them into separate files . You can move a bad take to a special folder by pressing a combination of two buttons. You can pause a recording in the middle and restart whenever you want. PFL in case you are wondering Post Fader Listening (or correct me if I am wrong because the manual is written in a funny kind of a backwards way.) if you know what does L/R Track or PFL means just let me know in the comments. The device can also do so called pre listening. This means that even before you press the record button the device is already recording for a few seconds. It has the ability to connect to your computer and become an audio interface. There are a few multitrack or stereo options of explained in the manual. The only downside for me is that the outputs on the Zoom F6 are line level outs. And my studio monitors accept professional +4dBu signal. The consumer level signal can be converted. I am using a quite expensive Radial Engineering J+4 … its almost half the price of the Zoom F6 but it’s an amazing device highly recommended. Overall the Zoom F6 is packed with features and it will last you a long time if you take care of it. Its well built and sturdy… maybe its not built like a tank and it wont last long when used heavily every day … you know it can’t swim but… it gets the job done so I’m Mike and thanks for listening.