Welcome back Mark!

We love our Zoom H4 recorder. The menu is the trickiest part (as it is on all the digital track recorders). The stereo cross pattern mics that are built in are quite good considering. Love that it takes SD cards & dumps files via USB right to our PC.

It taking AA batteries is nice, but they don't last all day. We have used it for voice overs with XLR plugin mics, DJ line recordings, and ambient room reception pickup and have been impressed with the quality and versatility!

-Mike
Artistic Media

Mark depends on what you want to use it for.

I have both the Edirol R-09 and Zoom H4, but use them differently.

If you plan to take feeds from soundboards via XLR and use 2 mic setups the Zoom H4 is great. XLR's are nice to have, but the separate mic/line 1/8 inputs in teh R-09 are fairly quiet.

Although if you plan to use the recorder as a backup source of audio, and mic officant or groom with a lav, then go with the R-09 as it's much smaller to place in someones pocket.

Both are great recorders with fairly good preamps, but I find that I use my R-09 much more. As it's much easier to setup (most controls are on the outside of the unit), and it's small and compact so I use it more on people as well as run a AT822 stero mic into it to record ensambles. Also the batteries last much longer and latest upgrade will let you run 4GB SD cards in the unit and record forever. The only downside to the R-09 is that you can't adjust the L\R inputs separately, which you can do on the H4.

I use my H4 mainly for running 2 mic source setups. Like taking one feed from a soundboard in XLR1 and a mono mic on XLR 2 to record ambiant audio, or use a matched pair of hyper cardoids in XLR 1/2 on separate mic stands to record live musicians.

Do a search on the forums for reviews on the R-09 and H4, as myself and others have posted a lot of information on both units.

In Reply To

Great...thanks for the info. I plan on using the H4 as a backup audio source. I use my Sennheiser wireless on the groom during the ceremony. It will be nice to use the H4 to mic the podium and possibly a second audio source like musicians. For the reception I plan on trying to tap into the dj system or their speakers for cleaner sound. In the past I've found a lot of the dj speakers have an xlr output on them. I tap out of that into a DI box so the sound is not as hot. I then plug in my wireless to send to my camera. I think the H4 will give me a good uninterrupted sound source of the whole reception, plus it will be cheaper on batteries. My Sennheiser wireless takes 9 volt batteries. That gets expensive after a while.

Once again...thanks for the great advice. I had forgotten how helpful this forum can be.

great..thanks. The windtec adaptor looks like it would work well.
Mark C

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I've got that adapter. Careful... you need a "thick" mic shaft to mount it on - at least 3/4" thick I think. It won't work on a boom pole extention. I put it on my light stand in front of the speakers. It's great for clipping iRivers and Wireless stuff to.

- RT

I have both the Edirol R-09 and Zoom H4, but use them differently.

If you plan to take feeds from soundboards via XLR and use 2 mic setups the Zoom H4 is great. ...
I use my H4 mainly for running 2 mic source setups. Like taking one feed from a soundboard in XLR1 and a mono mic on XLR 2 to record ambiant audio, or use a matched pair of hyper cardoids in XLR 1/2 on separate mic stands to record live musicians.

In Reply To

Well Michael, I still havn't been able to cough up the $1200 needed to purchase the Edirol R-4, so I went ahead and ordered the Zoom H4. I want to use it to capture sound bites from the bride, groom, wedding party and familyh members, as well as capture the entire reception from start to finish. I guess I'll continue using my wireless Sennheisers on the Priest and groom connected to my camera as I have been doing. Maybe I can connect the zoom to the churches soundboard using another wireless trnasmitter/receiver and use the build in mics on the string quartet. So I have a technical question for ya. The zoom is 4 chennel correct? So does that in fact mean that I can capture 4 independent tracks (i.e. wav files) as such: Source 1 from the left internal mic, Source 2 from the right internal mic, and source 3 and 4 from the 2 XLR / 1/8 " combo mic jacks? Can I then transfer and import 4 seperate independent audio track into my NLE?

Well now, that's not what I wanted to hear! How can they get away with calling it a 4 track recorder when you can only record 2 tracks at any given time?

Hey... anyone need a H4 with a 2 GB SD card? Never used!! BTW, will the H4 take a 4 GB card now that they are out?

Thanks Michael for the feedback. I guess I should of asked you first. Although, it will still accomplish what I need it too, just not as well, or the way I had hoped.

Michael,

I always love to read your audio posts..learn a lot. Just curious, how is the Edirol better than an iRiver if you are just going to use it to mic grooms and officiants?

Or is it?

Thanks for the info, but I think you misunderstood my question. I know very well that those units are good for much more than micing grooms and officiants and that you use them for other things. The question was posed from my perspective...or someone like me... who uses iRivers for one purpose to see if it was worth getting an Edirol if it were just going to be for one purpose.

In other words, I was asking for me if the Edirol was overkill for me if the iRiver did the same job at same quality.

BTW you can get a small tabletop tripod to screw into the bottom of the H4's tripod plate. It works nicely on tabletops for speeches, piano solos during processionals.

Also I picked this up to mount the H4 on a tripod. It's made for the R-09 case but the screw is the exact same sixe thread as the plate for the H4.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...dedTroughType=search

and I use this calmp from Windtec to attach to a mic stand. The tripod adapter and H4 screw into the thread on the clamp. Now you can attach your mic (or mics) to your mic stand and feed them via XLR into your H4 and move it anywhere you like (unless you're plugged into DJ board) with no cables to trip over.

In Reply To

BTW Michael, thanks for the tip on the small tripod, the R09 tripod adapter and the mic clamp. I purchased all 3 for the H4. I think I want to get another clap for the mic stand and add a Pop Filter just to look like I'm important or something.

Hey, I ran across some customer reviews at B&H on the Zoom H4 and seen a couple comments about the H4 loosing sync with your video after a few minutes when imported into your NLE. I finaly stumbled on Taperssection Fourm and DVi forum for the first time but couldn't really find any discussion on the sync problem with the H4. Can you lead me in the right direction so I can do some research on this? Have you seen the sync problem with the H4?

Thanks

The problems people might be having, might be due to the fact that they are recording audio at different recording rates (320 MP3 audio and 16 bit 48khz audio from their camera). This would definitely create audio sync problems in post if the MP3 audio isn't converted to 48khz WAV or AIIF.