Audio Gear
Zoom F6 Recorder.
The Zoom F6 is our field recorder. Its 32-bit float recording means levels can be recovered in post even if a subject suddenly shouts or drops to a whisper — effectively unclippable audio.
Specs
- Inputs
- 6 locking XLR mic/line inputs
- Recording
- 32-bit float or 16/24-bit linear, up to 192 kHz, using dual A/D converters per channel
- Tracks
- Up to 14 simultaneous (6 inputs x 2, plus an LR mix)
- Preamps
- Up to +75 dB gain, EIN of -127 dBu or less
- Phantom power
- +24 V or +48 V, selectable per input
- Timecode
- Onboard generator accurate to 0.2 ppm, with jam sync, over 3.5 mm
- Power and media
- 4 AA cells, Sony L-series battery or 12 V adapter; records to SD, SDHC and SDXC
The recorder that removes the worst question on set.
The question that ruins location audio is: what if they get louder than I expected? A subject who has been speaking softly for twenty minutes suddenly laughs, or a machine starts, or a bride's voice breaks upward on a vow. With a conventional 24-bit recorder, that moment either clips or you were riding levels so conservatively that everything else sits too close to the noise floor.
The F6 records 32-bit float using dual A/D converters on every channel, one optimized for quiet signals and one for loud, blended into a single file. The practical effect is enormous headroom in both directions. A take that looks clipped in the field can be pulled back down in post and be intact; a take that came in whisper-quiet can be raised without dragging up hiss. We still set sensible gain, because good practice does not go away. But the catastrophic take, the one where the moment happened and the file is a square wave, essentially stops happening.
Six real inputs, in a box that fits anywhere.
Six locking XLR inputs with proper preamps means we can run a full multi-camera interview or an event without compromise: two lavaliers, a boomed shotgun, a feed from the house PA and a pair of ambience microphones, all on separate tracks, all recorded discretely so the mix decisions get made later rather than being baked in. Up to 75 dB of gain with a very low noise floor means a quiet, low-output ribbon or shotgun does not run out of headroom in the preamp.
It is also small. This is a full location sound package that fits in a bag on a shoulder, which is why it comes on jobs that would not otherwise justify a dedicated sound cart.
Timecode is the quiet feature that saves a day.
The onboard timecode generator holds 0.2 ppm accuracy and jam syncs to an external source. When cameras and the recorder share timecode, an editor drops the day into a timeline and everything lands where it belongs. Nobody claps a slate at the top of every interview take and nobody is hand-aligning waveforms at midnight.
- Multi-camera interviews, with each microphone on its own isolated track
- Weddings, where the officiant, the couple and the house PA all get their own channel
- Corporate, event and panel coverage that must not clip during applause or laughter
- Documentary and run-and-gun days where levels cannot be babysat
- Any shoot where camera and sound must sync automatically via timecode
