F6 Multitrack Field Recorder

My 6th Zoom product. The best of them all. Hands down one fine recording device. Being able to use Sony F series batteries is just fantastic! Won't do a long review as there are plenty of them out there. Worth every penny and then some!

I've no idea what I am doing when it comes to this recorder as I've just started in field recording for fun, but what I have captured so far sounds incredible!

As a low budget high quality videographer, sound is very important and this device paired with decent microphones is a god-send for this one man production team. The F6 fit perfectly into my workflow and has provided excellent audio improving my overall quality of production.

I bought this recorder after trying and returning a Sound Devices MixPre 6 ii as the MixPre had a few flaws that I couldn't get used to. Having used the F6 a few times now I find it to be every bit as good as the MixPre, except for the peerless preamps that Sound Devices have perfected over their many years as a top notch Pro Audio supplier. The F6 has a more sterile sound than the richness of the MixPre, but that suited me for my purposes. The F6 is easily set up to your liking using the clear and easy to follow menu system. And, if you choose 32-bit, the F6 will record everything from near-silence to deafening with no clipping. All you have to do is use compression in your editing program to bring both extremes out clearly and with no distortion. The F6 is much more efficient power-wise than the MixPre, and the AA battery option is actually viable, compared to the power hungry MixPre, which will demolish a set of AA's in less than a half-hour. There is a holder built in for the option to use a Sony L-type battery which will last for hours and hours. You can also power it via a Micro USB cable and a power pack if you wish. The F6 offers Timecode in and out. The only real downside to this recorder is the placement of the 1/4" screw hole for a tripod or to mount on a camera. It is at the very back of the unit to allow for the AA battery sled, and this means the connection bears a whole lot of the weight on it and can be wobbly. The menu offers a great many choices of recording modes and input options and is easily run through, although the small buttons means no gloves on when doing this. All in all a great little recorder, very powerful for its small size, and is a great choice for anyone trying to up their audio game from a camera's included audio.

I use the F6 to record music - piano, church organ, various instruments, and voice, either solo or as ensembles. The recordings are done under less than studio conditions in a church. The advantages of the F6 that suit this type of recording are:1. Versatility: This recorder is small, highly portable, and unobtrusive, yet has a very powerful feature set reviewed in several youtube videos which should be checked out before purchase.2. Quality. The recorder is obviously built to high standards of construction - metal parts mostly.3. Thoughtful design: menus are clear and easily adjustable on a bright screen. The F6 battery power options include the AA batteries also used in the Zoom H6, but unlike the H6, an L-type battery can also be used, allowing greatly extended recording times.4. Recording: The 32 bit float recording of this recorder allows me to easily capture the wide dynamic range of all the instruments and voices I record. Trained voices - especially soprano - are extremely powerful and are difficult to record with accompaniment when you want to bring out the accompanists performance. With the F6 I just set the gain to full and then back off the dynamics in post during mixing without clipping or loss of the sound.5. Ease of use: Bluetooth control is a huge advantage for this recorder. It is simple to set up and allows full remote control of recording. This function allows me to remain in one spot in charge of all audio and video recording. Essentially I can do all of the recording process without assistance.The F6 is of course much more expensive than the very popular Zoom H6, which I also own and use for other types of recording. For the reasons given above, the F6 is the better choice for the kind of music recording I do.

I didn't know you could legally sell a box full of pixy dust.From the sturdy build quality to the 6 INDIVIDUAL RECORDING XLR INPUTS! this product is amazing. The 32 bit float recording file format has to be some kind of black magic. I'm 100% certain that there's just a small wizard living in each one of these devices. I have yet to find him, but with how amazing this product is it must be true.In addition the price point is amazing. If your new to sound recording then it probably seems pretty steep at $650. If that's the case I would look at the zoom h4n. Also a very good device, but it misses out on some of the magic. Conversely if your all in on sound gear and you know what your doing. You might be better off getting the specific gear that does exactly what you need it for, rather than this catch all device.If your like me then this is the perfect device. Film makers, podcasters that need something with a little more oomf, or if you just need six channels for some reason you can't go wrong with this little magic box.Side note I will note that the menus can be confusing if you don't read the instructions. So please read the instructions, and if you need to reset the device entirely (hard reboot) just know the default recording isn't the 32 bit float file so you will need to fix that real quick.Those cases are minor, and don't really change my opinion of the device. I just thought they were worth mentioning.