I've had a Zoom F3 for a while now, but I've only recently taken it on a field trip. I bought it to record wildlife and environmental ambiences (a hobby), but most of the time I'm recording meetings (work), and pack a Zoom H6 (not the new "essentials" version).

The H6 has a few shortcomings, mainly its size and very average quality preamps. But it is an enormously flexible device and has an intuitive interface with hardware knobs for each microphone input. The X-Y stereo capsule it ships with is great for meetings, if you just want an ok recording to check your facts later.

But this time, I needed something light, so I took the F3 instead, and it worked out far better than I expected. Apart from the obvious advantage (size), the F3 has a few improvements over the H6.

• Firstly, the F3 preamps are very good (-127 dBu) and a substantial upgrade over the H6 (-120 dBu), whose preamps are the main limitation on the device.
• The F3 records in 32 bit float. While over-marketed, this feature is actually useful when you are working with people that have no clue about microphone technique. If someone starts blasting away or alternates between speaking softly and loudly, it doesn't matter. The recording won't clip and you can, yes, "fix it in post".
• Automatic switching of power source. If you plug the F3 into a powered USB port it will switch over to USB power automatically, or drop back to batteries if disconnected. On the H6 you need to go into a menu and select USB as the power source, which is rather clunky.

Basically the Zoom F3 is a very good, compact and affordable recorder and I recommend it.

The Zoom H6 Black still has its place

There are a few points where the H6 is still superior to the F3.

• The H6 interface is clear and intuitive, with a colour screen and wonderful hardware knobs to control gain for each microphone input. The F3 has a monochrome screen and no knobs, you have to click small fiddly buttons to set the input level. While you have less need to ride the gain due to the 32 bit float recordings, it's still a little annoying.
• The XLR inputs on the F3 are XLR only, and there is no line in, while the H6 has combo jacks that can also accept 1/4" jacks and -20 dB hardware pads. The H6 does have a 3.5 mm line in on the X-Y stereo capsule but it's quite noisy, I've had more luck bringing line in through the combo jacks.
• While the F3 is extremely compact and portable, and can be mounted on a tripod, it's not a hand-held design.

I like both devices, but they have different use cases. For casual recording of meetings, condenser microphones or noisy environments where the preamp noise isn't going to matter, I still prefer the H6 for it's X-Y microphone capsule (you could also get the H5, which is cheaper), hardware knobs and tons of inputs.

For high quality recordings of quiet sound sources (eg. wildlife, studio recordings from dynamic microphones), or if you need to pack super light, the F3 is the way to go. It is quite cheap, compared to competitors with equivalent preamps.

New Zoom field recorders

Zoom has recently released a new recorder, the H6 Essential, which is probably best avoided. It features 32 bit float (good), but it has the same shitty preamps as the older H6 (why?) and loses all the lovely hardware knobs for gain control (awful). Whoever thought a blue and red themed LCD screen would be easy on the eye needs to be shot.

It has been suggested that given the 'Essential' branding, more premium models will follow and one actually has been released, the Zoom H1 XLR. While the preamps on this are still a bit disappointing at -122 dBu, they are actually a substantial upgrade over the old H1n's rather awful -114 dBu.

If Zoom release a new H5 or H6 with improved preamps for a reasonable price - preferably with hardware gain knobs - it will most likely dominate the market. For quite a while now there just hasn't been a handheld field recorder that you would call 'great'.

One Field Recorder to Rule Them All

Zoom, we have been waiting for ever and you're just too slow. Tascam has just hit it out of the park with their new FR-AV2 recorder. I don't have one yet, but it's a compact two-input recorder with the following advantages over the Zoom F3:

• Combo jacks (XLR + 1/4").
• Colour screen and much better button layout / interface.
• Has a 3.5 mm line in.
• On board time code generation.
• Wireless monitoring (with optional Bluetooth adapter).
• Can record and provide a USB audio interface simultaneously (so you can make a backup recording).
• On board audio processing with noise gates, equaliser and so on.
• High quality preamps (127 dBu, which are just as good as those on the F3).

It is notionally $100 more expensive than the Zoom F3. Of course, in Thailand we usually have to wait 3 months for newly released gear to actually arrive, and for unexplained reasons it will cost 30% more than in the US, even if it is made here.

If you're in the market for a new recorder the Tascam FR-AV2 is probably the way to go, so long as you're ok with two inputs, which most people probably are. It basically does it all, whereas the competing options all have their shortcomings. Individually, none of the FR-AV2's extra features would compel me to upgrade from my Zoom F3, but collectively they do form an attractive package.