Zoom H4n Portable Recorder includes 16GB SDHC card, RC4 remote, Samson CH700 Headphones, Tripod Stand, and Hard Case
Zoom H4n Portable Recorder includes 16GB SDHC card, RC4 remote, Samson CH700 Headphones, Tripod Stand, and Hard Case
List Price: $ 359.00
Price: $ 359.00
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Comments
Very good with a few caveats,
The H4n:
Pros-simple to learn, well thought-out design, fairly rugged-feeling, very good sound quality, lots of nice-to-have features.
Cons-lots of handling noise, takes forever to start up, typical Japanese “stereo instructions” manual (written by someone with not quite a full grasp of Engrish), eats batteries. I have no idea how anybody could get 6 hours use out of a set of batteries.
This kit:
Pros-the hard shell case is awesome. It’s worth the up-charge by itself. Headphones are pretty good backups.
Cons-this spindly little cheapo tripod is totally unusable. You can buy one just like it at the dollar store. Why anybody would spend $300 on the recorder and then trust this tripod to hold it has all the elements of a joke.
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|Class 6 SDHC Does Not Get The Job Done,
In the end, the Zoom H4n portable recorder, and kit of accessories, is everything I hoped for in a high quality handheld recorder except for the Transcend 16 GB Class 6 SDHC card included in the kit. My first 8-10 recordings sounded muffled, a bit distorted, and there seemed to be occasional and intermittent drop-outs. These were all done using both the built-in microphones and external mics, with the recorder set at the highest sample rate for recording. I had read great reviews about the H4n before buying it, and so I was perplexed. I tried different sample rates, but the playback was about the same regardless. So I considered what might cause such poor results. No matter what settings I used, or what I tried, results were always the same. So I considered for awhile what else, short of some internal problem with the recorder, might cause this.
The recorder comes from the factory with a 1 GB Class 6 memory card, and the kit of accessories included a Transcend 16 GB class 6 card. I began to wonder whether the poor sound quality of the recordings might be due to a problem with memory. So I began looking at SDHC specs and decided to try a Class 10 SDHC. I shopped around and found a SanDisk Extreme 16GB Class 10 (30mb/sec) card. I ordered it and installed it as soon as it arrived. The first recording after installing the SanDisk card was perfect. The sound wasn’t muffled, there were no dropouts or artifacts, just crystal clear vocals, guitar, bass, etc.
Does the H4n need Class 10 memory? I don’t know. Are all memory manufacturers equal? I don’t know that either. All I know is that the Transcend 16 GB Class 6 card included by Nextweb Sales in the kit did not produce quality recordings, and when replaced with the SanDisk card the recorder produced great sounding results. What I think there is to gain from my experience is that if you purchase an H4n, and it doesn’t produce the sound quality you expect, consider upgrading the memory to a better class. It worked for me.
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|Professional Quality for Broadcast,
I am radio talk show host who covers the State House and spot journalism. This recorder is the best I have used yet. I don’t see too many of them in my business, but everyone I work with is impressed with it.
Before purchasing this product, I did extensive research on it, even listening to audio samples comparing it with other recorders. The microphones on the unit are as good, if not better than most microphones that are used in the field. In fact, in learning how to use this product, I confused the microphone with my Electrovoice mic in my sound tests. When I used the setting in the field, the people were off mic, but because there is no hiss or other background noise on the built in mics, nobody could tell.
Before I purchased this, often times, I had to rush back from the State House to the studio to dub in audio through the board into the computer to edit it. Because the Zoom H4N acts as the card reader, I plug into the USB port on my production computer and load the audio in seconds. This allows me more time to stay on scene and work more efficiently back in the studio.
There is a huge learning curve on this unit. The instruction manual is very detailed and can make your head spin. There is some learning by trial and error. But it offers amazing flexibility- .wav or .mp3 recording, multitrack recording, mutliple sound sources, ability to monitor audio recording, you can adjust record input levels, mark tracks, edit on the fly and so much more. This unit has more features than I will need I’m sure. But it allows me greater flexibility in the field, the sound quality is much better and I know that recording committee hearings with multiple microphones will be easy with the Zoom H4N.
This unit may not be ideal for beginners or someone who has no technical experience.
This package was a great value. If you price everything individually, you will spend a lot more. With this package, you get everything you need and the case is really awesome. The mini tripod has come in handy, haven’t used the remote control, the windscreen is good and the extra memory card is a necessity. You’ll receive many compliments for having such a great recorder, case and the like. You will be able to project that more professional image among your peers.
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