New Zoom F8

Gary Nattrass · October 4th, 2015, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin McDonald

Link to Zoom F8 user manual in English. Not that I'm trying to tempt anyone...

Thanks Colin and always good to read the manual before you buy.

Steven Digges · October 6th, 2015, 03:45 PM

Guy,

Like many other guys here I have a lot of interest in this device. But for those of us that can not test drive one the big question remains "how good are the preamps?".

Today's technology and even firmware enables manufacturers to make products feature rich. But features do not account for quality performance. Making high quality preamps costs money. We all know what sound devices preamp quality is and that is the big reason they are worth a kings ransom.

I want to know if Zoom produced a pro level product with the F8 or if, as someone else on this thread (who I respect) said "it will be a nice device with ten POS preamps". So lets not even try to compare it to Sound Devices, for a thousand bucks I don't expect that. But lets a take a Zoom H6 for example. It has POS preamps with audible noise at the setting of 5 and 7 is a desperate move as the noise ramps up quickly. Is the F8 just another prosummer Zoom device in that category or did they make a big improvement in the preamps?

A test recording where you ramp them up would be great if that is possible? Even your opinion on the difference will help.

I see you are a DVI sponsor. I appreciate that and try to support sponsors because otherwise this great forum would not exist!

Kind Regards,

Steve

Gary Nattrass · October 6th, 2015, 05:14 PM

Well I listened to the demo and the various mic's being tested, I could not hear much noise and that is a pretty quiet studio!

Jason Jenkins · October 6th, 2015, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Nattrass

...the G3 sounds pretty good with the ME2 too and to me fuller than the Lectro. ;0)

Guy was surprised by that too, but I assured him it was only due to my amazing voice.

Jason Jenkins · October 6th, 2015, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Is the F8 just another prosummer Zoom device in that category or did they make a big improvement in the preamps?

A test recording where you ramp them up would be great if that is possible? Even your opinion on the difference will help.

Kind Regards,

Steve

Hi, Steve: I'm obviously not Guy, but I was in on the test and have some experience with the Zoom H6, as well as recording VO's with Sound Devices recorders. Unfortunately, we no longer have the test F8 and won't have stock in until late this month. I'm happy to do another test and post it when we get one in.

That being said, to my ears, the Zoom F8 preamps sound very close to those of the Sound Devices 633 I have sitting here on my desk. I'm not a professional sound guy, but I have been a video producer for over 15 years. I hope this is helpful in some degree.

Steven Digges · October 6th, 2015, 06:17 PM

Jason,

I have a ME2. The next time I need it to sound that good I will ether hire you for the VO or ask you who did the sweetening to make a ME2 sound that good! Mine never does.

Seriously though, under controlled circumstances in a quiet studio you can make almost any preamp sound good. In the real world I need to ask my preamps to provide some power once in a while. That's why I keep wondering if you can drive these?

Steve

Rick Reineke · October 6th, 2015, 08:06 PM

"I have a ME2. The next time I need it to sound that good I will ether hire you for the VO or ask you who did the sweetening to make a ME2 sound that good! Mine never does"

- If you can make a POS ME2 sound 'good', "You're a better man than I am Gunga Din!"
(exceptions may vary though)

Steven Digges · October 6th, 2015, 08:14 PM

Jason,

Your post and mine above hit at the same time. If the preamps on the Zoom F8 sound even close to your SD 633 that would be incredible. That would make this an amazing field recorder.

Rick,

I knew you would chime in about the ME2. But that was the non serious part of my post. Like I said, my ME2 is a POS. What do you think about the preamps being "almost as good as a SD 633"?

Steve

Jason Jenkins · October 6th, 2015, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Jason,

I have a ME2. The next time I need it to sound that good I will ether hire you for the VO or ask you who did the sweetening to make a ME2 sound that good! Mine never does.

Steve

For the record, all the audio in that video is untouched, straight from the recorder, with the exception of a slight level boost to the DPA 4018 track.

