Zoom F4 is a portable field recorder that has been designed for audio recordists in film, television, and broadcast, or where it is advantageous to have a compact digital multitrack recorder on location. F4 provides up to 17.5 hours of operation with 8x AA alkaline battery cells, and can simultaneously record up to eight tracks of audio. Optional and interchangeable audio input capsules provide a number of differing input methods including X/Y or mid-side pickup, or additional audio inputs.
Recording directly to 16MB to 2GB SD card, 4GB to 32GB SDHC card, or 64GB to 512GB SDXC card – with associated metadata, the 6-input, 8-track recorder has four locking Neutrik XLR/TRS combination connectors for tracks 1-4, unbalanced stereo 3.5mm jack for channel 5/6 camera return (monitoring only), and port for compatible Zoom capsules. When recording to MP3 format, recording is limited to two simultaneous tracks. Internal processing allows the user to employ high pass filtering, compression, and effects to the audio, and ‘advanced’ onboard limiting for input and output stages. Additional features including user adjustable input delay up to 30msec, an adjustable output delay of up to 10 frames per output, and time code I/O on BNC connectors.
Recording time;
|
32GB card |
| 48kHz/24-bit stereo WAV |
30:51:00 |
| 192kHz/24-bit stereo WAV |
07:42:00 |
Battery life;
The front facing panel of the F4 has transport buttons, including backlit play/pause and record buttons. A green backlit power LED is positioned in the lower right-hand corner and a rotary headphone output level controller is positioned to the centre of the recorder. Above the transport buttons each of the four input channels has a dedicated rotary input level control, PFL switch, red clip LED, and 6-stage LED level meter. Above the headphone volume control, a menu button and jog wheel allows the user to adjust settings as well as scroll through the menu that is displayed on the 1.9inch backlit white monochrome LCD.
The left side of the recorder has four balanced XLR/TRS combo inputs for channels 1-4, the right side of the F4 has two balanced XLR outputs, unbalanced 3.5mm jack return socket, Hirose connector, sub output on 3.5mm unbalanced jack socket, and 6.3mm headphone output connection. The rear of the field recorder has BNC connections for time code, MIC IN for channels 5 and 6 by way of optional capsules listed below, AA battery cell caddy, and dual SD card slots.
Included accessories: Camera mount adapter, AD-19 12V AC adapter, DHC-1 DC-HIROSE cable, Cubase LE and Wavelab LE download codes, operational manual.
Recording media: SD card, 16MB to 2GB; SDHC card, 4GB to 32GB; SDXC card, 64GB to 512GB. Input gain: +10 to +75dB, mic; -10 to +55dB, line. Input impedance: 3.0kohm or more, mic; 22kohm or more, line. Maximum input level: +14dBu, XLR; +24dBu, line (at 0dBFS, limiter on). Phantom power: +24/+48V, 10mA maximum, mic inputs. Equivalent input noise: -127dBu or less, A-weighted, +75dB input gain. A/D dynamic range: 120dB typical. Crosstalk: -90dB or less. Output: balanced XLR, 150ohm or less, -10dBm, 1kHz reference, +10dBv maximum. Sub output: 3.5mm jack, unbalanced. Headphone output: 6.3mm stereo jack socket, 100mW + 100mW into 32ohm load. USB: Class 2.0, high speed. Power requirements: 8x AA battery cells/AD-19 DC adapter/DC-HIROSE cable. Dimensions (W x D x H): 177.8 x 141.1 x 54.3mm. Weight: 1030g.
This capsule is designed for live broadcast and podcast applications and provides two unidirectional condenser microphones, each fixed at a 90degree angle. Capable of handling input levels up to 140dB SPL, this capsule is also well equipped to capture audio from live concerts or electronic news gathering (ENG) applications.
The SSH-6 microphone capsule features a ‘super-directional’ microphone element for capturing audio in the front or centre, and a bi-directional microphone element to capture audio from the left and right of the capsule. This results in a ‘mono-compatible’ stereo image that can be adjusted in post-production, often desired in film, video and television applications. Includes hairy windscreen.
SGH-6 is a shotgun microphone capsule designed to capture audio front the front of the microphone and reject audio from the side or rear.
The MSH-6 capsule contains a unidirectional forward-facing microphone element as well as a bi-directional, side-facing microphone element to capture audio otherwise known as ‘mid-side’. The compatible recorder’s MS (mid-side) decoder allows the capture of a stereo image that can be later adjusted – particularly handy for film, video and television application.
Like the XYH-5, the XYH-6 is an X/Y audio capturing microphone capsule however it doesn’t have shock mounting properties. The angle of the microphone capsules can be altered from 90 to 120 degrees for a wider stereo image.
This module has two balanced 6.3mm/XLR combination inputs to give the user additional inputs to their compatible Zoom recording device. Each input has a 0/20dB pad switch along with rotary input level controller.
These items are extension cables designed to give the user the option of remote mounting their Zoom microphone/input capsules for better placement. ECM-3 is a 3m extension, and ECM-6 is a 6m extension, both include a hot shoe adapter to allow the user to mount to a tripod or boom pole.
The Zoom F-Control FRC8 mixing control surface is compatible with the Zoom F4 and F8N and has been designed to give the user ‘more control and flexibility’ when recording in the field. This compact controller has 9x 60mm faders (8x channel and 1x master) with controls for trim, pan, and track arming. 12-segment LED meters gives a visual indication of each channels levels. An external USB keyboard can be connected to enable the user to type track information such as name, scene name, notes, and ‘false take’. A 6.3mm jack headphone socket allows the connection from the headphone output of the F4 or F8N to enable the user to monitor.
Power options: 4x AA batteries, 4-pin HIROSE connector with external battery pack, or USB bus power (F4 and F8N only). Power consumption: 2.5W. Dimensions (W x D x H): 243.8 x 180.6 x 45.7mm. Weight: 980g