Customer Reviews
Great Sound Quality, And That's Just The Beginning... 
2008-05-05
I bought this product as an upgrade to my archaic handheld tape recorder, and I have to admit that after three weeks of using the Zoom H4 I have not been disappointed. Live shows, spontaneous jam sessions, or simple scratch tracks playing on an acoustic guitar all sound great, and I haven't even started to play around with the 4-track features. It really captures the room sound nicely, and this can be fully utilized at the proper level settings.
If I have any complaint at all, it's more of the same gripes that others bring up: the interface could be slightly more intuitive, and they could have designed it so that it would be easier to pop out the memory card, where you don't run the risk of potentially damaging it. Still, with the amount of things this product is capable of doing, and at the price it's currently selling for, it can't be beat.
H4 Zoom recorder 
2008-04-29
Excellent machine. Very easy to use. It came with the latest version of the firmware installed so it works fine with Mac Leopard, right out of the box. Great sound even with the built in mics. I use it for recording woodwind instruments and am very happy with the results. I wish the display were a little bigger.
2nd time's a charm! 2008-04-27
This is my 2nd Zoom portable studio; have had the PS-04 for several years now but it was very limited due to the small memory card (128mb) and no USB cable connectivity, although it has a nice built in drum machine with many, many pre-programmed styles. It was more for capturing creative riffs or ideas not really doing serious recording.
However, the H4 is much better. My only complaint is the small LCD screen and with these aging eyes I have to wear glasses to read the display, otherwise a sweet device. Still exploring all it does and have not yet loaded the Cubase LE software as I use ProTools LE already. What I most like is the ability to connect to a laptop and use it as a portable studio to record gigs or demo CDs for friends.
It does the job! 2008-04-17
I purchased the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder to use to record voice over for video production. It has work great in this task giving quality voice tracks. I have to explain to the people that I am getting voice track from that it is not a stun gun or tazer then they relax and we have the recording. Great product!
Great features and quality, a few things that could use improvement 2008-04-17
First of all this product is exceptional overall for its price, there are many better recorders out there but the price to quality ratio on this product is excellent.
First of all I would like to address some of its positive traits. It's very easy to use, the built in mics sound pretty good, the battery life is very good for 2 AA's, recordings in general sound very good for a unit at this price.
I love that it doesn't have a built in battery or a proprietary battery so it can quickly and cheaply be replaced on the go. I would like a meter indicating the remaining battery life however so I can replace batteries before I begin recording a long take that may kill them.
The mics sound decent though seem to lack low end and have a bit of a crunchy high end that is a little harsh. It works well in many applications but for recording quiet things like ambience where the gain has to be turned up to high, you will have a bit of hissy noise in the recording. Also I have noticed that recordings are very slightly sped up when playing them back, voices will sound higher pitched than they were and I assume this would be a huge issue for music since it will change the notes you are playing and make them out of tune.
The firmware works well and doesn't crash from my experience, though the record button has a lag to it when starting and stopping recording. Also the navigation through features could be better designed but isn't horrible. One thing that does drive me nuts is that everytime you turn the unit on the recording setting go back to the defaults. I always record at 96k/24bit and have to put it back on that setting before every use.
The overall design looks and feels a bit cheap, the plastic seems easy breakable (but at this price I'm okay with that) but the mics seem solidly mounted in place and are protected by a sturdy metal bar so you don't smack them on something or crunch them in your bag. it feels nice in your hand and is very lightweight. Also the buttons seem cheap but I know someone who has had one for a few years and they still work fine. Just be nice to it and you should be okay.
Another thing worth noting is that the mics are very sensitive to wind rumble. Always use the windscreen when outside, although in a medium breeze they will still be rumbled. This is to be expected though and is a problem that plagues even the most expensive microphones. Just be sure to use the screen and maybe even bring a light weight fuzzy sock or something as additional wind protection.
