Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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Location: Portsmouth, UK
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Zoom H2 or H4 or ????
Hello folks
I'm wanting to get a good quality hand-held recorder for oud soon and would like to know forum members opinions and experience of the zoom H2 and H4.
How do these compare with Edirol and Panasonic for example.
I don't need any special effects or multitracking - just straightforward good sound quality and reasonable usability - ie decent memory card size
etc.
I'd appreciate your advice.
Thanks
Leon
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suz_i_dil
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I'm using the H4 with pretty decent results, as you can hear on the clip I put on myspace, and better results on this recording of Brian Prunka:
http://mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=8262
I never tried the other devices you are talking about, so cannot be of more advice.
Regards
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Aymara
Oud Junkie
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Hi,
how about buying a good microphone and recording with PC?
That's what I'm planning.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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Marcus
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Hi Leon 
I`m using the H2 for live-recordings of my bluesband and I tested it with the oud. Both worked pretty good.Its easy to handle and have a few very
useful features, a auto-limiter for example.
I heard recordings with the H4 and could not hear a big diference.
As long as you have good eyes, the display is very small,its a perfect tool,I think.
| Quote: |
how about buying a good microphone and recording with PC? |
You can use it "stand alone" or as an USB mic for the pc.
Regards,
Marcus
Playing the oud is like feeding my soul with peace
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Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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I like the portability of these smaller units, I may well invest in a good mic seperately but I want a device for informal musical 'sketches' but I
take them seriously enough to get a decent sound.
I have a reasonable mic but haven't yet got the knack of using it - I suspect I could do with better kit.
Any other views would be gratefully received - I may well go for the H4 ... what is the deal with the H4n's etc?
Cheers
Leon
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Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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Hmmmm
I've been checking this out and the zooms are ok but I do like a bit of quality - the new Olympus LS-11 sounds very good, so does the Edirol R-09
hr.
I'll keep researching.
Leon
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Reda Aouad
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Hi Ararat
I'm not in a position to review and compare handy recorders since I've only known the H4n.. which is amazing.
About external microphones for PC recording.. I've had some bad experience with them. You must spend a lot to get a decent microphone and external
sound card.. like buying a small Mbox sound card and a decent AKG microphone which I had excellent results with. But this configuration will be costly
less portable as you know.
Here a sample recording I did a while ago, without any effects, just to give you an idea what a home user can do with the H4n in his bedroom, and then
it can help you decide:
http://www.4shared.com/file/145385767/59a778f3/Badrou_El_Huzam.html
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charlie oud
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Hi Leon
Strongly recommend the Zoom H2. I have one and I record my oud improv and listen back through my hi-fi. Very good sound quality indeed,
have also recorded myself singing a few Bob Dylan songs and a couple of Jazz songs using my Martin steel string, good all rounder for handy recording.
The Zoom H2 is easy to use though best to get quite close unless you use a another mike other than its built in one. Practically no white noise.
Apparently they have been used alone as the only recording means for some commercially released CD's !!!!.(They probably added reverb but if used in
room of good natural reverb then no need). I still dont have a computer at home and really dont know memory capacity etc, one day I'll crawl out of my
cave and learn such stuff. Hope you well mate.
Best Wishes, Charlie
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jdowning
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Have you done a forum search for 'Zoom H2'? Past discussions about the Zoom H2 and H4 may be of interest.
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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I really like the Zoom H4, and the H4n seems to be a significant upgrade.
as noted above, I've recorded with it here:
nahawand taqsim
You can also hear some recordings of me playing in a jazz trio (drums, bass, guitar) and quartet (bass, drums, sax, guitar) on my myspace page:
myspace.com/brianprunka
the tracks recorded with the H4 are "Annie Laurie", "My Little Brown Book", "I fall in Love too Easily", and "Out of Nowhere".
Really, any of these newer recorders are capable of producing excellent, professional recordings.
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Aymara
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Especially, because it can be used as an audio interface for Cubase, Reaper or other DAW software and has an XLR micro and direct guitar input.
Greetings from Germany
Chris
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Brian Prunka
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Quote: Originally posted by Aymara  |
Especially, because it can be used as an audio interface for Cubase, Reaper or other DAW software and has an XLR micro and direct guitar input.
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The original H4 could do all that as well.
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Ararat66
Oud Junkie
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Thanks for all your feedback
Brian, those links are really useful, particularly the Nahawand (very lovely playing btw). Did you add a bt of reverb to that?
Leon
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Brian Prunka
Oud Junkie
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| Quote: Originally posted by Ararat66 | Thanks for all your feedback
Brian, those links are really useful, particularly the Nahawand (very lovely playing btw). Did you add a bt of reverb to that?
Leon |
Thanks, Leon. Yes, I added reverb in using Garageband. The H4 can work as an interface to most audio programs.
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