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The lack of the safety track for phantom powered mics on the Zoom H6


Dan Wake

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I'm tryng to find out a solution to bring the safety track rec for the Zoom H6.
Safety track allow to rec a second file at minus tot. db to prevent audio clipping. This can save the work if actors screams.
If actors scream using a limiter is not good because it compress the sound creating unnatural effect, something similar to a kazoo or a megaphone effect. so a prosumer recording tool should give you the possibility to have the safety track rec option to take two files with different decibel level recording. This will save the dynamic range of the voice if actors scream. And sometimes they will scream if you work in film industry.
So I decided to make a test with a Y cable and the Zoom H6 to find a diy solution but I failed the experiment. Current firmware is v2.0.
 
You can find my test here:
 
This test show that is impossible to have a working safety track rec for phantom powered mics on the Zoom H6. 
Firmware v2.0 does not allow safety track rec for phantom powered mics. 
I wrote to Zoom company to ask this feature in the next firmware update, it's the only solution.
The external unit Zoom EXH-6 will not solve this problem because it does not provide any phantom power.
 
info@zoom.co.jp
 
 
Safety track is avaiable on many Tescam devices and I suggest anyone to get a recoder that have this feature. I did not wanted to tell this because I don't like to speak bad of a product and make free advertising to another. I hope Zoom Company will balance this situation.
 
 
update 04-22-2015.
the video test that I did is useless. I discovered the cable that I used for this test was broken/soldered strange and went in antiphase.
I will update you soon I'm going to make a new test with a new cable. 
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"safety track" is for the most part a myth, a mis-guided hope that the distortion from an actor yelling into a microphone can somehow be put on another track at a lower level and "save" you. You need to know where this distortion is happening. Once you have set the gain trim for the INPUT, if an actor starts to scream the distortion or clipping is happening either one of two places: either the sound has exceeded the headroom of the mic (though this is not likely since most microphones are good to at least 120 db spl) or more likely the signal has overloaded the mic preamp. So, the distortion is there, no doubt about it, it IS the signal you are going to record to the track. The track or tracks are set to record the output of that mic preamp. Your main track will be at nominal level and will have the distortion. The so-called "safety track" will have the same distortion only at a lower level. Now, the only exception to this would be if the recorder actually has the facility to have the mic preamp gain trim have 2 settings: 1 main setting whose output goes to the main track, and second gain setting (on the preamp) set to lower setting and feeding the track at a lower level.

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Jeff, I think the OP is trying to achieve this by actually using two inputs and a y-cable from the mic.

Dan, before you complain to Zoom about the lack of this "feature", did you actually try this with another device? Could it be that perhaps this doesn't actually work?

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Constantin, I realize what he is trying to do but I don't think the Tascam and Zoom Safety Track works this way. I believe it is as I described, 1 input for the mic but the output of that input is sent to 2 tracks with one of those tracks recording level set lower than the other. There is a lot of confusion on this and I agree with you that he shouldn't complain to Zoom until the whole process is actually understood. 

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Does the input on that unit go to two seperate mic pres with different gain stages? If not, then as Jeff pointed out, it doesn't matter. The distortion has already happened. It did work nicely back on the old nagras. Sending the same signal and running one mic amp lower than the other to prevent saturating the tape too much.

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Yes, the mic input gain is set to two different levels in the DR series recorders (the same signal feeds 2 mic pres, not one mic pre feeding 2 A/D converters).   The signal can still clip in the analog stage if you are unlucky (very loud sudden sound), but the benefit is definitely there - it is the same as physically using a Y cable.

 

As to why using a Y cable doesn't work on the Zoom, I'd expect that trick to work with any recorder.

 

Tom (TASCAM).

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Yes, the mic input gain is set to two different levels in the DR series recorders (the same signal feeds 2 mic pres, not one mic pre feeding 2 A/D converters).   The signal can still clip in the analog stage if you are unlucky (very loud sudden sound), but the benefit is definitely there - it is the same as physically using a Y cable.

 

As to why using a Y cable doesn't work on the Zoom, I'd expect that trick to work with any recorder.

 

Tom (TASCAM).

Y cable works with Tascam (including phantom power).

DW did you have phantom switched on for both inputsof zoom?

You could try a separate phantom power supply between mic and Y cable. 

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