Awesome recorder, if you're willing to learn the in's and out's. 2008-04-11
The Zoom H4 is more than a handheld recorder - it's a simple way to record high quality audio. It's a full function stereo recorder capable of a wide range of recording rates, from low grade MP3 to 24bit/96K wav files. It also can be used as a portable 4 track recorder AND a USB interface. The built-in microphones & two combo jacks connect your favorite microphones or instruments -- including condensers with 24. With a 2GB SD memory card, the H4 provides up to 380 minutes of recording in 16-bit mode (CD Quality), and 34 hours in MP3 stereo mode. And to move your recordings to a PC or Mac, the H4 includes a USB mass-storage interface. Records 24-bit/96KHz digital audio as well as MP3s, with bitrates up to 320 Kbps Two combination XLR-1/4 input jacks with phantom power Onboard studio effects compression, limiting and mic modeling 1/8 headphone jack provided for monitoring Includes 128MB SD card Up to 380 minutes recording time with 2GB SD memory card Up to 34 hours recording in MP3 stereo mode Combination high-impedance phone inputs for vocals, guitars, bass or keyboards Built-in guitar amp modeling equipment to the Zoom G2 Records directly to your computer as a USB audio interface Comes bundled with Cubase LE - 48-track Digital Audio Workstation software Up to four hours of continuous recording operation from 2 AA batteries
Love! 2008-04-07
Very pleased and happy with this product. My only complaint is that the casing seems a little cheap and not very durable. But the sound quality is excellent and it is very user-friendly. My husband and I are musicians and need to record ourselves several times a week, and this product is perfect for that. I would recommend buying a larger SD card, so you can record for a longer period of time.
Very convenient recorder. 2008-03-27
I bought a Zoom H4 to replace a clunky old cassette deck at our church. It does everything the old cassette recorder did, plus much more. It's very simple to use, records in several different formats, then transfers easily to a computer for editing or copying of audio files. Sound quality is amazingly good for such a small device, and even recording through the built in microphones is not bad. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that the construction is somewhat cheap plastic and the included cd with audio software was defective and can't be installed. Overall, a very nifty little device.
Good recorder for the Money 2008-03-26
Initially, I had problems with interfacing the recorder with my MAC and I had to go to the ZOOM website (in japan) and download the necessary file to have my Mac Leopard recognize the H4 as a USB DRIVE. The only problem was that I needed a windoze machine in order to upload the file into my SD chip. To get around that problem, I placed the SD chip in a card reader (can be found for $20 bucks) and uploaded the file that way. When that was done, my Mac leopard recognized the SD chip.
Before I did all of that, and while waiting for my card reader to arrive, I played the H4 directly into Garageband 08 via my input source. I was able to perform my necessary edits with Garageband and adjust the sound and volumes accordingly. The H4 comes with Cubase LE 2.0 which is OK, but it is only 2.0 and the version is up to 4.0. I did not check to see if Cubase can be upgraded at no cost since I didn't use it.
I use the H4 to record our church's readings and homilies for our website as a pod cast. The process to capture the sound as an MP3 file, transfer it to iTunes and then use iWeb to publish the pod cast is quite easy after learning the CORRECT way that the Mac requires to copy and transfer the files.
The H4 has two ways of recording the sound you choose; Wav and MP3. If your looking for a quick and dirty way of recording and transferring sound. MP3 is the only way to do it. If your a sound purist, you'll need to record it in Wav. The only problem is most computers will compress the Wav file into MP3 or MP4 in order to play it. So your purity is lost unless you purchase a program to save the Wav files in its raw form. Wav's also take up a lot more memory both on the SD chip and accordingly on your computer.
In reality, the H2 is probably more than anyone needs for realtime recording. The H4 had the ability to record 4-channel which can be complicated unless you need that capability. The cost difference between the H4 and H2, base on today's quote on Amazon is not that much different.
Not Perfect, but Good 2008-03-20
I thought it would record 4 tracks at once, but it only records 2 max.
Having said that, it is still an awesome piece of equipment. It has definitely already made some of my $$$ back.
THANKS!
