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This so nearly makes it as an industry standard for sound and sound-for-film recorders. Four channels, with individually configurable inputs; 32 bit float, well set up export functions and the kind of sound you'd dream of getting. And at an astonshing price; mostly around the £150 mark, depending where you source it. When I bought mine, there were still early models around which were affected by rf interference and I sent an email to Zoom with the serial number to check whethe rminde was affected. I had a response in under 24 hours saying it wasn't. which was impressive. In use, the XLR socket pre-amps are whisper quiet - the Zoom F-series enjoy a good reputation and the inclusion of them here is a welcome surprise, making it ideal for voice-over work. I've used it for sporting events - the built in quality stereo mics supllmented by two Coles lip mics give a really top notch out, especially for indoor sports and when this can be tweaked in post is amazingly flexible. On a mic stand and with the cables secure, it's amazing.Field recording is, though, another matter. Handling noise, as others have commented, largely renders this all-but-unusable for any hand-held requirement and although the usable part of the results are approaching industry class, the uncertainty about whether you'd actually get to use them renders it too risky to use without additional kit. It's also particularly susceptible to wind noise. The plastic construction is a real weakness - and after about six months of use all of the legend indicating which socket is which has gone and you have to grope your way through its function to get what you want out of it. Not good under pressure. For what it is, it's of limited value despite the amazing feature set. For what it might have been; a few tweaks and a housing rebuild could still place this as one of the greats ... That said, I still take it everywhere ...

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Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

There are some things I like about this recorder; but a lot more I don't: Onboard mics sound nice - good stereo coverage. Fairly intuitive to use and set up. And now for the bad: I would classify the handling noise as unusable. Every single tiny movement is picked up - even movement from the headphone cable. If you're wanting to use this for handheld recording; forget it. It's a stand/mount only item. The headphone volume output level is very quiet - almost too quiet for any serious professional monitoring situation - ambient conversation volume from a few feet away will overpower the volume output. To that point, the headphone volume up/down is a click button system not a turn dial - and with the high handling noise, every click up or down sounds like a baseball bat on a barn door... The sound quality itself is fine - but a handheld recorder that can't be used handheld in the field isn't much of a portable recorder. Build quality is about as plastic-ey as it gets - I can't see it surviving a fall on a hard floor. Probably skip this one and go with something else.