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#1
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement.
If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. What are your favorite models with at least 2 phantom powered XLR mic inputs, in the $200 - $300 range? (More channels are nice.) Thanks, Mike Beacom |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 04/09/2019 04:46, Michael Beacom wrote:
My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. What are your favorite models with at least 2 phantom powered XLR mic inputs, in the $200 - $300 range? (More channels are nice.) The Zoom H4n is still available new online, and I saw one in reasonable condition in my local used goods shop the other day. I would have bought it, but my H2 is still working well. -- Tciao for Now! John. |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 9/3/2019 11:46 PM, Michael Beacom wrote: My Zoom H4n died, Im
looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. I'm still happy with my TASCAM DR-44WL. Three things that I particularly like, other than it sounds good and doesn't crash: Hi, Mike - - A mechanical record level knob, well, it's digital inside, but it's a knob you can turn, and it's engaged and disengaged with a button, so you won't bump it and change your record level. - A limiter you can actually use without hearing it, good for when you don't know how loud something is going to be before you start recording. - Wireless remote control with a phone or tablet via WiFi - you can start, stop, watch the meters, adjust record level, pretty near everything you can do with the front panel, some things more convenient. My review (it's had a couple of firmware updates since then) is he https://mikeriversaudio.files.wordpr...4wl_review.pdf -- For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
In article ,
Michael Beacom wrote: My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. What are your favorite models with at least 2 phantom powered XLR mic inputs, in the $200 - $300 range? (More channels are nice.) Your choices are the Zoom models or the Tascam models. Tascam makes two lines, one for general purpose handheld stuff, and one specifically for use with DSLRs. In the handheld line, I think the cheapest one with XLRs is the DR40 which is definitely in your price range. However... if you can stretch your budget another $100 you could get the Tascam DR-680 Mk II, which gives you six tracks and surprisingly good preamps. (Avoid the original DR-680, which turns up used at good prices but which is comparatively quite noisy). I don't know the Tascam DSLR line but it might be worth looking at. I like the Tascam user interface better than the Zoom for the most part, but you may not. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 2019-09-04 13:16:36 +0000, Scott Dorsey said:
In article , Michael Beacom wrote: My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. What are your favorite models with at least 2 phantom powered XLR mic inputs, in the $200 - $300 range? (More channels are nice.) Your choices are the Zoom models or the Tascam models. Tascam makes two lines, one for general purpose handheld stuff, and one specifically for use with DSLRs. In the handheld line, I think the cheapest one with XLRs is the DR40 which is definitely in your price range. However... if you can stretch your budget another $100 you could get the Tascam DR-680 Mk II, which gives you six tracks and surprisingly good preamps. (Avoid the original DR-680, which turns up used at good prices but which is comparatively quite noisy). I don't know the Tascam DSLR line but it might be worth looking at. I like the Tascam user interface better than the Zoom for the most part, but you may not. --scott The original thought was for a hand held recorder, and the Zoom H5 or H6 was the first thought. But then, you mentioned the DR-680MKII. Another good idea, so I had a look on e-bay. I found a 680 MKII, and a nice looking K-Tek bag for $325- from the photos look good execpt for a crack on the top front of the case. Even if the recorder is a dud, there's the case. Another recorder is listed as a DR-680, but the pictures show it to be a DR-680MKII, in excellent cosmetic shape, for $50, as it 'works with problems' From the listing: "Last time I used this at a wedding, I could not get any levels to show so I thought it wasnt working, but when I checked the file it did record everything. Something is going that makes the audio levels not show." The incorect listing and his decription of the problem makes me wonder if it was operator error... And another e-bay listing for a NIB DR-680MKII for $300. Thanks for the comments, you have confirmed that my notion that Tascam & Zoom are my choices. Now I have to decide how much I value the size. Cheers Mike |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 2019-09-04 10:54:26 +0000, Mike Rivers said:
On 9/3/2019 11:46 PM, Michael Beacom wrote: My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. I'm still happy with my TASCAM DR-44WL. Three things that I particularly like, other than it sounds good and doesn't crash: Hi, Mike - - A mechanical record level knob, well, it's digital inside, but it's a knob you can turn, and it's engaged and disengaged with a button, so you won't bump it and change your record level. - A limiter you can actually use without hearing it, good for when you don't know how loud something is going to be before you start recording. - Wireless remote control with a phone or tablet via WiFi - you can start, stop, watch the meters, adjust record level, pretty near everything you can do with the front panel, some things more convenient. My review (it's had a couple of firmware updates since then) is he https://mikeriversaudio.files.wordpr...4wl_review.pdf Thanks for the tip- Scott was good enough to mention the Tascam DR-680 MKII, It's a good suggestion, and now I have to decide how much I value the size of the recorder. I was originally thinking about the Zoom H5 or H6. Any opinions between Tascam & Zoom? B&H and Swee****er list the TASCAM DR-44WL as 'Discontinued'. Has Tascam discontinued it, or are they introducing a new model? Thanks again, Mike |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 2019-09-04 07:10:36 +0000, John Williamson said:
On 04/09/2019 04:46, Michael Beacom wrote: My Zoom H4n died, Im looking for a roughly equivalent replacement. If I were king, it would be a Sound Devices MixPre-10 II. Sadly, I'm not, and the Mix-Pre crushes the budget. What are your favorite models with at least 2 phantom powered XLR mic inputs, in the $200 - $300 range? (More channels are nice.) The Zoom H4n is still available new online, and I saw one in reasonable condition in my local used goods shop the other day. I would have bought it, but my H2 is still working well. Even better- the new ones are H4n Pro, and they have improved the pre-amps over the original version. And it looks like the most inexpensive solution. Cheers Mike |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 9/5/2019 1:14 PM, Michael Beacom wrote:
