Zoom announces new H4n flash recorder
January 5th, 2009 by Derek
I love my Zoom H4 handy recorder, and have used it on IHR and other podcasts, as well as for field recording and other tasks, at least every week for almost three years now. I can’t find any pictures yet (UPDATE: we found a small one via Engadget). We just received a press release from Zoom announcing its replacement, the Zoom H4n. Key new features include:
- Built-in X/Y stereo condenser mics that allow variable recording patterns at either 90° or 120°
- Better quality preamps
- Simultaneous recording from internal and external mics, for 4 tracks at a time
- Broadcast Wave Format with timestamps (as on the H2)
- A built-in speaker
- Rubberized, shock resistant body, all-metal microphone design and a built-in mounting joint for tripod and microphone stand use. This is a huge improvement.
- High impedance inputs for instruments
- Variable-speed playback for phrase training
- Improved four-track recording interface
- More effects and amp models
- “Stamina mode” to run for 10 hours continuously on one set of AA batteries
Sounds cool. More info when we have it!
UPDATE: Here’s a discussion we had with Brad Linder, who has a video of the H4n prototype on his website:
BRAD LINDER: I have two articles I thought you might be interested in.
First up, it looks like Tascam will soon release two new flash audio recorders, including a $199 model that could give the Zoom H2 a run for its money in the podcasting space. The higher end model looks like it’s poised to take on the Zoom H4n, Marantz PMD661 and Sony PCM-D50.
http://www.bradlinder.net/2009/01/tascam-dr07-and-dr100-digital-audio.html
Also, I got a chance to snap some video and hands on photos of the new Samson Zoom H4n at CES last week:
http://www.bradlinder.net/2009/01/first-look-at-zoom-h4n-digital-audio.html
I’m hoping to get a review unit soon so I can actually you know, record some audio with it. But at least based on its physical appearance, the H4n looks like a much more professional recorder than the original Zoom H4.
DAVE: Thanks Brad – great links. I’ll see if I can get those up on the IHR site.
What’s the deal with the mic placement on those Tascams – are they spaced stereo pairs (the DR07 looks as though it’s two cardiods pointing 180 degrees apart from each other)? Are they moveable?
BRAD: I don’t *think* the mics can be moved, but one of the descriptions I read of the DR100 says it has two sets of mics. One set of stereo condensers (which you see on the top), and two lower quality omni mics (which you can see just below those mics) which pick up a wider pattern but are really meant for dictation not high quality recording.
But that’s about all I know at the moment.
The Zoom H4n has an interesting mic pattern though. At first I thought you’d be able to shift the mic positions the same way you can with the Sony PCM-D50. But the way it actually works is the mics are locked into an X/Y pattern but you can actually twist the mics to change their pickup pattern a bit. It’s kind of hard to describe, but I think the Samson rep demonstrates it in the video on my site.
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9 Comments Add your own
1. Steve&hellip | January 5th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Sounds like they listened the the criticisms of the old one. I expect it won’t cost much more, so looks like a bargain. I’ll have to stick with my old H4. It’s fine for my needs. It could do with better ways of navigating the menus, but that’s always a compromise on a small device.
2. Dale&hellip | January 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Sweet!
On a number of occasions I’ve wished for simultaneous recording from internal and external mics on my H2.
Does high impedance inputs mean it can handle consumer electronic microphones as well, or am I confused?
3. Derek&hellip | January 6th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I’m not sure about the new inputs — the old H4 had a minijack input as well as the combo XLR/quarter-inch inputs on the bottom, so I don’t know really what’s all that different. CNET has a little more stuff, but there’s still no info on the Samson/Zoom website, so we lack most details yet, including a high-resolution picture.
4. kwazi&hellip | January 31st, 2009 at 5:43 am
I wonder if this new H4n model can be used as a soundcard (like the old H4)?
5. Derek&hellip | January 31st, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I expect so — I don’t see why they’d remove the feature.
6. Terry&hellip | August 27th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Very interested in this recorder as an upgrade from my Zoom H2. One thing that bothers me about the H2 and I wonder if it is true of all these portable recorders is that when recording at the best setttings for music, so that there is no distortion, the result is a very dim recording. This always require going throught the process of “normalization” which on the H2 takes 45 minutes to an hour per song. Is this still the case with the H4n – have they speeded up this processing, or is there ano0ther way to do it that is faster on the computer. Anybody know what I am talking about?
7. Derek&hellip | September 3rd, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Normalizing is usually way faster on a computer, which is where I always do it. Zoom may have improved things with its new preamps, but I can’t say for sure. I find that using external mics on my original H4 lets me boost levels better than using the internal ones, so that may be true here too (and isn’t as straightforward on the H2, since it has no XLR inputs).
8. Derek&hellip | September 3rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
P.S. I should note that most audio software on the desktop can normalize tracks — including free stuff like Audacity, or GarageBand (on export), or Fission on the Mac, or any decent audio editor.
9. Terry&hellip | September 4th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Thanks for you comments. I actually purchased the H4n and so far I have made some experimental recordings that seemed excellent without normallization. I did however download Audacity and the Zoom comes with it’s own disc of software which I am hoping includes normalization and also the ability to convert a wave file to mp3 faster than on the unit. Appreciate your answer.
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