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Zoom H4 Handy Podcast Recorder: Excellent Sound Quality at a Competitive Price |
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The multifunctional Zoom H4 Handy Recorder is tiny enough to hold in the palm of your hand, and yet it is surprisingly powerful and comes with a number of impressive features, including a four-track mode with built-in effects, a two-track stereo mode, and a USB audio interface for computer-based recording. The Zoom H4 is perfect for podcasting or for any mobile recording application, weighs less than seven ounces, and is only 6" long.
Although the face display and buttons are quite small, it requires little practice to become comfortable using the controls. The recorder is small enough to carry in your pocket, and features built-in mics, phantom-powered XLR inputs, USB recording interface capability, and built-in effects ? and still costs significantly less than competitors. The Zoom H4 records both uncompressed WAV files and MP3s to secure digital cards, and the recorder remembers the most recently selected sampling rate, enabling users to switch audio file formats easily and quickly.
In addition to the extremely small display, the H4 typically requires the use of both hands to operate the controls. The knobs are tiny and oddly positioned, and tuning involves scrolling and navigating through a number of windows and selecting icons with the scroll knob. Due to the large number of features available on the Zoom H4, the menu is long and therefore requires many button presses to operate.
The Zoom H4 enables you to perform multitrack recording, and records to a secure digital card, which comes included. A 2GB SD card provides up to 380 minutes of recording when in 16-bit mode, and up to 34 hours when in MP3 stereo mode. Using the H4 in stereo mode allows for many effects, including compression, microphone modeling, and limiting. The recorder operates differently in stereo mode than when in four-track mode. Four-track mode allows the simultaneous playback of up to four tracks, as well as the recording of two tracks.
The Zoom H4 Handy Recorder also offers automatic level scanning, but leaves the gain alone once the proper amount has been set. The H4 comes with two built-in, studio-quality mics in an X/Y pattern. This pattern allows for a clear stereo recording, and the high-quality microphones provide excellent sound reproduction. Also provided is a backlit 128 x 64 LCD display that allows visual feedback during the recording process.
The versatile Zoom H4 also operates as a USB audio interface, and comes bundled with Steinberg Cubase LE multitrack recording software. Supplied with the H4 is a USB cable, a USB/Cubase LE startup guide, a tripod mount adapter, and a handy windshield cover. The recorder uses just two AA batteries, and provides up to four or five hours of continuous recording.
The Zoom H4 Handy Recorder is considerably more flexible than competing recorders, but requires an unusually high amount of button pressing to operate the controls. The recorder provides excellent sound quality, is very portable and lightweight, and offers a number of features that other leading brands cannot match. Considering its reasonable price, it is definitely worth a trial by anyone in need of a convenient mobile recording device. |
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