Zoom H6, TRS or XLR inputs?

S

StephenEastwood

New member
Hello, thanks for reading, I had hear that on an older zoom the XLR inputs had to be converted whereas the 1/4" TRS was not, is this still the case with the H6? Is it better to use a TRS input than the XLR when Phantom power is not needed, such as coming from Sennheiser G3 wireless?

Thanks for any help.
 
The G3 may not have enough output level to feed the H6 at line level. The G3 receivers haven't enough level to drive the Sound Devices 633 line level input on Channels 4,5,6. So you will probably need to go into the H6 @ mic level.

Just a word of caution make sure that the phantom power is 'turned off' on what ever input you might have the G3 going into... For 2 reasons.
1. Having phantom On when its not needed WILL drain you battery much quicker.
2. Sennheiser G2 Rx units will be damaged if phantom is fed into them (I've had 2 Rx units damaged and had to get repaired) I am told that the G3 receivers are different, but I don't trust it.

Rule of location recording....No Phantom UNLESS you need it and then you select it. Rather than Phantom on ALL inputs then turn off what you don't need. (sort of the same thing but actually quite direct from an operational sense)
 
I guess that depends upon what unit you have. My Samson works better into the line-in than mic-in on my F4, although it can be set for either.

My solution on the phantom power thing is to leave 48v on for inputs 1&2, and off for 3&4. Of course, that is a sop for my old worn out memory. I tend to forget things like turning it on when I plug in a mic...
 
Yes, the G2/3 100 series portable receivers are unbalanced and applying Phantom Power 'could' cause damage. I have inadvertanly plugged the G2/3 into my 302 once or twice and the only abnormal result was rapidly draining the SD's battery.
The H4n's line level was (via the unbalanced 1/4") and was around (nomial) -10dB, this would probably match the G2/3's 'line' level good. [AF out set to max) The H6 manual states "Maximum allowable input level +22 dBu (PAD ON)"
This would indicate a +4 nominal line level input. I assume this is the 1/4" and is balanced on the H6. It would probably be best the use the G2/3 portable receivers in a mic level config. (Phantom Power OFF of course) If not using the 'factory' 3.5mm >XLR cable, a custom cable with the shield/ground and 'cold' (XLR pin 3) tied together must be used for optimal performance.
 
So I understand it, its better to use the XLR in Phantom off, I know they work both, I just heard that the H4 and maybe even the H5 had to do an extra conversion, analog to digital or reverse (I have to find that again) for the XLR and not the 1/4inch, was not sure if that was still the case with the H6

So far I am happy with the results using the XLR, but I am not a sound guy, and my sound guy can't figure out why I don't just take the Nagra one I have for productions, when I am using this for small self projects. Love the size and ease of the H6, though I prefer the audio files to all be linked as one, which I don't think the H6 can do, at least I haven't found an option and zoom hasn't responded to a post on their FB page about it. :/

Thanks for the help.
 
AFAIK, the only Zoom recorder that can produce multi-channel poly files are the F series recorders. The H6 and others are limited to 2-channels per file. Tascam's DR-680, 701 and the HS-P82 can render a multi-channel poly, multiple stereo or mono files.
 
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