Rick Reineke · October 6th, 2015, 08:54 PM

BTW, a NYC dealer has sent me a F8 to use on a 20 day indie feature film shoot (King Cobra), staring Christian Bale & James Franco) [ you did not hear it from me]. I will report my findings as time permits. Naturally, I will record in tandem with my SD 744.. but I will need more tracks in some scenes.. the F8 will be recording concurrency.. TC and otherwise.. Naturally, my boom op/mic will still be the key.
Don't expect any YT reviews.

Steven Digges · October 6th, 2015, 10:07 PM

Would never expect a YT review from you for anything. As long as you can give us your opinion here it will be worth a million bucks, OK a thousand dollars. I will look forward to your input considering your glowing support of Zoom so far ;-) ;-) ;-) Gunga Din!

Steve

Rick, Do you know James Wirth? I hired him and his crew three times for some of my NYC gigs. It has been a while, I think the last time was in 2007. We rented a studio in the theater district and created a talk show type set. Peter Salvo MD of PBS was the host but it was a totally commercial shoot. James is a great guy and it was a professional production working with him every time I hired him.

Gary Nattrass · October 7th, 2015, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Reineke

BTW, a NYC dealer has sent me a F8 to use on a 20 day indie feature film shoot (King Cobra), staring Christian Bale & James Franco) [ you did not hear it from me]. I will report my findings as time permits. Naturally, I will record in tandem with my SD 744.. but I will need more tracks in some scenes.. the F8 will be recording concurrency.. TC and otherwise.. Naturally, my boom op/mic will still be the key.
Don't expect any YT reviews.

I look forward to reading about you practical experiences as you are a top man.

P.S I have two ME2 mic's with my G2 systems and have always found them to be fine, I wonder if some people have duds or different models?

Steven Digges · November 5th, 2015, 01:27 PM

Hey Rick,

How are you getting along with the F8? When you have time I would like to hear your thoughts.

Steve

Rick Reineke · November 7th, 2015, 09:01 AM

There was a scheduling change (and a delay of new product.. my LI USA Zoom contact stated 'it's not built in the same place, or by the same entity/folks that build the other Zoom products' (crap), so I only had the one for a few days and never actually used it on set. I was impressed by the solid build/feel of it, multiple/mixable outputs, ect. The file naming architecture could cause problems for a PSM. It seems a bit complicated and overkill for a OMB shooter. The preamps are of 'questionable' quality.

Steven Digges · November 10th, 2015, 04:55 PM

Thanks for the F8 update Rick. Did you see the quote below when I posted it above? Just curious. NY is a big city, but it is a small industry we work in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Digges

Rick, Do you know James Wirth? I hired him and his crew three times for some of my NYC gigs. It has been a while, I think the last time was in 2007. We rented a studio in the theater district and created a talk show type set. Peter Salvo MD of PBS was the host but it was a totally commercial shoot. James is a great guy and it was a pleasure working with him every time I hired him.

Steve

October 6th, 2015, 03:45 PM	#17
Steven Digges Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,828	Re: New Zoom F8 Guy, Like many other guys here I have a lot of interest in this device. But for those of us that can not test drive one the big question remains "how good are the preamps?". Today's technology and even firmware enables manufacturers to make products feature rich. But features do not account for quality performance. Making high quality preamps costs money. We all know what sound devices preamp quality is and that is the big reason they are worth a kings ransom. I want to know if Zoom produced a pro level product with the F8 or if, as someone else on this thread (who I respect) said "it will be a nice device with ten POS preamps". So lets not even try to compare it to Sound Devices, for a thousand bucks I don't expect that. But lets a take a Zoom H6 for example. It has POS preamps with audible noise at the setting of 5 and 7 is a desperate move as the noise ramps up quickly. Is the F8 just another prosummer Zoom device in that category or did they make a big improvement in the preamps? A test recording where you ramp them up would be great if that is possible? Even your opinion on the difference will help. I see you are a DVI sponsor. I appreciate that and try to support sponsors because otherwise this great forum would not exist! Kind Regards, Steve __________________ www.CorporateShow.com Been at this so long I'm rounding my years of experience down...not up!

