This week two of the most affordable Ambisonic recorders got updates to make them more practical for VR.

ZOOM F8:

The ZOOM F8 dropped Firmware 4.0 and the unit received a full Ambisonic B-Format upgrade. Here is a photo Zoom sent to me this past week to tease the release to some of us bloggers.

As you can see the new update linked the channels in a new way, adds the proper metadata labels and records the audio as B-format. This is the firmware that was co-developed with Sennheiser and mentioned in the IBC2017 joint press release.

Firmware 4.0 for the F8 now includes Ambisonics decoding which allows you to record 360 audio in the following formats:

● FuMa
● Ambix
● Ambisonics A (Stereo Monitor)
● FuMa (Dual)
● Ambix (Dual)
● FuMa + Ambix
● FuMa + Ambisonics A
● Ambix + Ambisonics A

Here is a link to the full change log and where you can download Firmware 4.0.

https://www.zoom.co.jp/news/F8-update

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Sound Devices MixPre6:

The MixPre6 also reciever a Ambisonic-ish update in its 1.2 firmware update.  Now the MixPre6 has input linking.

http://www.sounddevices.com/support/downloads/mixpres-firmware

Sound Devices created a short video on how to enable and interqct with this new feature.

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About the Author

Andrew Jones is a location sound mixer based in Los Angeles. He started in the TV and Film industry in 2004. You can email him at  Andrew@HoldForSound.com

www.HoldForSound.com