Page | 5
Fader
With trim highlighted, pressing down on the menu dial and turning it clockwise accesses the fader
mode. Fader mode is for monitoring. In fader mode, you can adjust the audio balance between the
various channels without affecting the recording.
Connecting microphones and headphones
Microphones are plugged in on the left-hand side panel of the Zoom F4.
There are four XLR inputs. The one nearest the top panel is input 1. Typically, you might have a
boom and 2 Lavalier mics connected to inputs 1, 2 and 3. The technicians supply a short XLR lead
already plugged into input 1. This is to avoid wear and tear on the machine.
The headphones are plugged in on the right-hand side.
Typically, there is an audio splitter plugged. This is so, if there is a separate boom operator to sound
mixer, the boom op and the Zoom op can both listen to the audio being recorded.
Setting the audio level
When recording you should aim for your average signal to be between -12 and -14 DBFS. To make
things easier, when you are in trim mode, deselect the highlight on trim by pressing down on the
menu dial, then turn the dial clockwise. The display turns into a large audio meter shown.
In the image shown a superimposed sign wave
has been added to show where your average
peak level should fall. It does not matter if
certain sounds peak much louder than the
average level, as long as they do not go near
0dBFS. So, for example, peaking sound at -5, is
still acceptable.
Similarly, quiet sounds peaking at -30 dBFS are
also fine, as long as the average sound for the
recording is at -12 to -14 dBFS.
XLR release buttons. Press before
connecting and disconnecting XLR cables.
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General
