Reviews Coming Up: Zoom F8, K-Tek Boompole, Rycote Zeppelin

In the previous video, you'll hear that I just received the Rycote Modular Windshield Kit 4 more commonly known as a zeppelin cover for shotgun mics. These are the huge covers that pro location sound people use out in the field to keep wind noise out of the recording

Also testing out my first proper boom pole from K-tek. The KEG 150 CCR is a carbon fiber 12.5 foot, 5 section pole with an internal, coiled cable so you don't have to fuss with a cable wrapped around the outside. I'm interested to see how quietly it operates. I've heard some people say that sometimes the internal coiled cables that make some noise and mess with your recordings. It also has a very nice XLR connector on the side of the pole so you can rest the end of the pole on the ground without messing with your cable. Nice touch

And I can hardly wait for the UPS guy tomorrow because he's bringing the new ZOOM F8 field recorder! Woot! Been waiting since April at NAB to get my hands on one of these and see how they sound and how well they work both on a cart and in a bag.

Countryman B6 Lavalier Microphone Review

We’ve had plenty of requests for a review of a more professional grade lavalier microphone so let’s have a listen and a look at the Countryman B6. This mic was used in the recent Hobbit movies on Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Ian McKellan as Gandalf. On Martin, two B6s were placed on him, one on each side of his tunic. On Ian, the B6 was hidden in his hat.

I’d like to thank B&H Photo for providing the mic for us to test over the last month. They’re always great to work with!

The Countryman B6 not only sounds great, it is a very versatile option for miking. It comes with three different protective caps that fit over the capsule to provide protection from moisture, but also allow you to sort of fine-tune the sound of the mic. The most common case for this is when you want to hide the mic under the shirt of your talent. In these cases, the shirt will cut some of the high frequency sound. Countryman provides a crisp and super crisp cap to help compensate for that. Of course they also include the flat response cap if you’ll have the mic outside of the clothes.

Recording Sound to a DSLR Camera vs Audio Recorder

How can you get the best quality sound for your videos? There are a lot of factors, and using an external microphone is one of the big factors. But another question that comes up quite often is, will a dedicated audio recorder improve my sound quality? I think it will in 95% of cases. Here’s a sample comparing the quality you get with a professional level lavalier microphone, the Countryman B6, recorded into a simple Zoom H1 audio recorder and recorded into a typical DSLR camera, the Nikon D750.

Now there are still cases where recording sound with your camera may be good enough. But if you want the best audio quality you can get, even a little $99 USD audio recorder is better than a $2000 DSLR camera.

Power Your Tascam or Zoom Recorder All Day

Tascam and Zoom recorders are really impressive for their price, but given that they are made for cost conscious film makers like myself, the engineers had to sacrifice some things. On the Tascams in particular (DR-60D, 70D), battery life seems to be one of the things that isn’t perfect for longer shoots. The 4 AA batteries power the DR-60D for about 2.5 to 3 hours when phantom powering two mics.

So what can you do for those days when you have a 6 hour shoot?

You could carry around a lot of AA batteries and change them out several times, hopefully without sacrificing any of the takes. And if you’re recording a live event, you cannot afford to stop the recording while you change batteries.

The USB batteries on the market can be a good solution. In this episode we look at two on the market: Coocheer (cost conscious option that offers nearly 8 hours of power for the DR-60D with two phantom powered mics) and LifeCHARGE (pricier option that offers over 20 hours for the same recorder/mic combo).

Dialogue Audio Compression: Threshold and Ratio Settings

I’ve still got a lot to learn about dialogue audio processing and one of the things that has tripped me up quite a lot is compression. I often seem to struggle to compress the audio enough so that when it is loudness normalized, it sounds transparent instead of crushed, doesn’t clip, and is loud enough.

For web, the recommended loudness targets are -16LUFS and -1.5dBTP.

This episode is a little more in-depth and assumes you have already watched our previous episodes on loudness normalization and compression. If you haven’t, you can find them here:

Zoom H6: My Impressions After 4 Weeks

I've been a fan of both Zoom and Tascam and their various recorders for several years. My first handheld audio recorder was the Zoom H4, not the H4n, but the original funky looking, very plasticky, very noisy preamps H4. By today's standards, it wasn't awesome, but it was a pioneering type of recorder with XLR inputs and built-in stereo condenser mics. It was definitely designed mainly for musicians. And by the time the H4n came out and DSLR video revolution hit, the H4n became the first audio device that most low and no budget filmmakers turned to first.

