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Re: [microsound] Zoom H4 anyone?



i have an H4 for about 4months now so i've got some experience with it. i mostly use it for recording directly from the mixingboard with XLR cables which gives a good result.

when using it as a field recorder with the onboard microphones i always get a bit frustrated. the included windcap is far from good (there is still a lot of  noise from the wind rushing past the microphones).

the problem is mostly that in the lowest microphone (L) setting the soundscource needs to be rather loud to be captured decently. setting the microphone sensitivity to medium or high will make it hypersensitive. not only making the softest breeze sound like your recording in a storm without a windcap but also (very loudly) picking up the sound of your hands moving over the plastic body of the H4 or pressing one of it's buttons to adjust the levels (for example). moving the microphone input level switch will cause a major pop. :(

the backlight of the screen is only on for a few moments and without it on you can't read it in the dark. the only way to turn it on is by touching a button but touching button in onboard microphone mode will cause a pop, rather frustrating. :(

the onboard software compressor & limiters are way too aggressive to be used for field recordings. i actually find them totally useless. 

some other points which i find highly frustrating / annoying of the H4 are:

that you need to connect the H4 to your computer to copy the files from the SDcart to your harddisk. when i insert an SD-card that i've recorded stuff on in my card reader windows XPpro doesn't understand it and wants to format it. so it seems you need to use the H4 as a card reader (connected through usb).

changing the card isn't a very quick process, unfortunately. and you have to be careful that your batteries don't fall out when you change your cart in the field.

the H4 stores it's system settings on the SDcard so when you remove it and insert a fresh one you'll need to reconfigure your system. this ruined some of my recordings because i didn't think of that. :(

a thing that i find annoying is that i haven't been able to find a way to set the time & date on the machine. so all sounds are created in "2005". this may not be a terrible short coming but it is rather annoying for me personally as i'd like to keep accurate records of what i recorded when.

the unit itself feels rather cheap & plastic and is rather big. it doesn't fit in my pocket, for example. and the included storage pouch is too small to carry it around when it's tripod-mount is attached and/or with it's windcap. :(

despite of all the negativity i am very satisfied with the recordings i've made with it. when mounted on a tripod and with some better windcap you can make reasonable field recordings, especially if your using an external mic.

if you're going to record directly from the mixingboard then i can highly recommend the H4 but for field recording it's not the greatest, unfortunately. 

hope this helps,

vincent / eretsua
www.eretsua.com
www.myspace.com/eretsuamusic





 
Tobias Reber <tobiasreber@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Does anybody have some experience with the Zoom H4 Flash Disc Recorder? I'm
looking for a good portable field recording device and I'm not sure whether
I should go for the H4 or wait a few weeks for the H2. Any other
recommendations are most welcome, too.

Thanks a lot,

Tobias



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