I agree with you regarding the knobs on the H6, absolutely terrible adjustments if you can’t see what you’re doing, the best adjustments like this can be found on the F8n.
The knobs on the F8n are pointers and have considerable drag behind them when adjusting.
The adjustments on the F6 are nearly as bad as the H6 though I suppose one could argue that with Float-32 then who really gives a damn anyway <smile>.
Because of the small control area one could argue that the controls are cramped.
The Zoom F6 is a little bigger than your description suggests and I certainly wouldn’t be too keen on clipping the F6 to a belt given the recorder is around 2 inches thick.
The F6 lie the H6 can be mounted on a tripod and a DSLR camera mounted on the top.
The F6 can fit into a hand easily enough, the best position for a F6 is on a table.
The XLFR connecters are down both sides, 3 on one and 3 on the other.
Another interesting aspect to the Zoom F6 and Zoom F8N is power.
The F6 by default is powered by 4 AA batteries but I suggest you think about an alternative power source to these as alkaline or rechargeable batteries won’t last too long with this recorder, rechargeable batteries cannot be charged from within the recorder.
The F6 has a USB-C connector on the side which can be used to power the device either with an AC Adapter or a Powerbank.
A power bank is without a doubt a cheap and handy option though for me a power bank wasn’t even a consideration as that meant more devices to lug about and more cables to connect.
The F6 can take the L camera series of Sony batteries and that’s what I settled on to power the recorder, I got over 30 hours of power to the recorder from one of these battery beasts though I should warn you that these batteries - if you buy the branded Sony type along with the charger - don’t come cheap, almost a quarter of the price of the recorder as a matter of fact for 2 batteries and the charger which I’ll go into detail about some other time.
Anyway the L series batteries clip onto the back of the recorder.
The powering of the Zoom F8n is intriguing to say the least.
By default the F8N takes 8 AA perlite batteries.
On the rear of the machine is a power socket that can except any voltage power supply from 9 to 18 volts.
Further to this there is another power socket on the side that can take the same voltages.
The user can `priorities the power supply so that if one supply is exhausted then the other supply takes over or if the voltage of one supply drops below a certain level than another supply kicks in so in short the Zoom F6 and F8N can perform literally hours upon hours of recording particularly in the case of the F8N with its dual SD card slots along with the USB connectivity.

On 25 Aug 2020, at 12:05 am, Hamit Campos <hamitcampos@gmail.com> wrote:

The F controll has nobs and things on it last I heard. Curtis Jud talked about it I think on 1 of the few vids he did of the F8 origenal. Well yeah the 32 bits thing wasn't like the major major thing of why I wanted 1. Actually the 6 XLRs all down the machine was more major and the fact that it's small. Supposedly you can clip it to your belt. How small is it anyways? Cause that is 1 set back to the H6 you can't be hands free. lol Unless you put the thing on a tripod. You can put it in a bag I did with the APH bag for the old handy casset recorder but and another draw back to the H6 you can too easely move the volume nobs. Which ain't cool as is but especially when you're doing stereo recordings and boath mics need to be on the same level. I gave this to Zoom as well in my feed back report. So we'll see if the H6N will have the bars like the H5.

On 8/24/2020 2:00 AM, Dane Trethowan wrote:

Hi.
Apologies if the subject line was referring to the wrong recorder unit, the recorder we’re discussing here is the Zoom F6 and not the Zoom H6 which are 2 completely different recorders.
Yes, I have a Zoom F6 and Yes, I have read other reviews and opinions on this recorder.
Like every Zoom or every other recorder the Zoom F6 to me has its advantages and disadvantages over some of the other Zoom recorders I have here - actually I have quite a collection of the brutes - but all-in-all my favourite Zoom recorder is still the Zoom F8n for far too many reasons to enumerate here and even the H6 still punches above its own weight in a lot of areas so I guess people are going to have to do a little more homework before you but.
Don’t just take notice of reviews and information that dished out to you and don’t be afraid to ask questions of those who have these recorders so we may arm you with the facts and the knowledge before you go out and invest your hard money in one of these recorders.
Whatever the recorder there is a little learning kerb to be had.
Some recorders have a better layout than others, this can make a real difference in operation.
Okay so I’ve not done all that much work with the F6 yet and have only had the machine for a few weeks so some notes to begin with through observations I’ve made.
The menu system wraps around on the F6 where on the F8N the menu system has fixed starting and ending points.
The menu navigation is performed by small buttons not much bigger than match heads, not my ideal way of doing things but there we are, I much prefer the jog-dial of the F8N or even the spring rocker of the H6 or H2n.
32-bit floating point is an exciting development and the main reason why I bought the recorder but think carefully before you go out and spend your money.
Digital Recorders do have quite a bit of head room but like everything else they have there limitations so unless you really know that you’re going to be recording sounds from extreme soft to extreme loud then you might look at another recorder.
The absence of 6.25MM jacks is a bit annoying but not the end of the world of course, I guess it’s something that I’m used to.
And now for the real cruncher to be aware of if you’re thinking of using the Zoom F6 with an IOS device.
Yes this can be done and is aptly demonstrated on Mosen At Large but By Gee, it takes a bit of organisation to do and then you have to reconnect the Bluetooth and the iPhone every time you wish to start a session, sorry chums but that’s just not acceptable in my view when the Zoom F8n will connect via Bluetooth right out of the box if you have the latest firmware update installed.
Accessibility for the IOS App is about the same so if you’ve heard the Zoom F6 demo then you can pretty much sum up the F8N’s functionality with the F8 Controller App.
I’m yet to try one of the optional mixing surfaces available and I don’t know whether they consist of a touch screen or buttons, faders etc so perhaps someone can enlighten me here.
Think that’s all for the moment <smile>

On 24 Aug 2020, at 11:14 am, Hamit Campos <hamitcampos@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Dain. On the RWP list there are like 3 or 4 guys including Neal Ewers and
Jonathan Mozen that have 1. Do you have 1? What do you not like about the
buttons and menus? I wanted 1 for the PCM 192 KHZ 32 bits floating point
WAV. Also it’s an F recorder so I assume it’s got the epic quality sound of
the F4 F8 and now before it the F8N. Also the fact it’s got 6 XLRs would
make using 6 mics with it for 5.1 surround sound easier than with the H6.
Because with the H6 1 would need the EX H6 for starters than a power box to
spit phantom at those other 2 mics. If you do have 1 how have you found
pairing channals on it? Is it harder than the H6?

On Aug 23, 2020, at 5:22 PM, Dane Trethowan <grtdane@internode.on.net>
wrote:

Hi.
Was wondering if anyone on list had a Zoom f6 recorder and if so what do
you think?
I still have my Zoom F8N and H6 recorders and I have to admit there are in
my opinion a few things that put the F8N and H6 recorders respectively
above the Zoom F6, the main being layout of menus and controls.
I’m not at all knocking the F6 as its a beaut little compact recorder with
heaps of punch but like everything else the F6 has its flaws so buy
carefully if you’re looking at one of these recorders.

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