remote recorder

[mr.armadillo]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

Zoom has better mic pres, than the SOund Devices.

He's clearly joking. Sound Devices noise floor is about 25 dbu lower than the H4n.

[Noiz2]

I have used the H4n and own the DR40, and the Zoom H2, and a MixPre and a Marantz PMD671.

The Zooms have all felt light duty, and most I have seen have had parts broken off and parts of the printing worn off. I have also heard very mixed reviews on the Zoom preamps. I didn't use the H4n enough to really say but the DR40 pres are pretty quiet and they have more gain than the Zoom. The H4n does not work well with low output mics like for instance the Rode NTG2.

A good mic pre as a front end will help any lower cost recorder. The other ups side for a handheld is that your gain controls are generally not easy to use, so a MixPre solves that. The H2 was on someones recommendation as a plant recorder for general ambiences. That is the only thing it's 1/2 way decent at. You really can't touch it while recording or you will hear the handling noise.

The DR40 has worked well and feels a lot more solid than the Zooms. It uses soft covers over slots so the doors don't break off the way they do on some of the Zooms. It will work with low output mics and I have been told, but don't have a hard reference, that the line in actually bypasses the mic pre, instead of just pading down the mic in which is common on handheld recorders.

For 90% of my work I'm using the larger format recorder and a MixPre connected to much better mics than the built in ones on handheld recorders. But for quick pull out and record it's hard to beat a handheld. Kind of like your phone is not a great camera, but it's often the one you have with you.

[Craig F]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKVeBqhXMvM

[TVPostSound]

Originally Posted by mr.armadillo

He's clearly joking. Sound Devices noise floor is about 25 dbu lower than the H4n.

Of course, I have an MP1 sitting in front of me for production ADR!!

[viaspiaggia]

Thanks for all the tips, wish I could justify the real gear now, but I'll have to continue renting as needed for the real jobs. Gonna play with a buddy's H4N in the meantime, I like Noiz2's camera phone analogy...

[peter5992]

Originally Posted by Noiz2

I have used the H4n and own the DR40, and the Zoom H2, and a MixPre and a Marantz PMD671.

The Zooms have all felt light duty, and most I have seen have had parts broken off and parts of the printing worn off. I have also heard very mixed reviews on the Zoom preamps. I didn't use the H4n enough to really say but the DR40 pres are pretty quiet and they have more gain than the Zoom. The H4n does not work well with low output mics like for instance the Rode NTG2.

A good mic pre as a front end will help any lower cost recorder. The other ups side for a handheld is that your gain controls are generally not easy to use, so a MixPre solves that. The H2 was on someones recommendation as a plant recorder for general ambiences. That is the only thing it's 1/2 way decent at. You really can't touch it while recording or you will hear the handling noise.

The DR40 has worked well and feels a lot more solid than the Zooms. It uses soft covers over slots so the doors don't break off the way they do on some of the Zooms. It will work with low output mics and I have been told, but don't have a hard reference, that the line in actually bypasses the mic pre, instead of just pading down the mic in which is common on handheld recorders.

For 90% of my work I'm using the larger format recorder and a MixPre connected to much better mics than the built in ones on handheld recorders. But for quick pull out and record it's hard to beat a handheld. Kind of like your phone is not a great camera, but it's often the one you have with you.

I just got the Tascam DR-40 (after breaking / wearing out several Zooms), one of the things I like is that you can record on parallels tracks with one set of tracks attenuated by as much as -12dB. That's a practical way to avoid distortion for when it is suddenly too loud. Maybe the Zoom has this feature too, not sure.