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Allen Williams did a really thorough video on his Sound Speeds channel. Maybe this will help answer some of the remaining questions. I’m in agreement with kisaha that it’s stuck between segments. Not reliable enough for pros but maybe more than consumers need. I was taught to resist the impulse to make statements like this, because it’s a pretty clear acknowledgement that you’re about to do what you’re “not trying” to do.

You can see/hear the problems I had in this video demonstration I made. This is not public, only visible to those with the link. I contacted Deity and they said it was a quality control issue from Zoom. I contacted Zoom and they said they’ve never changed the shielding in the F8. Kisaha and Shastapete, are you trying it with the Deity Connect system or just commenting on the general reliability of your F8’s? I got mine right when they came out and it’s been great as well.

From Zoom: Hello,Digital wireless systems can sometimes cause interference at close proximity with the F4, F8, or F8n. The most effective way to resolve this would be to increase the distance between the recorder and the wireless receivers. Some users have suggested using strips of copper tape on top of the device to shield from EMI/RF, or using gaff tape to hold folded strips of blackwrap to the F8. If the interference is coming in through the cable, you could also try using ferrite beads to shield the cable from EMI/RF. We cannot guarantee that these suggestions will eliminate the interference, but they should help in most situations. There have not been changes in shielding in production of the F8/F8n. Let me know if you have any further questions.Sincerely,CUSTOMER SUPPORT Sounds like more users are likely to have issues. Based on what Larry said, rf experts probably saw this coming. C’est la vie, send it back and keep saving.

I don’t think I can trust it. Every device I put in (or near) my bag from then on would have to be tested to ensure it has enough shielding in the right places and won’t pick up interference. I asked someone with a mixpre 6 and he said he got some noise too. It’s definitely on the record tracks, not just the headphone amp. I was pretty annoyed that there were compatibility issues known to the manufacturer but they chose to keep quiet about it and let us find out for ourselves. Sourcing and making my own copper plate shield is not gonna cut it for me. I call it a fail. Vincent, go back and listen to each track on each recorder on solo with the input gain maxed. Some of my tracks the interference was very faint, but it was on all of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found some on other devices.

So I got mine in today but I might be sending it right back... It turns out the original f8 does not have shielding that can deal with the RFI the Connect receiver puts out. If they are in the same bag (or within about a foot of each other in general) there is a loud buzz in the f8’s preamps. I’ve never had any interference from sennheiser wireless or from my plug on rodelink (which granted is a much much lower wattage). I messaged Deity and the solution they offered was to put a big copper plate covered in soft side Velcro sticking up out of my bag between the recorder and the receiver. Not super attractive. I really really wish I would have seen some mention somewhere of this issue, especially since it has apparently been known for some time. I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I’d known that my only choices for running it are either to get a new recorder or build my own rf shielding contraption. Who knows what other devices will have interference issues.

Thanks for your video, Vincent. Very helpful.

Bouke, I have an f8, which has adjustable input delay. It does not have a timecode offset feature like I hear the 633 has. The general consensus I’ve heard agrees with you that half a frame delay is not that big of an issue. I just want to be prepared in case someone in post finds it to be a bigger issue. Jim, I’m keeping my eyes on all of Deity’s social media. Maybe sound pros are just not as enthusiastic about new, untested technology as youtubers are. I might end up being my own guinea pig. Like I said, I think these have a chance of outperforming my G3’s. And that’s all they really need to do, because if I need more range or reliability I’m probably renting anyway. That’s just where I’m at right now.

The gist of the responses I got seem to indicate that I will have timecode (or “timestamp”) issues that will need to be worked around. I think I need to see a solid workaround before I would commit to the kit. I was also excited to use a transmitter above 50mw without needing an FCC license, but from the tests I’ve seen it appears the output is not really comparable to an analog signal of the same power. The Connect has been advertised as a professional system for the past year or so, but I haven’t seen it tested by anyone on a broadcast or studio set. Literally all I’ve seen is youtubers running it straight into camera. Those are my big concerns right now. The things that are keeping me interested are the bi-directional communication and the adaptive frequency hopping. I think those features give the Connect a chance of outperforming the g4.

I’m here to find out more about the latency thing. I saw the demo at LSC, but I’m still iffy. I use timecode on shoots relatively often. Some people have said that 19ms of delay is not noticeable enough to create lip flap issues. But then if all sound is just over half a frame late, doesn’t that mean that sync will be closer to correct if you shift the audio one frame earlier? Does this, in effect, mean everything you record is one frame off from timecode? Andrew made the point at the demo that many shoots nowadays use a mix track on hops to sync by audio in premiere or pluraleyes, but timecode is an important upsell for me and a valuable time saver for my clients. I don’t want to buy something that’s going to prevent me from offering that service or make the sync boxes I already own useless.