Zoom F4 Availabe

graywolf

graywolf

Well-known member
The Zoom F4 Recorder is available at B&H as of yesterday.

I ordered one today, should arrive in time for my birthday. I had two good reasons not to buy it: 1--I don't have the money available. 2--I never am an early adopter, preferring to wait until the bugs are worked out. Only one reason to buy it: I want it!

Anyway it seems like it is time to move into the 21st century with a decent digital recorder (darn cassette recorder weights 8-10 pounds). I hope this does not turn out to be a mistake on my part. I only ordered the recorder and a 64gb memory card. Primary use will be for recording voiceovers, however it would be nice if I could find jazz combos and chamber groups that want ambient recording made too. Unfortunately I am too old to go out and do 12 hour days anymore, so it is mainly a hobby.

A couple of you here said I ought to get an F4. I want you to know it is all your fault! (grin)
 
I'm stuck between if the Zoom F4 or Zoom F8 is the best idea for me :-/

So I'm going to sit on the fence and wait!!

If the reviews of the Zoom F4 are at least as good as the F8 (I assume so, as the F4 is carrying on what the F8 started) *and* Zoom brings out an update (which they've hinted at) to allow using a USB keyboard with the F4 for meta data (as it SUCKS you can't use the app for that like you can with the F8) then I think I'll surely go for the F4 over the F8.

Until then I am pretty happy sticking with a Tascam DR680 / Sound Devices 552 combo (http://ironfilm.co.nz/sound/) for the rest of the year :-)
 
It's here!

Will have to check it out over the weekend. So far I have just put in batteries and looked through the menus.
 
IronFilm said:
I'm stuck between if the Zoom F4 or Zoom F8 is the best idea for me :-/
Click to expand...

I had assumed the F8 would be my first choice but really the added buttons and MUCH better battery life make the F4 very appealing. It looks like they really listened to peoples comments about the F8 and made a number of changes that addressed many of them.
 
Well, now...

Played with the F4 a bit.

Preamps: Seem quite sensitive to me. AT4073A needs to be at about 9 o'clock on the knob. Low output dynamic about 2 o'clock.

Look and feel: No at all cheap.

Knobs: Penty of room for my smallish fingers.

Function: Everything I tried seems to work correctly.

Those seem to have been the big questions. Realize that I am new to highend recorders. That there are a few things on the menus that I do not really understand. The biggest one is when to put everything into one file and when to use a separate file for each track. But that is an operator question rather than an equipment one.*

This is the most expensive toy I have bought in the past 30 years (I am not making any money with it), but so far I do not feel I have wasted my money.


*Added: Separate files put takes in subfolders. One file selection puts takes in the main folder. I will be using separate files from now on.
 
Also if you record more than two tracks some applications have a hard time with poly wav files with more than two tracks.
 
Not owning an iPad not really an issue for me. I would really like a colored display, but maybe that is part of the much lower battery life?
 
"if you record more than two tracks some applications have a hard time with poly wav files with more than two tracks"
- That applies to multi-track poly files in general.
 
Noiz2 said:
Also if you record more than two tracks some applications have a hard time with poly wav files with more than two tracks.
Click to expand...

4-track drivers loaded. Premier Pro CS5 sees the driver, but ignors it when you click on it.

Other apps I have loaded do not even see the driver.

I guess I will have to download the apps that a license comes with the F4.
 
I have checked out tracks 5/6.

Line in stereo only.

You have a choice of recording from one of the Zoom modules plugged into the back of the unit. I do not have any of them, so can not say how they work.

You can select to record input from the mini stereo jack. Yes, you can, I checked it out. Don't believe everything people who have never seen an F4 say on the web. However this does not go to the headphone jack (probably to prevent feedback)

You can select to send the mini stereo jack input to the headphone jack (Return only) to monitor audio from your camera.

Note: apparently you can monitor or record from the 5/6 RTN jack, but not both at the same time.
 