October 6th, 2015, 05:14 PM	#18
Gary Nattrass Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cornsay Durham UK Posts: 1,992	Re: New Zoom F8 Well I listened to the demo and the various mic's being tested, I could not hear much noise and that is a pretty quiet studio! __________________ Over 15 minutes in Broadcast Film and TV production: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1044352/

October 6th, 2015, 06:17 PM	#21
Steven Digges Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,828	Re: New Zoom F8 Jason, I have a ME2. The next time I need it to sound that good I will ether hire you for the VO or ask you who did the sweetening to make a ME2 sound that good! Mine never does. Seriously though, under controlled circumstances in a quiet studio you can make almost any preamp sound good. In the real world I need to ask my preamps to provide some power once in a while. That's why I keep wondering if you can drive these? Steve __________________ www.CorporateShow.com Been at this so long I'm rounding my years of experience down...not up!

October 6th, 2015, 08:06 PM	#22
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,038	Re: New Zoom F8 "I have a ME2. The next time I need it to sound that good I will ether hire you for the VO or ask you who did the sweetening to make a ME2 sound that good! Mine never does" - If you can make a POS ME2 sound 'good', "You're a better man than I am Gunga Din!" (exceptions may vary though)

October 6th, 2015, 08:14 PM	#23
Steven Digges Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,828	Re: New Zoom F8 Jason, Your post and mine above hit at the same time. If the preamps on the Zoom F8 sound even close to your SD 633 that would be incredible. That would make this an amazing field recorder. Rick, I knew you would chime in about the ME2. But that was the non serious part of my post. Like I said, my ME2 is a POS. What do you think about the preamps being "almost as good as a SD 633"? Steve __________________ www.CorporateShow.com Been at this so long I'm rounding my years of experience down...not up!

October 6th, 2015, 08:54 PM	#25
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,038	Re: New Zoom F8 BTW, a NYC dealer has sent me a F8 to use on a 20 day indie feature film shoot (King Cobra), staring Christian Bale & James Franco) [ you did not hear it from me]. I will report my findings as time permits. Naturally, I will record in tandem with my SD 744.. but I will need more tracks in some scenes.. the F8 will be recording concurrency.. TC and otherwise.. Naturally, my boom op/mic will still be the key. Don't expect any YT reviews.

October 6th, 2015, 10:07 PM	#26
Steven Digges Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,828	Re: New Zoom F8 Would never expect a YT review from you for anything. As long as you can give us your opinion here it will be worth a million bucks, OK a thousand dollars. I will look forward to your input considering your glowing support of Zoom so far ;-) ;-) ;-) Gunga Din! Steve Rick, Do you know James Wirth? I hired him and his crew three times for some of my NYC gigs. It has been a while, I think the last time was in 2007. We rented a studio in the theater district and created a talk show type set. Peter Salvo MD of PBS was the host but it was a totally commercial shoot. James is a great guy and it was a professional production working with him every time I hired him. __________________ www.CorporateShow.com Been at this so long I'm rounding my years of experience down...not up!

November 5th, 2015, 01:27 PM	#28
Steven Digges Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,828	Re: New Zoom F8 Hey Rick, How are you getting along with the F8? When you have time I would like to hear your thoughts. Steve __________________ www.CorporateShow.com Been at this so long I'm rounding my years of experience down...not up!

November 7th, 2015, 09:01 AM	#29
Rick Reineke Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: New York Posts: 2,038	Re: New Zoom F8 There was a scheduling change (and a delay of new product.. my LI USA Zoom contact stated 'it's not built in the same place, or by the same entity/folks that build the other Zoom products' (crap), so I only had the one for a few days and never actually used it on set. I was impressed by the solid build/feel of it, multiple/mixable outputs, ect. The file naming architecture could cause problems for a PSM. It seems a bit complicated and overkill for a OMB shooter. The preamps are of 'questionable' quality.