NAB 2018 sneak peak: Zoom F8n

[David Peterson]

Zoom F8n is now available and in stock at B&H, I'm ordering it right away:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2855/KBID/3801

[David Peterson]

So far as I know, B&H is the only place which is shipping the F8n at the moment. Most retailers still have them listed as pre-order only or out of stock.
(Trew Audio lists it as available to order however, dunno if they actually are shipping them out yet though or if that is just how their website is displaying it, anyone got a shipping notification from them yet?)

Sounds like Gotham Sound has only got the one dealer demo model at the moment, but more should be coming into stock soon:
https://twitter.com/GothamSound/stat...015488/photo/1

At the moment as of right now your best bet to get an F8n asap is to order from B&H, and is where I ordered mine from.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Cool David, hope it meets your expectations and will be looking forward to a comprehensive review. But... wow, B&H is a long way from New Zealand! What kind of shipping and duties are involved with a purchase like that? Whenever my friend visits from Greece, we make a mandatory pilgrimage to B&H and she has a whole shopping list of stuff to purchase for her friends back home!

[David Peterson]

Have a friend also in Greece, and yup they complain about their taxes too when then they want to purchase new film gear!

As for me, I reckon B&H is the speediest/"best"/cheapest way for me to source a F8n. B&H's shipping rates are quite reasonable, but free within the USA! So I send it to a reshipper (will be there before the end of the week) in the USA for even cheaper rates to NZ (although that means it will take a couple of weeks from the reshipper to my place, if I pick their cheapest shipping option).

[David Peterson]

And now I've got *my* shipping notification sent to me! That my F8n is on its way and I should have it here in New Zealand by early next month.

[David Peterson]

Reports are rolling of the earliest pre orderers getting their deliveries! Any one in this forum got their delivery yet?

Mine is scheduled to arrive at my reshipper in Oregon USA tomorrow, but then will take a bit longer to get from there to New Zealand :-/

However I'm getting ready for that day! Having now purchased an iPad Mini 2 and iPod Touch 6th Gen (wonder if I can use both together at once? That would be the dream! But using either one at a time is the plan at the moment). Currently hunting down research for the next part of the jigsaw puzzle which is how to mount these best to my Orca OR30​​​​​​​ bag.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by David Peterson

However I'm getting ready for that day! Having now purchased an iPad Mini 2 and iPod Touch 6th Gen (wonder if I can use both together at once? That would be the dream! .

Have you used an iOS device with the F8 in the past? I was using mine with an iPhone 6s Plus which has a 5.5 inch screen. It worked fine on that, but was a bit of a compromise. First, on a phone (or iPod Touch) you get a different user interface that is more awkward. The transport controls are on the main screen, which only works in portrait mode. You have to tap a button to open the mixer, which only works in landscape mode. Switching between screens is a bit sluggish, and it’s annoying to constantly rotate the phone.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to touch one of the faders without changing its level - perhaps by as much as 6 db. I have an active fine point stylus called a Jot Dash made by a company called Adonit (IIRC). It allows you to be more precise on the small screen, and helps to prevent your hand from blocking your view, but I still had the problem of it being very difficult to touch a fader without changing the level in the phone app.

I recently got a 2018 9.7” iPad, and that is a big improvement with the app. The transport controls and faders are all on the same screen, which is in landscape mode, so you don’t have to rotate the device constantly. And the larger size makes it easier to move the faders which helps, but doesn’t completely prevent the problem of changing levels by just touching a fader.

I thought about getting an iPad Mini 4, but it’s a 3 year old device that is only $30 cheaper than the full size 2018 iPad. I liked the size of the Mini, but just didn’t think it was worth it. Of course, a Mini 2 should be much less expensive. However - I actually did a full scale photoshop mockup of this before deciding - since the iPad version puts faders and transport on the same screen, on a Mini the faders would only be slightly larger than the faders on my phone (but I have a big phone).

I have not tried using two iOS devices at the same time, but will check it out to see if they have implemeted this.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by David Peterson

wonder if I can use both together at once?

Well the short answer is "no" with the F8, seems unlikely they would change this. After connecting my iPad to my Zoom F8, when I open the F8 Controll app on my phone I get the generic "Not found the F8" message. Trying repeatedly didn't help.

And it only gets worse from there. Quitting the app on the iPad didn't help, still couldn't connect on the phone. Turning off the iPad didn't help. Turning bluetooth on/off on both phone and F8 didn't help. Shutting down/restarting the F8 didn't help. So I told the phone to "forget" the F8, and now I can't even "discover" it on the phone. Not a question of entering a passcode, since I never even get that far. I didn't do a full shutdown/restart of the phone or iPad, maybe that would help. Don't really need to use the app on my phone anymore, so am not going to waste more time on this now.

Bottom line is, if you try using it on two devices, be prepared to spend some time figuring out how to get everything working properly again! It still works on my iPad, so I'm good. Will look forward to your full review and if you learn any more about this.

