The Zoom F6 and 32 bit recording

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by jim1960

I didn't even know we could record in 32 bit with our Carbons. It didn't get mentioned in any of the reviews I watched before buying and I never bothered to look at Avid's product page until I read your post. But there it is...

https://www.avid.com/products/pro-tools-carbon

I remembered I had read about it (probably on that page ). But really have not thought about actually doing it until now.
I also have not tried changing the impedance either but will try that also especially when plugging my electrics straight in
From that page ::
With four ADCs per channel and pristine 32-bit precision throughout its gain structure, Carbon captures clean, natural-sounding audio without coloration. And with Variable Z built in, you can optimize or alter the tone of any microphone or instrument by simply adjusting input impedance.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by KevWind

I remembered I had read about it (probably on that page ). But really have not thought about actually doing it until now.
I also have not tried changing the impedance either but will try that also especially when plugging my electrics straight in
From that page ::
With four ADCs per channel and pristine 32-bit precision throughout its gain structure, Carbon captures clean, natural-sounding audio without coloration. And with Variable Z built in, you can optimize or alter the tone of any microphone or instrument by simply adjusting input impedance.

Here’s another way to look at it:

Remember that trick where you record the same input at two gain levels, the second one at a lower level for safety in case of clipping?

That is basically what 32 bit float recording is doing, except in a slicker way. No, it isn’t breaking the laws of physics. No, it isn’t giving you a lower noise floor than is possible with 24 bit recording at any particular moment. Yes, it does let you set the ultimate levels after the recording is already done.

With Carbon, it is taking this idea even further, with four ADCs (rather than the two of the F6 or MixPre). It sounds like it is probably very good!

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by lkingston

Here’s another way to look at it:

Remember that trick where you record the same input at two gain levels, the second one at a lower level for safety in case of clipping?

That is basically what 32 bit float recording is doing, except in a slicker way. No, it isn’t breaking the laws of physics. No, it isn’t giving you a lower noise floor than is possible with 24 bit recording at any particular moment. Yes, it does let you set the ultimate levels after the recording is already done.

With Carbon, it is taking this idea even further, with four ADCs (rather than the two of the F6 or MixPre). It sounds like it is probably very good!

Hey thanks for the info
Ya I think that two level trick is back there in my RAM somewhere

As noted I have not tried recording in 32 float yet .But I can say with some confidence the mic pre's and sound of the Carbon are exceptional, there is a kind of "right there in room presence" to it that I never noticed before , that IMO is the best sound of any of the systems I have had (As well it should be for the price ) ( not that many systems really ) but does include an Apogee Rosetta 200 and an Avid Omni which were pretty decent on their own.
And is the reason I am toying with the idea of selling my A-Designs MP2A (which I never thought would happen)

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by KevWind

But I can say with some confidence the mic pre's and sound of the Carbon are exceptional, there is a kind of "right there in room presence" to it that I never noticed before , that IMO is the best sound of any of the systems I have had (As well it should be for the price ) ( not that many systems really ) but does include an Apogee Rosetta 200 and an Avid Omni which were pretty decent on their own.

Same here. I came from an Apollo X16 to the Carbon and the change is quite noticeable in that what I'm hearing sounds a lot more open ...and I thought the X16 sounded quite good when I had it.

[lkingston]

The Zoom F6 functions as a wonderful USB audio interface with up to six inputs in 24 bit mode.

You can also record 32 bit float audio as a backup when you do this. This backup has a much wider dynamic range in case you get that perfect performance but it accidentally gets recorded to low or with clipping.

The monitor mixing capabilities are really good and they can be controlled from their app.

[ChuckS]

It seems most of this thread is focusing primarily on 32-bit float and its most useful benefits such as in field recordings. There have been a few references to these designs using multiple ADC's per channel (i.e. the F6 has two ADC's per channel), but I don't believe there's been explanation of how the multiple ADC's and 32-bit float work together. For example, are the ADC full scale levels fixed, adjusted prior to recording, or automatically and dynamically adjusted in real time during recording?