Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470109
16 I M PS E . O R G CO R N E R TECH BY KOREY PEREIRA MPSE My name is Korey and I have too much field recording gear. I say this in jest, but when recording sound out in the field, it never hurts to have more gear on hand to ensure you get the sound you need when it really counts. Instead of covering every possible recording situation, I will focus on my personal quest for the perfect compact field recording rig to capture ambiences while I travel. travel microphone. It is smaller than the Ambeo VR and has less self-noise for capturing quieter spaces. However, there are some trips where even the combo of a CMS-50 + MixPre-6 takes up a little too much space. For those situations, the Sony PCM-M10 has been my longtime go-to pocket recorder when I either have less space or need something with a smaller footprint than the CMS-50 + MixPre-6 for more discrete recording. When Zoom announced their new ultra-portable F3 recorder, I got really excited. The F3 weighs in at just more than eight ounces, dimensions of 75.0 mm × 77.3 mm × 47.8 mm, has two XLR inputs, will record up to 192kHz and supports 32-float. WOW! Paired with my Sanken CMS-50, I might finally have the ultra-compact mid-side rig I have been looking for. I was lucky enough to find one in stock and get one of the first units out the door. The biggest surprise when unboxing the unit was the build quality. When compared to other similar-sized recorders, it did not feel like a cheap piece of plastic wrapped around some Zoom F3: Big Sound in a Little Package When traveling, I always like to have a recording rig with me. For a number of years, my "travel" rig consisted of a Sennheiser Ambeo VR in a Rycote Baby Ball Gag connected to a Sound Devices 788T. While this was a great rig for ambience recording, it was heavy and took up a lot of suitcase space. When Sound Devices released the MixPre-6, I picked one up to pair with the Ambeo VR, which was significantly smaller and lighter to lug around than the 788T. While I still record with the Ambeo VR, for the last few years, I have moved to the Sanken CMS-50 mid-side microphone as my primary