Then in 2013, Zoom announced the Zoom H6 with better build quality, interchangeable microphones, and 4 XLR inputs, among a host of additional features. The H6 still seems to me to be aimed at various markets. Musicians are still one of the intended audiences and filmmakers are also clearly another intended audience based on the fact that Zoom offers a shotgun mic module option. I didn't jump on the H6 right at release because I was pretty satisfied with my Tascam recorder at the time (DR-100mkII).

Thanks to my friends at B&H Photo, I had an evaluation copy of the H6 for the last four weeks so I've finally had a chance to put it through its paces. Now I feel qualified to answer all the questions I've received along the lines of, "Tascam DR-60DmkII or Zoom H6?"

First thing I noticed is that the H6 comes in a pretty decent plastic case along with all of its pieces and accessories. It isn't Pelican case grade, but it is nice to have something to keep everything in one place for storage and travel. By "pieces and accessories" I mean the foam wind cover, the stereo mic module, mid-side mic module, a set of batteries, USB cable, memory card, and a license for Cubase LE. The warranty is a standard one year.

For me, when recording audio with devices at this price point (currently $399 USD), the most important thing is audio quality. I already know that the build quality and many other pro features are likely missing. But if it has great audio quality and isn't missing so many other features that it is too difficult to use, then it has achieved its purpose.

And I am happy to report that the Zoom H6 produces great audio quality.

My focus was the XLR inputs and not the X-Y stereo or Mid Side mic modules. Those might be useful in a pinch, but I recorded with a series of lavalier and cardioid and shotgun mics simply because that's the type of recording I typically do as a filmmaker. The interchangeable mic system is one of the features that Zoom evidently used to make the H6 more flexible for different types of recording, i.e., musicians and filmmakers. I've never been all that interested in using the mics designed for this purpose. The shotgun mic in particular, sort of makes me chuckle and cringe. Here is another case of a manufacturer covertly suggesting that this is a high quality mic--which undoubtedly it is--which will get you great dialogue audio when you mount it on top of your camera. Positioning a shotgun or any other sort of mic this way will always capture a lot of room and ambience which is not usually the sound that a new recordist is after. They usually want isolated dialogue with as little room and ambience as possible which is only possible when you position the mic 40 - 60cm from the talent. And booming the entire H6 up above your talent is possible, but probably not the best position since you'll have a bit of work on your hands to start and stop the recordings. So, I'm just not all that interested in the in-built mic or interchangeable mic modules. I'm not saying they're useless. To the contrary, I think they're very useful for a lot of people. They just don't fit the way I personally work or the way that most film sound people work and I don't want to spend a lot of money on something I won't use.

All that aside, I was really impressed with the sound quality. Zoom has come a long way since the days of the H4 and H4n in terms of clean gain. I measured a practical noise floor of -60dB. By practical noise floor, I mean that after recording dialogue, I loudness normalized the stereo clip to -16LUFS and then measured the average RMS amplitude of a section of "silence". -60dB is great. This is on par with the Tascam DR-60DmkII and my good old Focusrite Saffire Pro 24DSP audio interface and even the Sound Devices USBPre 2 audio interface. If you're interested in hearing the H6 compared to the Tascam and Sound Devices, we compared them last week here.

The build quality is unquestionably a step up from the original H4 and even a step up from the H4n. The body feels like it is covered in a high grade rubberized material. The heft of the device feels very solid. No creaking cheap plastic here. The mic modules feel like solid metal. On the previous Zooms, they didn't feel nearly this substantial and durable. It genuinely feels to me like if I dropped the H6, it would bounce and absorb the shock without sustaining any damage. Since this was a review unit, I didn't actually confirm that, but the build quality felt quite refined and durable.

The color screen looks impressive. But alas, this seems like a weak point to me. It looks very pretty but it is hard to see unless you have it at just the right angle and it is very difficult to see outdoors in direct sunlight. This is not a deal-breaker unless you shoot a lot outdoors in direct sunlight. I don't, but some do so I though this was worth mentioning. Indoors, the screen is great. Just about the right size and easy to see if you're looking straight-on. Not so easy from a wider angle.

