Just got my Zoom H4

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Consul

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2004
Messages
1,653
Location
Port Huron, Michigan, USA
I decided to forgo DIYing my own field recorder, and just took delivery of a Zoom H4. I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet, but so far, it seems like a pretty solid piece of technology. Troels Fohlmann (I'm sure I'm spelling his name wrong), a top-notch sound designer and sampler who also composes music for Hollywood movie trailers, does a great deal of his sampling with this exact unit, using the built-in mics.

So today, I went out and bought every cheap toy I could find that makes sound. Plastic harmonicas, a little xylophone thing, a slide flute, a plastic recorder, party horns, you name it. I also have some nice metal kazoos that will be getting the piezo treatment before too long. These, along with some clever editing and post-processing, should make for some interesting sounds.
 
> Zoom H4. I haven't had much of a chance to play with it yet

Is it IDIOT-PROOF??

(Is anything?)

I have music students. They do recitals. These are recorded. By other music students.

Stuff goes wrong.

I have thought seriously about moving from preamp-limiter-CDR to a PC based recording system. I've even thought of contracting-out to some "General Purpose IT Tech". Of course a PC is all too easy to screw-up too.
 
The menu navigation is non-intuitive for the most part, but you can figure it out with enough fiddling. But out of the box, you can hit the red "Rec" button, get levels, hit it again, and you're recording. Hit it again to stop. Pretty idiot proof. The audio setting out of the box is 16-bit 44.1khz uncompressed stereo. Probably exactly what you'd want. I bumped it up to 24-bit, because I'm under the delusion that there's a reason to.

It also has built-in DSP effects, including amp simulators and the like. I don't know how good they are. Probably good enough for a demo. The unit can act as a digital four-track, and they did have guitarists in mind when they built it. As for me, I'm most interested in sampling, field recording (those two go together for me), and podcasting. Interviews for later editing into podcasts would fit into that as well. It's nice and small, so taking it to a gathering or a convention or conference would be a piece of cake. It records to SD cards, so you can carry a ton of those with you and have plenty of recording time. It can handle 16GB SD cards. It also has two mic pres, as well as two balanced line-ins. You can use any two at the same time, in addition to the built-in XY electret pair.

That's the rundown, in a nutshell. :)

EDIT: I should also point out that using two AA batteries, you can get about 2.5 hours of recording time out of them. Not that great, really, but it can use straight wall power, and comes with a bog-standard wall-wart for the purpose.
 
I suppose you're talking about the new H4n, not the old H4. I just got one for reviewing purposes. I was quite amazed to find it can be used as a 4-track multitrack recorder, and with all the effects and modelling stuff, guitar input etc, you can basically do demos with just that little box (I'm sure the next generation will also have a drum machine built in). Have a look at the battery compartment; you should get more recording time when you engage the "stamina" switch (which limits the box to 44.1k Wav recording, though)

PRR, you should have a look at the Zoom H2 recorder. I'm sure it'll serve your students well. It's only half the price of the H4n and the built in mics are really good. It can even record 4-track surround without external mics. You can set it up on a photo camera tripod. Hit the record button twice, and you'll  get pretty much the sound you hear with your ears at the same spot. You can also use it as a USB-microphone/sound interface (an ASIO driver is available from their website). Apart from the fact that the batteries last only about 4 hours (a wallwart is included, though), it is an amazing box at an incredible price.
 
No, I got the H4. I can't afford the H4n, as much as I would like one. It still has all the effects and modeling stuff in it, though, and can be used as a four-track. The H4n has largely better electronics, mics, and probably more effects and models. Still, I've heard amazing things done with the H4, including the making of large multisample sets used by professional Hollywood composers.
 
I've the old H4 and we just received the new version a few weeks ago. I haven't used the new one for any recording yet but it looks like a vast improvement on the old one. I really liked the old one too.
First time i used it was at a stooges ATP gig and it captured it really well.

On the new H4-
The four track simultaneous recording is great. You have to use the onboard mics tho.
It also comes with a screw on shaft that will fit in a standard microphone stand clip which is very cool and a hard ABS carry case.

We've the H2 but haven't even turned it on...
 
mrclunk said:
We've the H2 but haven't even turned it on...

Don't let the plastic housing fool you, the recording quality is really good.

Consul, it wasn't my intention to make your new toy look old.  ;D I didn't know the old H4 has effects, so I thought you bought the new one. Personally I only own a H2 (but as I said, I'm very happy with it).
 
I guess I should point out I was being somewhat sarcastic. Still, it does bug me that finances keep me from ever being able to play with the best toys.

Oh well. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.
 
I also have an H2 that is really good considering the price tag. I do a lot of 5.1 mixing & wherever I can I slot in some of my own ambiences or what ever I have done on the H2.

 
NewYorkDave said:
How well does it handle high SPLs, e.g., "rock concert" levels?

Ya going to make some recording's of concerts eh Dave? ;D
You could start selling them from the boot of your car.  ;)

Rob
 
Dave

I havent tried it in this situation, but there is a 3-way level switch for the mic. The loudest sources I have recorded is traffic next to a busy road.

I could try playing something real loud in my studio & recording that....

Peter
 
NewYorkDave said:
I'm really intrigued by the H2. How well does it handle high SPLs, e.g., "rock concert" levels?

I've only taped (I guess we need a new word: SD-carded) one concert so far, but it wasn't extremely loud for a rock show; it was in a small club. There's no distortion in the recording (other than the guitarist's Hiwatt). The H2 does not have an analog limiter, so you better be careful not to record too hot. That said, today's converters aren't as bad sounding as they were when overdriven.
 
I did some playing around with recording some of my classmates today, and I have to say that the quality of the recording and mics on the H4 is really surprising to me, based upon what I've heard so far. The Zoom guys have done their research, I think.
 
RAM said:
Ya going to make some recording's of concerts eh Dave? ;D
You could start selling them from the boot of your car.  ;)

Rob

Rob, in the states we call it a trunk.  ;)  You don't want your car to have a boot in NY. 

I've thought about getting one of these devices myself and I just received an email from a friend asking for advice on the subject.  She would like to pick one up to conduct interviews that are suitable for air in an NPR sort of broadcast.  She's hoping to stay under the $300 pricepoint.  Should she get the H2 or H4?  I think the H4 would be handier for expanding to better mics down the road.  Thoughts?
 
The H4 will definitely do the job for interviews, and be good enough quality for radio airplay. I can't speak for the H2, but I know there are a number of podcasters that like it.
 
As long as you only use the internal microphones, the H2 is as good (maybe even a little better) than the H4. The H4 will only give better results if you use external mics. That said, I once did a shootout (acoustic guitar) between the H2 standalone vs a Studio Projects C4 SD set + Universal Audio DCS preamp + Emu1820m. While the C4 was a little better, it wasn't such a big difference. I don't think non-pro average listener wouldn't be able to say which one is the cheapo H2 and which is the studio grade signal chain. In terms of noise, too, the two setups were pretty close. So if you know how to use it, the H2 will do very well for interviews. I originally bought it with interviews in mind. The surround feature is actually very nice for interviews as it records everything that's happening in the room.
 
After a frustrating attempt to get PTLE running on my notebook just so I could record a simple guitar/voice demo, I got online today and ordered an H2 for myself. This'll be the modern-day equivalent of the cassette boombox I used to use to lay down song ideas :)
 
Back
Top