Better than Zoom H5 and portable?

[TBman]

Is there such a thing?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by TBman

Is there such a thing?

Better for what?

[Doug Young]

The SoundDevices MixPre is a big step up in quality. The Zoom F series are also supposed to be higher quality. Not sure you'd notice any significant difference, tho, with either one, for recording solo guitar. I replaced my H6 with a MixPre, but only because the Zoom died, and I thought having more channels would be nice.

There's this thread from 2 years ago, I don't think there have been any new developments since:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/....php?p=6566251

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

The SoundDevices MixPre is a big step up in quality. The Zoom F series are also supposed to be higher quality. Not sure you'd notice any significant difference, tho, with either one, for recording solo guitar. I replaced my H6 with a MixPre, but only because the Zoom died, and I thought having more channels would be nice.

There's this thread from 2 years ago, I don't think there have been any new developments since:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/....php?p=6566251

Thanks Doug. I'll stick with my H5.

[keith.rogers]

The Zoom F series do have mic pres with more gain and lower noise. However, unless you need the added gain, having used my H6 and F8s in the exact same live performance setting, it's unlikely you will hear the difference since the ambient noise makes any preamp noise irrelevant. (I think I may have posted a couple links here to videos done in the same club a year or so apart with the two different units.)

The newest Zoom F units do support floating point, which I think is not really relevant to acoustic guitar recording, but opinions vary. I don't think it makes your life easier, because it takes away the ability to do your gain staging if you use the 32-float *only* record option, then you're at the mercy of the Zoom headphone amp's limits, which can be problematic in noisy or loud sites. (I'd say, "Don't get me started," but it's too late for that.)

But, with all that, I am still a fan of the Zoom F8s that I've used, and still use my F8n at home, sometimes just because it's easier than fiddling with setting up the DAW, and it's the only option if I have more people than can fit in my little room!

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by TBman

Is there such a thing?

The folks at The Tapers Section https://taperssection.com/index.php?board=11.0 are pretty obsessive about gear and their favorite handheld is the Sony PCMD100, but it's a pretty pricey item.

I love my Zoom F6, I think the frequency response is slightly better and the self-noise definitely better than the H5/H6. But the H5/H6 is hard to beat for its cost/convenience/quality combination, especially if the only use is solo acoustic guitar instrumentals.

Fran

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Fran Guidry

The folks at The Tapers Section https://taperssection.com/index.php?board=11.0 are pretty obsessive about gear and their favorite handheld is the Sony PCMD100, but it's a pretty pricey item.

I love my Zoom F6, I think the frequency response is slightly better and the self-noise definitely better than the H5/H6. But the H5/H6 is hard to beat for its cost/convenience/quality combination, especially if the only use is solo acoustic guitar instrumentals.

Fran

The Sony PCMD100 doesn't have XLR inputs though. I'll look at the F6, thanks.

[lkingston]

I love my Zoom F6. Not having combo inputs is the only negative. The sound is incredibly clean, and the 32 bit float format is fantastic for recording yourself as it makes setting exact input levels unimportant.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I love my Zoom F6. Not having combo inputs is the only negative. The sound is incredibly clean, and the 32 bit float format is fantastic for recording yourself as it makes setting exact input levels unimportant.

The F6 looks interesting, thanks.