Zoom H4 Digital Recorder

[Joe Blythe]

I have used a Zoom H4,
in fact I bought one and then sent it back again. I then bought an  
Edirol R-09 instead.
I wanted something small enough to fit in my pocket.

Recently on the LANGUSE list someone made an enquiry about Edirol  
R-09 vs M Audio Microtrack.
I enclose my posting to that list.

There is also a technical review of the R-09 in Language Archive  
Newsletter No9
http://www.mpi.nl/LAN/issues/lan_09.pdf

Best
Joe


> I have an Edirol R-09. I like it. Though I haven't really used in a  
> fieldwork situation yet.
> The first time I used one I wrote these comments in a blog
> http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/elac/2006/10/ 
> recording_naturalistic_convers_1.html
>
> Before buying it also looked into the M Audio Microtrack
> http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MicroTrack2496-main.html
> and the Zoom H4
> http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901
>
> What you need to realise is all these things are built down to a  
> price.
> Each have their strengths and their weaknesses.
> For me the M Audio microtrack wasn't worth considering because it  
> has its own built in rechargeable batteries that are not  
> interchangeable with anything else.
> The Zoom H4 and the Edirol R-09 take AA batteries.
> The Zoom H4 has XLR inputs (the three pin plugs for professional  
> microphone inputs). I actually bought one of these machines and  
> sent it back. I didn't like it very much. The  xlr in puts it's  
> nearly 50 % larger than the edirol.
> For recording conversation the R-09 is great because it's so small  
> and unobtrusive. I also think it does better recordings than the  
> Zoom H4.
> The edirol is probably the best of the three but there is a catch  
> thing underneath it that holds the batteries in place. It also  
> covers both the sd flash card and the input socket for the usb  
> cable. That catch is absolute rubbish. I expect it to break. You  
> need to be very careful with it. I am careful and apart from that I  
> think the machine is pretty good. Even without an external mike the  
> sound seems reasonable but I haven't had any recordings analysed  
> for their quality.
>
> All three of these machines are probably the poor cousins of the  
> Sony PCM-D1
> http://aes.harmony-central.com/119AES/Content/Sony/PR/PCM-D1.html
>
> I've never seen one, but this is a professional piece of equipment  
> that has is bound to have vastly superior electronics. It should  
> do, it's nearly 4 times the price as an R-09. Without really  
> knowing much about the electronics, my understanding is that the  
> better the components the better the quality of the digitisation.  
> This is the one I'd pick if I had the money.
> So it really depends on your budget, what you want to do with your  
> recordings and on how valuable do you consider your recordings to be.
>
> Other things to consider, larger but better quality: Marantz PMD671  
> flash ram recorders. Sound Device Hard disk recorders.
> Actually there's lot of things out there and the landscape is  
> changing very quickly. Things are getting cheaper though (and in  
> more ways than one).
> Good luck
> Joe Blythe


On 14/03/2007, at 2:01 PM, Daryn McKenny wrote:

> We paid $449 AU and $39 for a 2gb high speed SD Card
>
> Regards
>
> Daryn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: William J Poser [mailto:wjposer at ldc.upenn.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, 14 March 2007 1:46 PM
> To: Resource-Network-Linguistic-Diversity at unimelb.edu.au;
> thien at unimelb.edu.au
> Subject: Re: Zoom H4 Digital Recorder
>
> I assumed that anything that nice must be really expensive,
> but the first site I checked lists it (with only a 128MB card)
> for US$299!
>
> Bill

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