[LAU] Portable Digital Recorders

[Lorenzo]

Hi.
> The H4 is quite good as a first (and in my case only) portable recorder.
> It does everything you require, and can also be used as an audio device
> (aka soundcard).
> Used as an audio device you can also use it's built in FX, but as an
> audio device it can only handle 16bit 44.1khz while as a recorder it can
> record 24bit 96khz wavs/mp3.
> I've also used it via JACK as audio in/out devices. Also used it as
> input device while my 'real' soundcard was output device (ignoring the
> sync problems).
>   
I have one of those and can second all that. Let me add that if you have 
a SD card reader transfer of files from the SD card directly is way much 
faster (and of course seamlessly mounted in linux).
Using it as a sound card (which anyway isn't its main task) you have to 
consider noise problems if you're going to use the internal mics (i.e. 
it will always be close enough to the machine to pick up fan noise etc.)
The 4-track mode (although also limited to 44/16 operation) can be fun 
for jotting down 'multi-track musical inspirations' (and the 4 tracks 
can easilty be imported into ardour as they are simple mono wave files).
Another nice option they have is two universal balanced mic inputs with 
phantom (although I rarely used them myself) which might be a bonus if 
you already own nice mics to use with it.
Also consider buying an extra bigger card or you're going to run out of 
space especially if you're going to record uncompressed (recommended IMHO)

> I have noticed that with the mic settings on high the inbuilt stero mics
> possibly pick up interference from the writing-data LED! Anyone else get
> this?
>   
That is, alas, a known hardware 'bug' for the H4 operating on batteries 
(see http://www.2090.org/zoom/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=7221 for example). Not 
sure if this has been solved with the H4n edition which is what you get 
new now. The impact of this defect varies much on the type of recording 
you are making and becomes really bad on very quiet, say very low 
wilderness, recordings. I'm sure there's sound samples around and a few 
hacks but you should investigate better on those.

Overall I found it was good value for money and use it extensively, 
especially for its 'handiness' and swift operating speed from turn on to 
record, with respect to having to bring around an - even minimal - 
laptop-based recording setup.

Finally, always trust your ears more than what they tell you: there 
should be plenty of files done with H4s on freesound.org (I submitted 
quite a few)

All the best,
Lorenzo.