Zoom F3

I’m a sound artist and field recordist. Recorders and microphones are my main instruments. I own and owned a lot different recorders. The Zoom F3 is my latest addition. I have 3 of them and I used them for now about half a year. Mostly I use them for drop rigs. Sometimes I use them to record a line level from a mixer or as backup of the backup for critical work.

With the new F-series ZOOM has really stepped up their game. I really don’t like the sound and the preamps of the previous H-series. The H-series are noisy, brittle and thin in the high end, and some weird is going on in the transients there. There is none of that in the F-series.

On the contrary the preamps and AD on the F3 are really really good. Quiet, flat and a good transient response. To my ears, they lack the shine and depth of Sound Devices MixPre (the main competitor for pro-sumer field recorders) but the difference is getting so close that it might have something to do with personal taste. Definitely more than adequate for most recording jobs out there.

The F3 is built for drop rigs or for unattended recordings. There are no gain pots, and it will only record in 32bit. So you can’t and don’t need to set the gain. Just press record and let it run, The dual AD design records both very quiet and crazy loud very well, and the 32bit float will cover the whole dynamic range needed. From monstrous thunderclaps to whispers in a desert night.

The Zoom F3 is quite sturdy, basically an aluminum block with recesses for the screen, the connecotrs, buttons and plastic part. The XLR inputs feel sturdy as well, with large and decent latches. The battery compartment is plastic and unfortunately feels a bit flimsy. But it is recessed and protected by the steel rods and the corners of the alumunium block that surround it, so you only need to be careful in opening and closing. In use it will mostly be fine. The buttons feel ok. The recording button is a slider, which can be put to hold, again ideal for non attended recordings. The micro SD slot however is another design flaw. Inserted cards don’t always jump out nicely after being pressed and sometimes get a bit stuck. I had to use my leatherman on occasion to wiggle the SD card out. Based on my experience the F3 can easily be used in unforgiving enviroments. My F3’s got bumped around on long hikes, drops, and life on the road. I used them in the tropics and below freezing. One of them even got quite wet a couple of times (not submerged, just a lot of condensation) after some of my drybags malfunctioned in the Indonesian jungle, but the unit kept on recording, with no noticeable change in sound or battery life.

The menu takes a bit getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s mostly OK. Though keep a copy of the manual around since one normally doesn’t change ones drop rigs settings a lot, you might have forgotten how to change a setting if that blue moon situation ever comes up, and the menu is not always that clear.

The F3 really shines in energy efficiency. It beats my other drop rig recorders easily. I get around 72 hours of non stop recording on two AA and a 20K mAh USB power bank. You can choose between 24V or 48V for phantom power.

The flimsy battery door and finicky micro sd slot can give one pause but are not dealbreakers. But the F3 has one design flaw that really curtails its usefulness. The unit can work with timecode, but is only compatible Atomos UltraSync Blue, (TC over Bluetooth) a system that is not used widely. Which means you can’t sync or jam to TC in most of the existing setups that one might have (from the camera, another recorder or TC generator). Zoom really should have made it possible to jam the F3 over an audio connection, it would have made the use case of the device so much wider.

Zoom has built a lot of nice things in a very small package (it really is smaller than you imagine) at a very attractive price point. The F3 has a great sound and very good battery life. It is ideal for drop rigs, or other unattended recording situations. You can also easily strap it to your body or to other stuff. If you only need 2 channels and don’t need the ins and outs or TC of a more complicated machine, the ZOOM F3 is one of the best options out there.

I don't record as frequently as I did, but I do get the occasional surge of inspiration to just go out into the wilderness/city and record whatever I find. That used to be shot down real quickly when I confronted the recording hardware I had to pack up for this.

The Zoom F3 really helps with this. At this point I have two Rode NT5s attached almost directly to the F3 (I have adjustable angled XLR adapters, no cables attached), as well as a grip mount at the bottom of the Zoom.
This + a small monkey pod for cameras gives me all the flexibility I need.

I'm still experimenting with the battery life of the recorder, but so far I cannot complain. Even easier to record at home connecting a USB-C cable into the device, eliminating the need for batteries.
32-bit F recordings are also nice, as there's no need to setup gain during the recording process.

All in all, can recommend!

Tiny 2-XLR Recorder

For travel and space-restricted applications, this is the ideal device.

First, the great things about the F3:
- Very good sound quality, low noise - the same preamps as are in the rest of the 32-bit float F-series recorders.
- 32-bit float recording so there is no need to set record levels (actually, this is the only option with this device).
- Quick boot up and switch off (about 1 second).
- Can be powered from a USB powerbank.
- 2 x AA powering better than expected.
- Can be bus powered from a laptop.
- Can be used as a basic audio interface.
- XLR inputs can be configured as mic or line (jack adapters might be handy) and phantom powered in each of these modes.
- Build quality is very good and while side panels are plastic, these are protected by the protruding metal frames. This device is like a mini Zoom F6.
- High quality latching XLR sockets.

The negatives, and bearing in mind that some of these are to a degree a limitation of the form factor:
- User experience is pretty horrible with common functions requiring multiple button menu navigation with button layouts being somewhat unintuitive. For example, to switch phantom power on or off on a channel, what might be a common task, requires six button presses.
- No dials - for space restrictions I imagine.
- Buttons are flat and unergonomic, the menu/play/stop buttons along the slanted edge are particularly awkward. A mitigation is that these flat buttons will be less likely to get damaged if the device is dropped or pulled in and out of bags.
- Uses a micro SD card - obviously to save space. These can be fragile so it's probably advisable to transfer files via USB.
- File transfer via USB is slightly slower than the more expensive F-series recorders.
- Mic input has a relatively low dynamic limit giving an 'Exceeding Maximum Input Level' warning and distortion if this is exceeded. The way around this is to set the input as line input or activate the pad on the mic if it has one.
- No minijack, plug-in power option.
- No MS decoding. Not crucial but can be handy and maybe could be added in firmware.
- The F3 comes with no accessories, no batteries, no USB cable, no SD card, no case. I guess this is to reduce waste and keep the cost down.
- There is an artefact that is produced in the ultrasonic range when the device switches between the two converters for the 32-bit float implementation. This is noticeable as a stepped change in inherent noise shortly after a loud transient. Note that this is an extremely obscure artefact, only noticeable in the extreme ultrasonic range and therefore only apparent when pitching down. This may be a consideration in sound design work. This artefact is evident in all 32-bit float Zoom F-series recorders, even when recording in 24 bit.

Neither positive or negative
- I can't comment on Bluetooth operation or timecode as I don't have the Bluetooth dongle or an iPhone.
- The LCD waveform on the single-colour screen looks nice but is probably not terribly important, particularly as you are recording in 32-bit float format. An LED would suffice in confirming that some signal is being received. Instead is might have been preferred to reduce the size of the screen in favour of bigger and more buttons
- The level recorded to each track is still set in 6dB steps (x 1, x 2, x 4 etc.). This can be useful for monitoring purposes but even when recording in stereo, the setting isn't linked across both channels so should be made for each channel to the same setting. If you forget to set them to the same level, you will have to fix it in post using the required number of 6dB increments. Crucially, if you change it after recording has started, it will be reflected in the headphones and waveforms on the screen but not in the recorded file. This could be improved in firmware.

To summarise, I do recommend this device if you only need stereo, space is at a premium and don't need to change settings on the device frequently. If you want a better user experience, have more space and can pay the extra, the Zoom F8n Pro, F6 or Sound Devices Mix Pre series are suggested.