[David Peterson]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Have you used an iOS device with the F8 in the past? I was using mine with an iPhone 6s Plus which has a 5.5 inch screen. It worked fine on that, but was a bit of a compromise. First, on a phone (or iPod Touch) you get a different user interface that is more awkward. The transport controls are on the main screen, which only works in portrait mode. You have to tap a button to open the mixer, which only works in landscape mode. Switching between screens is a bit sluggish, and it’s annoying to constantly rotate the phone.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to touch one of the faders without changing its level - perhaps by as much as 6 db. I have an active fine point stylus called a Jot Dash made by a company called Adonit (IIRC). It allows you to be more precise on the small screen, and helps to prevent your hand from blocking your view, but I still had the problem of it being very difficult to touch a fader without changing the level in the phone app.

I recently got a 2018 9.7” iPad, and that is a big improvement with the app. The transport controls and faders are all on the same screen, which is in landscape mode, so you don’t have to rotate the device constantly. And the larger size makes it easier to move the faders which helps, but doesn’t completely prevent the problem of changing levels by just touching a fader.

I thought about getting an iPad Mini 4, but it’s a 3 year old device that is only $30 cheaper than the full size 2018 iPad. I liked the size of the Mini, but just didn’t think it was worth it. Of course, a Mini 2 should be much less expensive. However - I actually did a full scale photoshop mockup of this before deciding - since the iPad version puts faders and transport on the same screen, on a Mini the faders would only be slightly larger than the faders on my phone (but I have a big phone).

I have not tried using two iOS devices at the same time, but will check it out to see if they have implemeted this.

I have used the F8 once before for a week with an iPhone as I'd rented it specifically so that I could have the bluetooth functionality to remotely monitor the recorder during 360VR shoots.

I'd mostly be using the app for monitoring and entering in metadata, not for mixing with.

You don't need to get an iPad Mini 4, even the iPad Mini original will support the app. Personally I went an purchased the iPad Mini 2 for dirt cheap on ebay. As I reckon the iPad Mini is likely to be a sweet spot for me between the iPhone and full size iPad size.

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Well the short answer is "no" with the F8, seems unlikely they would change this. After connecting my iPad to my Zoom F8, when I open the F8 Controll app on my phone I get the generic "Not found the F8" message. Trying repeatedly didn't help.

And it only gets worse from there. Quitting the app on the iPad didn't help, still couldn't connect on the phone. Turning off the iPad didn't help. Turning bluetooth on/off on both phone and F8 didn't help. Shutting down/restarting the F8 didn't help. So I told the phone to "forget" the F8, and now I can't even "discover" it on the phone. Not a question of entering a passcode, since I never even get that far. I didn't do a full shutdown/restart of the phone or iPad, maybe that would help. Don't really need to use the app on my phone anymore, so am not going to waste more time on this now.

Bottom line is, if you try using it on two devices, be prepared to spend some time figuring out how to get everything working properly again! It still works on my iPad, so I'm good. Will look forward to your full review and if you learn any more about this.

Oh dear that is awful, I hope it is not like this with the new F8n!

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by David Peterson

You don't need to get an iPad Mini 4, even the iPad Mini original will support the app. !

Sure, I understand, but I wanted an iPad for other things and wanted Apple Pencil support. If there was an iPad Mini 5 I probably would have gotten that, but I’m glad I got the full sized model.

[David Peterson]

Sadly I did NOT get to use the F8n myself on today's shoot....

vlog #48: I did not get to use my new Zoom F8n! :-( - YouTube

[David Peterson]

Great news for the original F8 owners, getting some of the F8n features:

https://www.zoom.co.jp/news/F8_update

[Boyd Ostroff]

That is great news - thanks David!

[David Peterson]

Great news for F8 owners!

Not so sure about it myself as a brand new F8n owner....

[Steven Digges]

I have been trying NOT to buy a Zoom F8. But Zoom just made a move that forced me to order a F8.

The V5 firmware for the Zoom F8 is mind blowing because I have never seen a company do this before. It basically makes the original F8 on par with the newly released F8N. Here is a link to Zoom's own comparison chart between the F8 and F8n:

https://www.zoom.co.jp/sites/default...risonChart.pdf

I buy almost all of my gear new from B&H, I am not a wheeler and dealer. But yesterday I found a brand new discontinued Zoom F8 on E-bay from a US authorized Zoom dealer for $700.00. If all goes well (I am a sceptic) once I install the firmware update, I just bought what is practically a new F8n for seven hundred bucks. I know my scenario is not what Zoom intended but my hat is off to them for providing such great support to those that have already invested in their product. Can you imagine how nice it would be for us all if other manufacturers did their best to upgrade existing products to the level of new releases? I have never seen this before. I just got lucky and found one at a discontinued price. You guys that already own a F8 must be thrilled.

If you see a hole in my F8 with the new V5 firmware upgrade plan for $700.00 let me know, there is a few small differences but it is not much. I will let you know if it all works when I have it in hand.

Note: I was holding out for a SD Mix Pre 10. But I don't really need 8 or 10 channels because by the time I get to that many inputs I insist the client allow me to bring on my sound guy. And my sound guys all have SD kit. Balanced outputs are a big priority for me and the MixPre 10 is the only MixPre that has them. The SD MixPre 10t is $1,700.00. I wholeheartedly believe in dedicated sound operators. And I will say having a F8 will never influence me away from having a sound guy whenever possible.

Kind Regards,

Steve