The fader knobs are nice, I think nicer than on the Tascam DR-60D and 70D units, more solid feeling and very smooth. The buttons allow you to quickly arm which of the 6 tracks you want to record and with the newest firmware, also allow you to solo monitor a track which is super helpful to solve any problems when recording several mics at the same time. Neither the Tascam DR-60 or 70D allow you to do that. This is one area where Zoom is pretty strong. They have a much better track record than Tascam at adding new features to their recorders via firmware updates. Tascam almost never does that.

The Zoom H6 can also act as a bonafide audio interface. This means that you can connect it to your computer via USB cable, hook a mic up to the H6, and record computer screencasts, for example. The Tascam recorders cannot do that. So there's another bonus! You can also monitor with headphones while you're doing that.

One thing I don't love about the Zoom H6 is that lack of buttons or controls for other settings. And that jog-dial that you use to navigate through the menu? Ugh. While it is beefier than it was on the original H4 and even the H4n, still don't love it. It feels flimsy and it is not conducive to running quickly through the menus, at least compared to the dials on the Tascam recorders. It isn't a deal breaker, in part because you don't need to go into the menus a lot on the H6, but it is never a pleasurable experience to menu dive with it. Need phantom power. Ugh, Menu dive. I'm being picky here and this is not a deal breaker. But I think that Zoom can do better next  round and it is time to ditch that job-dial.

Battery life is where the H6 shines relative to the Tascam recorders. I get more like 6 hours when phantom powering mics. The DR-60DmkII is still around 3 hours.

There is also a 3.5mm input so you can use those lavalier mics with 3.5mm (mini stereo jack) plugs. There's also a 3.5mm line out so that you can send the captured audio into your DSLR or mirrorless camera and avoid syncing sound during editing.

So overall, those are my impressions. Would I buy one? Yes, it is worth every penny of its price. Would I go with this over a Tascam DR-70D? That's a tougher question. If I needed an audio interface, too, I would go with the Zoom H6 because the DR-70D can't do that. That's where the Zoom shines and one example of how incredibly versatile it is. On the flip side, it always feels to me that the Tascam DR-60 and 70D recorders are a little more purpose built for film makers and a little more ergonomic and quicker to operate. Need phantom power? There's a switch for that, no need to menu dive. And even when you do need to access the menu, the dial is very quick. As always, there are tradeoffs and both are great options and neither is 100% perfect for everyone. For now, I'll stick with my Tascam. If I were buying today, I'd still probably stick with the Tascam DR-70D because I already have a great audio interface for my computer.

I hope that was helpful and please sound off in the comments with any questions or insights from your experience!

Sound Comparison: Pro vs Enthusiast Audio Recorders

Do you need to spend more money to get great sound for your video or film projects? Is a $200 USD Tascam recorder with XLR inputs good enough? Or do you need to move up to a Zoom H6? Or, do you really need to invest thousands in a SoundDevices or Zaxcom professional grade field recorder?

In this episode we compare audio clips from Tascam, Zoom, and SoundDevices recorders so that you can evaluate for yourself.

Scott Vanderbilt kindly pointed out that a very important assumption I made was incorrect: The Sound Devices USBPre 2 and Sound Devices 744T field recorder do not appear to share the exact same preamplifiers (because their specs are different over at the Sound Devices website). The analog to digital converter specs appear to be identical but even so, this does not mean that they are identical. So really we're not comparing a $4400 USD field recorder to a $200 USD Tascam recorder. We're just comparing an $850 USBPre 2 to a $200 Tascam and $400 Zoom. My apologies for the mixup and thanks again to Scott for pointing this out.

Nevertheless, the comparison is still useful to understand how the audio quality differs on these devices at different price points.

NOTE! I am NOT suggesting that if you like the sound of one of the less expensive devices that there is not value in the higher priced device. In the case of the Sound Devices USBPre 2, it has a lot of things that neither the Zoom nor the Tascam have:

• Far superior build quality that could easily outlast the other two
• Repairability - Sound Devices has built the USBPre 2 to be repairable. I don't get that impression with the Tascam or the Zoom
• Far superior metering with 20 segment meters. It is surprising how much this actually makes a difference when it comes time to set your gain and faders
• Pro outputs (XLR) so that you can send audio to pro cameras
• Timecode in and out so that it is much easier to sync sound with footage in post, especially on multicam shoots
• Much more robust powering options, not just mini USB, but also fully metal, hirose 4 pin connectors to hook up bigger, pro quality Anton Bauer and Sony V-mount batteries

So please don't walk away with the wrong impression. I really like the USBPre 2 and will have a review up here on the site in a few days.

