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Zoom F8


Michael Panfeld

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As of now, one of the most obvious advantages of the SD/Zax recorders in my opinion are really good limiters, which all of the above mentioned machines do not have (they have limiters, but they're not good). This seems to be one of the hardest things to implement well in a recorder, and also one of the most crucial things for our line of work. Even if you never use it. It's a bit like an airbag in your car.

true, but then again if the dual preamp implementation works well it won't need good limiters and even have an advantage over traditional recorders there.

this of course won't help too much with mixing as pin drop said, but for jobs which mainly need clean ISOs it looks like a superb machine.

chris

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Can't wait to try one. As mentioned already, my only concern is the limiters. But 8 X inputs of -127dbu EIN and 120db dynamic range for a grand.....that is truly game changing. Could be the machine sound effects recordists have been wanting for years. 

 

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Could be our worst nightmare too.

Picture the discussion with production companies that have found out via their B&H email subscription that this exists and the subsequent kit rental negotiation that may end with "well, we're just going to buy one of these new Zoom-thingys and have you use that on our shoots".

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Could be our worst nightmare too.

Picture the discussion with production companies that have found out via their B&H email subscription that this exists and the subsequent kit rental negotiation that may end with "well, we're just going to buy one of these new Zoom-thingys and have you use that on our shoots".

If a client asks you to use their own gear because they want to penny pinch the living hell out of you, tell them that if you use their gear, and something goes wrong, you are not responsible for any lost / no sound.  That should scare them enough into letting you use your own gear.

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If a client asks you to use their own gear because they want to penny pinch the living hell out of you, tell them that if you use their gear, and something goes wrong, you are not responsible for any lost / no sound.  That should scare them enough into letting you use your own gear.

Yes, and of course, I would charge an extra $200/day of labor to set up and test their gear, and another $150/day for extra stress.. Actually, it would likely be better to turn down jobs from a client like that.

Edited by Johnny Karlsson
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I think a lot of the jobs all these new low-end solutions will be used on are lost causes for people like us already.  They'll be used on the easy, low-expectation jobs, ultra way cheap. Production sound, as we know, has a way of getting really hairy really fast all of a sudden, and a lot of what's needed to deal with those eventualities isn't very fun and is kind of expensive and require some experience and preparation.  Thus we will continue to make a living doing the sound jobs that the filmmakers don't want to do themselves….

p

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  • 3 weeks later...

noise floor at -127dBu sounds good (664 is -126dBu // 744t specs 130dBu)

max Gain 75dB  (664 is 93dB // 744t is 70dB)

A/D Dynamic Range 120dB??? (664 is 114 dBa // 744t is 114 dBa)

at the end it depens how it sounds, how reliable it will be in light rain, how metadata works, how limiters...

.

 

the menu looks a lot like Sound Devices 6series

new video from Zoom:

Edited by Armin Siegwarth
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seem a bit odd that the spec list the external power as 9-16V when a lot of lithium have a 16.6V max peak. i guess they have enough safety margin to handle this but i'd still prefer if the official specs covered that.

on the other hand they have a real nice listing on how long different kind of batteries last under different track counts, sample rates etc.: https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/handy-recorder/zoom-f8-multitrack-field-recorder#specs

i also like that it looks like you can customise the meter display on screen.

 

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seem a bit odd that the spec list the external power as 9-16V when a lot of lithium have a 16.6V max peak. i guess they have enough safety margin to handle this but i'd still prefer if the official specs covered that.

on the other hand they have a real nice listing on how long different kind of batteries last under different track counts, sample rates etc.: https://www.zoom.co.jp/products/handy-recorder/zoom-f8-multitrack-field-recorder#specs

i also like that it looks like you can customise the meter display on screen.

 

that spec is only for the hirose input, separate from the internal pack which is safe to use with lithiums.

Quote from the specs...

Looks like they implement something similar to what MOTU did with their interfaces in that multiple recorders can be synced together with timecode alone, rather than needing wordclock too for sample accurate synchronization.  Also means that it might be dangerous to use something like Zaxcom ERX for source due to micro-adjustments over course of operation.

Modes:

Off, Int Free Run, Int Record Run, Int RTC Run, Ext, Ext Auto Rec (audio clock can be synchronized to timecode)

Frame rates:  
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that spec is only for the hirose input, separate from the internal pack which is safe to use with lithiums.

yeah, i just thought a lot of people might want to power it with an external NP type lithium batt through the hirose input...

then again, i guess a lot of those will have a regulated power distro. 

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Who really thinks Zoom can deliver on the specs thy have posted (especially at the price point)?

To me the numbers look like the took theoretical bests for the individual components and stuck them together

What in Zoom's past make you think they can pull this off?

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Eric do you know if those pre orders are people purchasing it as a backup machine or are they purchasing as a primary recorder?

A safe bet would be 75-80% as BU units or a second run bag considering who is buying it and where they are buying it from.

Edited by Eric Toline
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A safe bet would be 75-80% as BU units or a second run bag considering who is buying it and where they are buying it from.

I'd like to know where you get your stats on "who is buying it and where they are buying it from". Your "safe bet" would seem to be nothing more than a wild guess.

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Last I heard, neither Pro-Sound nor any retailer requires a buyer to state the intended use prior to placing an order. 

Almost every dealer will have a conversation with just about everyone that comes in to purchase gear from the shop. This isn't buying a Big Mac and fries. Most dealers have a very good sense of the customers needs, the sorts of jobs they are doing, and even at the level of being cordial and helpful most dealers will ask. Figures for sales from B&H, for example, where there is NO conversation, would be of no help in answering the question at hand "how are most professionals going to be using this item".

Edited by Jeff Wexler
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As bad as I suspect this thing is, at least it allows external microphones, multiple tracks, and timecode. I'd rather cheap student-level productions use something like this than a non-timecode recorder like the $300 Zooms. Going from "utter crap" to "much better crap" is at least an improvement. But no way will this thing be a replacement for a 788 or a Maxx or anything like that. 

I'm doubtful that this could work for sound effects people because they're extremely critical on mic preamps and dynamic range. I'm not convinced you can make a very wide-range, low noise 2-channel mic preamp and put it in a recorder for $995, let alone 8 channels of them. 

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