[Harp-L] More on Zoom H4

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've continued to work with my new Zoom H4 handheld recorder, and have a few more impressions to report.

First, I'm surprised and very pleased at the quality of the sound this device produces with its built-in mics.  Live stereo recordings of harmonica using the built-in mics just plain sound great.  The unit's built-in mic modeling helps here--just set the mic modeling up to emulate a Neuman U87, and you're good to go.  I haven't done a side-by-side comparison yet of the sound of this unit to recordings made using my Audio Technica AT4050 CM5 large-diaphragm condensor, the best mic in my studio, but I'm really amazed that I'm even considering such comparison with a unit that cost about half of what the AT4050 cost--even more so given that the Zoom is basically sold as a recording device, not a high-end recording mic.  

I'm beginning to work with the unit's built-in effects, which include mic modeling, amp modeling, and a variety of delays, reverbs, and other stuff like pitch shifting, chorus, flange, auto-wah, and so on.  The effects sound very good in general.  However, the effects operator interface, while certainly functional, is nothing close to what's needed to work in real time on a stage during a performance.  In other words, great for the studio, especially if you can plan ahead; not so great for the stage.  Given that the effects processor is essentially the guts of Zoom's G2 floor-mounted effects pedal, if you like the effects and want to use them onstage, the thing to do is buy a G2.  A G2 without an expression pedal runs less than $100, so it's well within reach for most working musicians.

I've tested the USB audio interface to my laptop recording software, and it works fine.  Latency is in the 5-10 msec range, plenty good enough for most applications, and the quality of the audio in and out is very good (though apparently restricted to 16 bit resolution--the unit will record live stereo internally at 24 bit resolution, but it won't pass 24 bits through to the computer in audio interface mode). 

Battery life with two alkaline AAs is spec'd by the manufacturer at 4 hours, and my tests show this to be accurate.  So a fresh set of AAs will definitely keep the unit running happily throughout a typical concert.  The unit ships with a power supply, but I intend to use it a lot in places where wall power isn't available or is inconvenient, so the battery life is important.

My main concern with the unit is still the strength of its plastic body.  I haven't dropped the thing yet, but I have a bad feeling about what is likely to happen if I do.  I may have someone put together a little padded "sock" with appropriate cutouts so I can protect the unit and still operate the controls.

Bottom line: this is a very nice self-contained stereo/4-track recording studio for 3 bills.  When you consider how much it does, and how well it does everything that it does, the value for money ratio is outstanding.

Regards, Richard Hunter