Zoom H4N reduced pricing for those interested

Tue May 25 12:37:16 UTC 2010

Hi folks,

I have one of each; I find them both very good and I use them in different
setting as each has different advantages. The H2 is my primary recorder for
one-on-one sessions. I have never had it break, it is very easy to use, the
sound quality is very good, and it has great battery life. Perhaps most
importantly for me, my 80+ year old consultants think it looks familiar. It
looks like a microphone, not a gadget from outer space. I also feel better
tossing it in my bag and running around with it, since damaging it would not
be such a financial hit.

I use the H4n for larger, multispeaker situations where I can really take
advantage of the two XLR inputs and some long cables. This is really useful
for Elders Meetings and the like. I am very pleased with the quality of the
4-channel input, and the USB transfer is lightening-fast. I would also
choose this one for recordings for detailed phonetic work, probably with an
appropriate headmount mic (which I can't yet afford). However, it takes
longer to set up (especially with externals), is hungrier for batteries than
the H2 (in fact I don't dare use the external mics without plugging the
thing into an electrical source for anything longer than about half an
hour), and its appearance is too intimidating for intimate settings,
especially with new consultants.

If you have the money and the space in your kit for a back-up recorder, why
not get one of each? There are pros and cons to both, and it's nice to have
the luxury to choose the best tool for the situation at hand.

And Daryn, perhaps you were just being good-naturedly-polemic, but I think
your "hard sell" line is a little too, well, hard. We all want the best
possible recordings, but we have to balance that with other demands. There
are times in my fieldwork where the highest-quality recorder is not the
right tool for the job.

Just my two cents,
Andrea

And PS yes I do track in my metadata which recorder was used.
-----------------------------
Andrea L. Berez
PhD candidate, Dept. of Linguistics
University of California, Santa Barbara
http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~aberez/

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 11:40 PM, Daryn McKenny <daryn at acra.org.au> wrote:

> Terry my hard sell to you would be this:
>
>
>
> BUY IT, your language work is to important and after you and your work is
> done hopefully younger ears are going to take over and you don’t want the
> young ones saying “I wish that Dr Terry fella had used a better recorder…”
>
>
>
> *Regards*
>
>
>
> *Daryn ***
>
> * *
>
> *Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association Inc. Trading as:*
>
> *Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre*
>
> * ***
>
> *P | 02 4927 8222    F | 02 4925 2185    E | **daryn at acra.org.au    W |
> www.acra.org.au & www.miromaa.com.au***
>
> * *
>
> P* * Please consider the environment before printing this email
>
>
>
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>
>
> *From:* Terry J. Klokeid [mailto:klokeid at victoria.tc.ca]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, 25 May 2010 5:17 PM
> *To:* RNLD List
> *Subject:* Re: Zoom H4N reduced pricing for those interested
>
>
>
> Thanks for your prompt and frank response, Mark.
>
>
>
> The only thing is,
>
>
>
> (a) our team has never had any H2 break. That's 4 H2s that have held up
> over about 2 years, and they travel about a fair bit.
>
> (b) we find the sound quality excellent
>
> and
>
> (c) we use the built-in mikes, not plugins.
>
>
>
> Consideration (b) concerns me. We find the sound quality excellent - is
> that due to the fact that our ears are all over 60 years old?  Some being in
> the 75-80 year old range. Do younger ears hear differences in speech sound
> quality that escape us?
>
>
>
> I could go buy an H4n tomorrow, as I'll be visiting the Big City (as we
> call it), but I do need to be convinced.
>
>
>
> Dr. Terry J. Klokeid
> Nuchquu-a
>
>
> Adjunct Professor of Linguistics, University of Victoria
>
> Coordinator, Nuu-chah-nulth Language Council
>
> Developer, Huu-ay-aht Language Recovery Program
>
>
>
> North Island College, Room S111A
>
> 3699 Roger Street
> Port Alberni, BC  V9Y 8E3
>
> 250.724.8743
>
>
>
> klokeid at uvic.ca
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2010-05-24, at 11:19 pm, Mark Post wrote:
>
>
>
> In my experience, the H2 (a) is cheaply made and prone to breaking (b) has
> terrible inbuilt mics and (c) only has a 3.5mm input, hence requiring either
> an XLR->3.5mm adaptor or willingness to settle on a substandard mic. For the
> additional money, the H4n performs *much* better on all of these fronts. I
> still use H2s as emergency backups, and they are certainly nice and
> lightweight/small, but the H4n really does produce far, far better
> recordings!
> Mark
>
> On 25/05/2010 16:11, Terry J. Klokeid wrote:
>
> On this list, I discern an avoidance of the Zoom H2, which can be purchased
> for less than half what the H4 costs. Can someone please explain what
>  reasons there are for not using the H2.  Our language team uses H2s and we
> are happy with the gadget. Are we missing something?
>
>
>
> For example:
>
>
>
> On 2010-05-24, at 10:56 pm, Daryn McKenny wrote:
>
>
>
> ...The Zoom [H4N ] gets mentioned a bit here, I just thought I would let
> you all know that our supplier in Newcastle is currently selling them for
> $439... This product first started at $899 then $649 and now this price, too
> good.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Mark W. Post, PhD
>
> Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Anthropological Linguistics
>
> The Cairns Institute
>
> James Cook University
>
> QLD 4878 Australia
>
>
>
> EML: mark.post at jcu.edu.au
>
> TEL: +61-7-4042-1881 (AU)
>
> TEL: +91-97183-63544 (IN-Del)
>
> TEL: +91-94360-42352 (IN-NE)
>
>
>
> Web: http://jamescook.academia.edu/MarkWPost
>
>
>
> Terry J. Klokeid
>
> klokeid at uvic.ca
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Terry J. Klokeid
> Nuchquu-a
>
>
> Adjunct Professor of Linguistics, University of Victoria
>
> Coordinator, Nuu-chah-nulth Language Council
>
> Developer, Huu-ay-aht Language Recovery Program
>
>
>
> North Island College, Room S111A
>
> 3699 Roger Street
> Port Alberni, BC  V9Y 8E3
>
> 250.724.8743
>
>
>
> home office
>
> Amblewood Multimedia Consulting
>
> 126 Amblewood Drive
> SaltSpring Island BC V8K 1X2
>
> 250.653.4099
>
> mobile 250.208.9567
>
>
>
> klokeid at uvic.ca
>
>
>
> Terry J. Klokeid
>
> klokeid at uvic.ca
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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