The real take away message: Don't wait until you can afford an $800 piece of audio gear to do your passion project. The less expensive recorders can get you the same audio quality. If you're hired on larger productions, of course you would then need to rent or own a pro-level recorder for a lot of reasons other than just sound quality.

Zoom F8 Officially Announced and Available for Pre-order

Zoom has been kicking butt in the indie audio gear front more and more as time rolls on.

One of the more interesting audio devices I saw at NAB earlier this year was a prototype 8 channel pro-level field recorder that Zoom had at their booth - The Zoom F8. It is available for pre-order at B&H Photo as of today.

This is an interesting move from Zoom. They've been a strong contender among indie film and video makers as far back as 2007-ish with the Zoom H4. That device was breakthrough in that it was a small, handheld stereo recorder with pro-level XLR inputs that ran on consumer AA batteries and was reasonably priced (around $400 or $500 as I recall). I had one for a short time. It was amazing. But it had some serious issues: The preamps didn't have a lot of gain (so using dynamic handheld mics wasn't very realistic), the preamps were noisy, battery life wasn't great especially when phantom powering mics, and the plastic build quality wasn't amazing. Also, that jog-dial thing you use to navitage through menus was not great. But still, it was a worthy start.

Then the H4n came a few years later with better build quality, slightly better preamps (though still noisy), and better battery life. Some of the issues remained. The premps were still pretty noisy. The jog-dial thingy was pretty much the same. Another good step forward from Zoom. They sold a lot of these and there are still tons in use today.

Then the H6 came in 2013. Even better build quality, much better preamps, good battery life and some nice features that Zoom has added with firmware updates (e.g., the ability to solo monitor channels while recording so that you can dial in levels). I recently had an H6 on loan from B&H for several weeks and was really impressed! There were a couple of things I didn't love about it, but they weren't total show-stoppers: I still don't love the jog-dial and while the new color screen is pretty, it is slow and very difficult to see outdoors and nearly impossible to see in direct sunlight. I'll have a review here on the blog in the next week or so.

The Zoom F8 looks like Zoom is aiming at taking some of the lower end pro market from the likes of Sound Devices though their field recorders are quite a bit more expensive (arguably for good reason). Here are the specs for the F8:

• 8-channel/10-track field audio recorder/mixer

• 8 discrete inputs with locking Neutrik XLR/TRS combo connectors

• Compact and lightweight aluminum chassis, weighing just 2 pounds (without batteries)

• High quality mic preamps with up to 75 dB gain, less than -127 dBu EIN, and +4 dB line inputs

• Support for up to 24-bit/192 kHz recording as well as 96 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 48k, and 44.1 kHz, plus 47.952 kHz / 48.048 kHz for HD video compatibility; 16-/24-bit resolution

• Accurate Time Code (0.2 ppm) I/O on standard BNC connectors; dropframe/non-drop formats with Jam Sync

• Three different power supply options: 8x AA batteries, external DC battery pack with Hirose connector, or 12V AC adapter (AA’s and DC battery pack not included)

• Automatic switching of power source from DC to batteries at user-defined voltage levels

• Dedicated gain control knob, 6-segment LED level meter, and PFL/Solo switch for each channel

• Phantom power (+48V/+24V) on every preamp

• Advanced onboard limiters for input and output

• High pass filter, phase invert, and Mid-Side decoder

• Input delay of up to 30 msec per channel / output delay of up to 10 frames per output

• Compatible with Zoom microphone capsules; optional extender cable enables remote positioning

• Dual mini-XLR (TA3) balanced Main Outs plus ⅛" stereo mini-jack Sub Out

• Dedicated headphone output (100 mW) with front panel volume control

• 2.4" full-color backlit LCD with monochrome mode

• Dedicated PFL display with viewable trim settings

• Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC card slots, up to 512 GB each

• Records in BWF-compliant WAV or MP3 file formats

• Support for extensive metadata (BWF and iXML); input time, date, project, scene number, etc.

