How to Record a Zoom LiveTrak L6 into Your iPhone

The appeal is that nothing is lost between the two. The L6 records 32-bit float, and it streams true 32-bit float over USB, not a downgraded version, so Reel receives the full-headroom signal and records it as 32-bit float too. A float mixer into a float recorder, clean end to end.

You get the L6's inputs, faders and monitoring on the desk, and Reel as the take-based recorder on the phone, capturing whichever channels you want without a computer anywhere in the chain.

Not much, and no computer.

• A Zoom LiveTrak L6.
• Power for it. The L6 runs on four AA batteries, its Zoom AD-17 adapter, or a USB battery. It has to be powered separately, since it does not draw power from the phone.
• An iPhone, plus the right cable. The L6 connects over USB-C, so a USB-C iPhone needs a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a Lightning iPhone needs an Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter.
• A recording app. Reel is the one I make and use for this, but any driverless iOS audio app works.

This is the step that decides whether you can pick individual channels. The L6 has a USB audio mode with two options: a full multitrack mode that sends all twelve channels to the phone, and a simple stereo mode that sends only the main mix.

Set it to the multitrack mode. In stereo mode Reel only sees the L6's stereo master, so you could not, for example, grab just the vocal channel or just the guitar. In multitrack mode every input is available for Reel to record.

The L6 has two USB-C ports, one for data and one for power. Run the data port to your phone, with a USB-C to USB-C cable on a USB-C iPhone, or through an Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter on a Lightning iPhone.

Then power the L6 from its own power port, using the Zoom adapter or a USB battery, or drop in AA batteries. Do not expect the phone to power it, it will not, and Zoom specifically says to give the L6 its own power when it is connected to a phone or tablet.

With the L6 in multitrack USB mode and connected, Reel sees up to twelve input channels. The two combo mic and line inputs are channels one and two, and the stereo line inputs land on the higher channel numbers. Arm a track in Reel, choose the channel you want and record.

Because Reel is a four-track, you can send different L6 channels to different tracks and capture them separately, then overdub, loop and mix from there.

Here is the part that surprises people. The L6 has no input gain knobs. Zoom's own spec says adjustment is unnecessary, because each input runs through two converters, one for quiet and one for loud, and 32-bit float holds the full range, so inputs effectively cannot clip and there is nothing to set. That is the upside: you will never clip an input on an L6.

The catch is levels. With no gain stage, a loud vocal mic and a quiet acoustic guitar arrive at very different loudnesses, and there is no knob on the L6 to match them. You match them in Reel instead, by pulling the hot track's fader down, and because everything is 32-bit float you can drop a track a long way with no added noise and no loss of quality. So it is a mixing step rather than a gain step, and the float headroom is what makes that step free.

Once it is in multitrack USB mode, connected and powered, pick your channels, arm your tracks and hit record in Reel. Each take lands as a clean 48kHz, 32-bit float capture you can overdub and mix.

One nice detail: the L6 can record to its own microSD card at the same time as it streams to the phone. So while you capture into Reel, you also get a card backup of the session, which is a comforting safety net for a live take you cannot repeat.

The same pairing works across Zoom's current 32-bit float lineup. The H4essential and H6essential handhelds and the F3 and F6 field recorders all connect to the phone as driverless USB interfaces and stream 32-bit float, so Reel keeps them float from end to end, exactly like the L6.

One to know: the H1essential records 32-bit float to its own card, but over USB it only sends 16-bit, so into the phone you get 16-bit from that one. If your Zoom sends float over USB, Reel keeps it float. Between them, a Zoom recorder and Reel make a tidy 32-bit float rig with nothing lost in the middle.

Reel is the app I use to capture these takes, so here is a quick overview of how it works.