ilovefuzz.com

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5OsX5LCa8c[/youtube]

Man, I was so excited to see an updated version of the H6 to get even more into field recording than I have this year before the whole year got cancelled and I became a hermit recently. But this thing is so fucking ugly and cumbersome.

Hopefully the H6 prices go down, or that they'll have a new H6/H4 later.

Holy shit hot garbage.

Man, that fugly.

Which is a shame. I really want a product with good i/o that can work like a multitrack deck until the precise moment you pull it up on the GUI for deep edits and tricks and no sooner. Even IZ has dropped this model of use in their Radar products, which are now just a super high-end computer for your DAW software. This shouldn’t be that hard to do—just an ADAT without the tape part. Hell, this used to be done with hard drives and 24 track capabilities 20 years ago. But that product class has dropped off the earth.

Ugly H8 Machine

Thanks, I H8 it.

Zoom H8 first look ---> i hope it's my last look.
Seriously, how could they design something so awful?

I would have thought that sort of gear exists in a realm where people care less about aesthetics haha. If I were looking for a field recorder I would not be worried about how it looks.

coldbrightsunlight wrote:I would have thought that sort of gear exists in a realm where people care less about aesthetics haha. If I were looking for a field recorder I would not be worried about how it looks.

Aesthetics are always important to a point, they streamline use of a product and are responsible for an order of the UX, which in certain case such as with anything tactile is as powerful asa any tech inside. When I say ugly I don't just mean bad looking, I mean cumbersome and unwieldy, compare the form factor of the H8 with the H4 and H6, see how much easier they are to handle? I haven't even mentioned the UX in the screen itself, but if I did I would end up writing an essay.

TL;DR

Yeah I couldn't imagine holding that thing in the field would actually be comfortable or easy. I have an H5 that is very comfortable to hold and use; it fits in my hand and I could probably carry it in my pocket if I had to.

Although, the H8 doesn't look like its intended end use is portable field recording. Looks like its more intended for recording a whole live performance or podcasts. It looks like it wants to have as many mics plugged into it as possible.

The H8 form factor makes sense if you think about it as a table-top recorder for doing multiple-guest podcast recordings on location. Given Zoom's popularity in that market, I don't think it's intended to be a field recorder in the Nagra/Sound Devices way (ie, for film/tv/location work). It's prosumer equipment for tape syncs and field producers. If you want something with the same functions with a less bad-guy-spaceship-from-galaxy-quest vibe, check out the Tascam DR-680mkii.

coldbrightsunlight wrote:If I were looking for a field recorder I would not be worried about how it looks.

It looks like a Terminator warcraft, and folks? I am here for it.

mcatano wrote:The H8 form factor makes sense if you think about it as a table-top recorder for doing multiple-guest podcast recordings on location. Given Zoom's popularity in that market, I don't think it's intended to be a field recorder in the Nagra/Sound Devices way (ie, for film/tv/location work). It's prosumer equipment for tape syncs and field producers. If you want something with the same functions with a less bad-guy-spaceship-from-galaxy-quest vibe, check out the Tascam DR-680mkii.

This is probably true.

I think you guys are right about the intended uses and limited attractiveness as a proper handheld 'plonk it down in the middle of a practice space' device.

yeah, when you stop to consider the podcast use of this device...it's actually probably pretty smart. Ugly AF, they should have gone w a patchulator style vibe instead.

LF someone to etch my H8 purple so I can actually use it.