Zoom H4n Handy Recorder - Portable Digital Recorder

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

I've had my H4n for more than a year, and I've used it for diverse uses, such as interviews for research, soundscape and soundwalk recording and composing, and as a mobile audio interface, for using it as a guitar and mic input port for Apple MainStage. I've also recorded chamber music recitals with great quality. I'm in love with this little machine.

The only thing I would complaint about is the quality of the MP3 encoder, but that doesn't quite affect my work, because I always use PCM files.

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

I maintain a Youtube channel "miamipianofestival" for the Miami International Piano Festival. We professionally record many of our concerts but I sometimes use the Zoom for Youtube. I put the audio track on the videos. The acoustic piano is very difficult to record with the wide range and all the transients but the Zoom does a really good job Here is an example:[@] The performers who hear the recordings are really amazed.

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

Great sound, short learning curve, easy to transport, got it home, quickly read the instructions and took it to band practice. No fumbling with chords, no dealing with confusing displays, just put it on a mic stand and wow!!!! On a scale of 1-10, 1 being: another wasted investment of time and money, 10 being: sledgehamer to cranium best of breed...this one scores a 25...the H4N is all about results, not excuses...an excellent easy to use tool in a small easy to transport package...if I ever get married again this baby's going to be listed in my prenupt...she can have my car, my home, my dogs...but not my H4N, period!!!!!

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

I wasn't looking for a 4 track; just a good solid 2 track with clean phantom powered XLR inputs. I couldn't find a 2 track that met my requirements. I needed the ability to record from a studio mic without any other gear humming nearby, like a PC or Mac. So the ability to run stand-alone off batteries makes this perfect for voice over work or for use with a boom mic on a video shoot.

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

Bought this product so I would be able to take recording capabilities on the road. Have PC based studio at home, but not in the ideal spot to have people come by and work with me. The H4N allows me to take my work on the road and get the vocal tracks I need from the artist I wanna work with.

Its as simple as going into Card reader mode and uploading my music tracks onto the H4N. From there it's just a matter of getting an artist to do his/her lyrics over the track in multitrack mode.

The built in condensers are decent, but with the xlr inputs and phantom power I can plug my Rode NT1 right into this thing. The quality is good. Go back to card reader mode, dump it all back into the pc and edit to perfection.

Answered my needs perfectly. I've found that the background noise I have encountered so far was due to sensitivity of the mics and not being in the ideal environment. My guess is that if you were in a soundproof booth or a very quiet room, the background noise would be minimal. Doubt if its anything you can't get rid of with simple filters. Nice piece of equipment for the price.

Not a fan of the audio interface mode of the product. Plugged it up and the latency was awful, probably due the generic drivers that installed with it. Not a problem for me, but if you plan on using this as an interface, you might wanna reconsider.

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

We use this unit at all our live Jazz gigs, we go direct into 2 channels and pick up all the room ambiance as well. . Drop it into your fav. DAW and your good to go !

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

I've had the Ediroll E-09 (or whatever it's model number is - I forget), still have a Zoom H-2. Ediroll is OK, not the greatest. Zoom H2 is actually GREAT! But the H4-N - - - holy cow! Over all, I'm amazed at what this thing can do - both with its on board X/Y mics & dispersion pickup etc... But also the fact you can use 1/4", XLR's and XLR Phantom with choices of voltage pawer no less. I could go on and on. But bottom line here is you could practically record a "live album" with this if you're like a grunge solo or want that TRUE live sound. I've tried it - record, load in, put it through some DAW or whatever. Just blows me away compared to what you could NOT do 10-15 years ago. If I had one suggestion to make, it would be that when you're recording with the external inputs that you had more functionality with how and where you want the tracks to behave. Meaning if you wanted to mix the two externals AND use the X/Y mics, that you could mix them all into one track. I may be the odd ball on this one because even though I am a musician, I'm thinking more along the lines of an interviewer (another "thing" I do). I'd love to be able to record using ALL teh available inputs but mix everything to one track AS you record it. This is the only reason for the 4 star rating instead of 5 star. If there was a 4 3/4 star rating, I'd have rated it as that! Would I buy this again (or a back up like I just did), SURE WOULD! It's still great and life's full of shortcomings anyway. I'll deal. And I HAVE recommended this to friends who've bought one no less. NICE JOB Zoom / Samson!

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

I bought this recorder mainly for a video project, but it has so many more uses. This is more than just a recorder folks, it's also an fx processor. This has so many uses, that I can't even think of them all right now. There are built in fx that you can use for all kinds of instruments. I use the compression for my bass guitar when I lead worship at my youth group on Wednesday nights. You can use the built in fx for vocals (recommended), acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass guitars, electric pianos, etc. It also has a bunch of pre-amps for electric guitars, and adjustable eq settings. There are 50 presets, and a bunch of empty slots for you to create your own presets.
But aside from that feature, It records AMAZING CLEAR audio from the built in mics. And of course you can plug in your own mics on the bottom of the unit. I've used this to record audio for countless HD video projects, and it never fails to produce bright clear audio. And the stereo on this thing is realer than real.
The battery life is amazing, and the record time is amazing and High Quality on MP3 mode. You can record in MP3 or WAV, at high resolutions or low.
This company could have easily asked for a higher price, but didn't. Just another reason to buy it.
You will not regret it.

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

More features than any other handheld device and actually half the price of other units in its class.This unit sounds great at anything it does. Every time I use it I'm amazed at the quality of sound!!!! I use it mainly as a live recorder as it is to small and tedious to use as a studio device. Better than expected!!!!!!!

Comments about Zoom H4N 4 Track Portable Digital Recorder:

This is an absolutely great unit for what it is !!! This unit compared to others in its class is really a no brainer. I use a REAL multitrack recorder when doing serious things and I do not expect that performance out of this PORTABLE, HANDHELD,INEXPENSIVE, QUICK and EASY unit. If you're not trying to produce an album on it and use it the way it is intended, there's nothing else that can come close to it. I researched brands, features and price for a week before ultimately buying this one. You can't go wrong with this unit. Remember, when buying equipment be realistic not a cork sniffer.