5/6 records to two tracks so like most "stereo" recorders it's not necessarily stereo. Though if you don't have independent control it's a bit crippled for dual mono. I had been thinking of the F4 as a 6track recorder (+mix) but really it's a 4 track with another two tracks you can use in a pinch.
BTW I believe with the modules you can get one that has two mic pres with XLR and phantom power. It would be kind of clunky in a bag since the level controls would be on the bottom, but again in a pinch it would be an option.
 
To me 'stereo' means you do not independent control of the channels. But then my mixer deck has 4 mic/line in + 2 stereo in channels and somehow they call it a 12 channel deck. No idea if they consider the 2 Aux in L/R channels as 4 more or what.

But yes, the F4 is a 4 channel mixer/recorder/interface. To me 5/6 and L/R (output only), while they can be recorded are not much real world use.

I find the hardwired separate mic/line-in jacks annoying as I have a couple of microphones that have TS outputs, and other equipment has +4 line-out XLR's. Of course there are adapters, but just hitting a button or menu item would be more convenient. In fact, so far, I find this "feature" the most annoying.
 
Noiz2 said:
BTW I believe with the modules you can get one that has two mic pres with XLR and phantom power. It would be kind of clunky in a bag since the level controls would be on the bottom, but again in a pinch it would be an option.
Click to expand...

From all reports (and who knows how accurate those are) the XLR module does not have phantom power. It does have separate gain controls. It is, as you indicated, a clunky add on.
 
graywolf said:
To me 'stereo' means you do not independent control of the channels.
Click to expand...

Stereo, by definition, means that the two record channels are working together to create an image with depth. Separate mics to separate channels (such as two people in an interview, recorded with complete separation) is dual mono. Two channels that work together to place things left, right, and center create a stereo image.

By the way, the 5/6 input is labeled as a return. The reason you have a selection between record and monitor is that 5/6 is designed to be used along with the two XLR outputs as a headphone return from a camera. In the old days (which really weren't all that long ago and haven't entirely disappeared), the field mixer would be connected to a camera with an ENG snake that had 2 XLR sends from mixer to camera and a 1/8" TRS return from the camera's headphone output. That allows the PSM to monitor the recording from the camera. Most field mixers and field mixer/recorders still have this feature.
 
Return is only one of the three choices you have for tracks 5/6. I do not even see why it is important, as I simply have used a mini- trs cable as a return in the past. Just plugging my headphones into it.

However, that is a non-point. My point was, despite what people on the web have reported, you can record from the mini-jack! That is not what people say, it is not how some read the manual, it is something I have actually done with the recorder! I was trying to correct erroneous information.
 
Not trying to be picky. Glad you are giving some bleeding edge feedback. There is almost nothing out there in the way of hands on.

The F4 is on my very short list. If I get another production gig on the calendar I will probably go for it. I could have used a couple of extra tracks last time and it would have freed up my current rig for the B roll stuff.
 
Noiz2 said:
Not trying to be picky. Glad you are giving some bleeding edge feedback. There is almost nothing out there in the way of hands on.

The F4 is on my very short list. If I get another production gig on the calendar I will probably go for it. I could have used a couple of extra tracks last time and it would have freed up my current rig for the B roll stuff.
Click to expand...

As you know, I have not had a serious digital recorder previous to the F4. It is the first recorder that offered professional capability at a price I could, barely, afford. I am sure it lacks some conveniences that I am not even aware of. But at this point, I have had it in my possession for a week, I am quite happy with it. If you are moving up from a pocket recorder, I think you would also.

The only thing that erks me about the F4 is the physical separation of the MIC/LINE inputs. Unfortunately that seems to have been a hardware design choice, and isn't likely to be fixed by a firmware upgrade. Maybe on an F4n? It would not be so bad if TRS/XLR adapters weren't so bulky. Oh well, that stereo microphone was cheap anyway, although it works well on the cassette recorders. Probably the best way to solve this problem is to buy a couple of small diaphragm multi-capsule condenser mics, that would also give me a couple of hypercardiods as well as a cardioid stereo setup for field use.
 
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