• Built-in slate mic/slate tone with front panel switch

• Built-in tripod mount; camera mount adapter also included

• Use as an 8-in/4-out USB audio interface (@ 96 kHz)

• Free Zoom F8 Control App for iOS allows wireless remote control, file renaming, and metadata entry

Wow! The things that impress me most is that these new pre-amps come with +75dB of gain. There are three power options (8 AA batteries, Hirose connector for pro-level batteries like Anton Bauer, and an AC adapter). Zoom claims that the analog to digital converters have 120dB of dynamic range (SoundDevices clain 117 for most of their recorders and mixers). This is the first time that Zoom has reported the A/D dynamic range spec so it seems like they're serious about playing with the big boys. Timecode generator that can also be jam synced. Aluminum build. iOS mixer app that does channel metering, faders for each channel, and the ability to enter metadata! Limiter with adjustable settings for threshold, attack and release.

So yes, being the audio nerd that I am, I have one on pre-order and will have a review after it ships in August. :-)

I do have some concerns:

• The hardware pots (potentiometers) for each channel look really small and I'm not sure how robust they'll be. Mixing may be pretty tough relative to the SoundDevices and Zaxcom pro-level field mixers which have big knobs.

• Output only includes 2 mini XLR outputs for the stereo mix bus and 3.5mm for DSLR shooters. No camera return. Though to be fair, this is probably not a big deal for most indie filmmakers and is part of the reason that this device is so much less expensive than the SoundDevices and Zaxcom field recorder/mixers. To me, this is why it looks like Zoom is still very much aiming for indie film-makers, not higher end pros (who would need this option. On the set of serious productions, you'll typically need a feed for the director and the camera.

• That screen is still quite small and I'm interested to see how easy it is to see outdoors in the sun. Also, audio meters should never be underestimated. Only those which are large enough and have enough steps are truly useful when mixing and recording. That's a very small screen to fit 8 meters. But if the app is good, this can be overcome.

Those seem like reasonable trade-offs given the $999 price. It seems like they packed it with all the audio quality you'd get in the higher end recorders and mixers, but without some of the more sophisticated features that are only needed for higher budget productions (more routing and output options).

Can't wait to put it through its paces!

RODELink Wireless Lavalier System Review

It's been a lot of work, but here it is, finally: My review of the RODELink Filmmaker Wireless Kit. What do I think overall? This is a good balance of quality for the price (launched at $399 USD).

Pros:

• Digital signal does not drop when working within 50 meters in any of the tests I did, even outdoors and in WiFi heavy offices (because WiFi uses the same frequency in many cases).
• Battery life - lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes on a set of eneloop AA batteries (and this set is about 3.5 years old and has had a lot of use in photo flash units and audio recorders). This is much better than I expected.
• Very simple setup
• Can use up to 8 kits simultaneously
• Good audio quality
• No annoying external antennas
• No latency issues so audio stays perfectly in sync with the video captured by your camera

Cons:

• Plastic body and receiver packs (though it is good quality plastic, it is still plastic)
• Body and receiver packs are a little larger than most others in a similar price range (Perhaps this is the tradeoff for no antennas). Not a problem when mounted on someone's belt behind them but potentially a little more tricky for mounting on brides

One thing that took me a while to figure out is that the mic that comes with the kit sounds a fair bit better when hidden under the shirt of your talent. It seems that it really was made to be hidden vs worn on the outside of clothes. That would explain why they call it a filmmaker kit and not an ENG kit. I just use the RODE Invisilav to make it super simple to mount the mic under the talent's shirt.

Also, it can be used with any mic with a 3.5mm mini stereo jack (TRS) like the RODE VideoMic Pro. So you can even have a wireless shotgun microphone!

RODELink's Lavalier Audio Comparison to Audio Technica AT899

**Status Update 17 June 2015** In further experiments, I've found that the RODE Lavalier sounds a whole lot better when hidden under the talent's shirt. Sounds like this mic was designed for that which is not surprising as this is how they are often used when shooting film (not as much with ENG/News/Doc). Now it makes even more sense that RODE calls this the RODELink Filmmaker Kit. Final review should be out later this week.

I’ve been testing the RODELink to put together a review and a few times paused while post processing and thought to myself, “hmm…this audio seems sort of harsh…” So I did several things to narrow down the issue. I think it is just the nature of the RODE Lavalier mic. Here we have a listen to a clip from the RODE Lavalier and then compare it to a clip from the Audio Technica AT899, a similarly priced lavalier (~$200 USD).

Neither of them are perfect. I would describe the sound of the RODE Lavalier as a little more “forward” or “in-your-face” and the AT899 as smoother in the mid-range but more sibilant. They’ll each complement other’s voices differently than mine. Which do you prefer?