B&H and Swee****er list the TASCAM DR-44WL as 'Discontinued'. Has Tascam discontinued it, or are they introducing a new model? I asked about that at the TASCAM booth at InfoComm. They said that they were still getting them, and there's no replacement planned, but that some dealers have stopped selling them because they moved too slow. You should be able to buy a new one, but the 680 is a good choice, too. -- For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
In article , Mike Rivers wrote:
On 9/5/2019 1:14 PM, Michael Beacom wrote: B&H and Swee****er list the TASCAM DR-44WL as 'Discontinued'. Has Tascam discontinued it, or are they introducing a new model? I asked about that at the TASCAM booth at InfoComm. They said that they were still getting them, and there's no replacement planned, but that some dealers have stopped selling them because they moved too slow. Tascam really doesn't seem very heavily invested in that whole line, to be honest. I asked about the 680 and the HS P-82 at the AES show, and they said something to the effect that the film sound market was small and saturated and it wasn't worth their time showing that stuff at trade shows. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 2019-09-06 01:18:17 +0000, Mike Rivers said:
On 9/5/2019 1:14 PM, Michael Beacom wrote: B&H and Swee****er list the TASCAM DR-44WL as 'Discontinued'. Has Tascam discontinued it, or are they introducing a new model? I asked about that at the TASCAM booth at InfoComm. They said that they were still getting them, and there's no replacement planned, but that some dealers have stopped selling them because they moved too slow. You should be able to buy a new one, but the 680 is a good choice, too. Thanks to you and Mr. Dorsey, I've identified two recorders, now I need to decide between them. Cheers Mike |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
Thanks again for the suggestions-
I went the smaller route, and bought a Tascam DR-44WL on ebay for a good price. It came with the 1 Gig SD card, and it sounded like the original owner tinkered around with it a couple of times and sold it. Its biggest fault is a little missing paint on the microphone gaurds. I'll take it to a swing jam tomorrow night and see if they will let me record. Cheers, Mike |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 9/19/2019 1:22 AM, Michael Beacom wrote:
bought a Tascam DR-44WL on ebay for a good price. It came with the 1 Gig SD card, and it sounded like the original owner tinkered around with it a couple of times and sold it. Its biggest fault is a little missing paint on the microphone gaurds. You can have fun with that. Hopefully the scraped paint doesn't mean he dropped it, but it'll probably survive anyway. Remember that a 24-bit 48 kHz stereo file is about a gigabyte an hour. Get yourself a few 32 GB cards. They're about $6 these days - a whole lot cheaper than when we used to say "tape is cheap." -- For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 2019-09-19 11:25:55 +0000, Mike Rivers said:
On 9/19/2019 1:22 AM, Michael Beacom wrote: bought a Tascam DR-44WL on ebay for a good price. It came with the 1 Gig SD card, and it sounded like the original owner tinkered around with it a couple of times and sold it. Its biggest fault is a little missing paint on the microphone gaurds. You can have fun with that. Hopefully the scraped paint doesn't mean he dropped it, but it'll probably survive anyway. Remember that a 24-bit 48 kHz stereo file is about a gigabyte an hour. Get yourself a few 32 GB cards. They're about $6 these days - a whole lot cheaper than when we used to say "tape is cheap." It works well, and taking some getting used to. Got a nice bit of audio at the Swing Jam. On a whim. I took the recorder outside, across the street, and walked in while they were playing. Got lucky with a couple of car passes just before I entered the building. Right up there with 'tape is cheap' is 'gaffers tape is cheap' I just wonder if it used to be cheaper in the past... Cheers Mike |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 9/24/2019 1:16 AM, Michael Beacom wrote:
Right up there with 'tape is cheap' is 'gaffers tape is cheap' I just wonder if it used to be cheaper in the past... Real gaffer tape has always been pretty expensive. What was cheap was duct tape, and that was used all too often, leaving a gummy residue on everything it touches, including ducts. -- For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
Mike Rivers wrote:
On 9/24/2019 1:16 AM, Michael Beacom wrote: Right up there with 'tape is cheap' is 'gaffers tape is cheap' I just wonder if it used to be cheaper in the past... Real gaffer tape has always been pretty expensive. What was cheap was duct tape, and that was used all too often, leaving a gummy residue on everything it touches, including ducts. Are you talking about real duct tape (adhesive backed aluminum foil), or just that cheap junk you can buy in every store? :-) |
#16
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
In article , Mike Rivers wrote:
On 9/24/2019 1:16 AM, Michael Beacom wrote: Right up there with 'tape is cheap' is 'gaffers tape is cheap' I just wonder if it used to be cheaper in the past... Real gaffer tape has always been pretty expensive. What was cheap was duct tape, and that was used all too often, leaving a gummy residue on everything it touches, including ducts. Real gaffer's tape is expensive, but it's a lot cheaper than refinishing a violin. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#17
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
On 9/24/2019 8:41 AM, Ralph Barone wrote:
Are you talking about real duct tape (adhesive backed aluminum foil), or just that cheap junk you can buy in every store? The hardware store variety. The aluminum foil backed tape is great for sealing ducts but doesn't have a place in the audio industry. I'd say it might be good for damping a drum head ring, but it would be difficult to remove. It has really good stickum. -- For a good time, call http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#18
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Zoom H4n Replacement
Mike Rivers:
Would real gaffers tape be easier to pry apart in cases where the banquet - and not the AV - crew pull wires up ahead of a room flip, resulting in said tape being wrapped completely around said wires? (A situation I regularly found myself in as AV tech in hotels and conference centers!) |