Thread: Zoom H6
View Single Post
  #5   Report Post  
Posted to rec.audio.pro
Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 16,853
Default Zoom H6

In article , Mike Rivers wrote:
On 12/1/2016 9:31 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
I don't know if this is what you're referring to, but the input stages have
very little headroom (which isn't surprising considering they're running on
very low voltage rails with battery power). So it is possible to set the gains
low and clip the hell out of the inputs without the meters coming anywhere
near full scale.


The Zoom H2 and H4 were like this but by the time the H4n (which is
still a current model) came along, they fixed this. With the H4n that I
tested, I could put +28 dBu into the line input, turn the record level
control down so that the meters were reading below 0 dFS and not have
clipping. I don't remember how much level the mic inputs will take
without clipping, but it was more than enough so that this shouldn't be
concern as long as the meters aren't pegged.


Try the mike input! It's much more touchy, easily as much as the old
Tascam DA-P20 was. The H6 is a whole lot better than the H2 and H4
were, but you still have to be careful with gain structure.

What I do recall is that the analog output stage will clip when playing
a 0 dBFS recording with the output level turned up full, even running
into an open circuit. So if you're monitoring at a sufficiently too-loud
level, you could hear clipping even though the recording isn't clipped.


Now that's one I haven't seen, but then I never used the H6 for serious
playback either.

Everybody who has one of these things should experiment with them and
learn their limits. Everybody who has one of these things should also
have some test equipment. That's the rub.


That's just how audio is.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."