I’m mainly using the H5, but the H4n Pro was my other option at the time - I chose the detachable heads over the H4n features, though I’ve yet to buy a second head (the H5 does have a tuner and metronome, and pitch adjustment - but no effects).
It works really well for me, recording field / ambient stuff and random sample sources, and has recorded my daughter’s instrument practices very well. But on occasions where it’s run out of batteries or is hooked up somewhere else, I’ve resorted to my old first-gen H2, and that’s worked just as well in situation where I’m using the onboard mics. It’s just a bit more cramped and has more limited i/o.
All of which is to say, in my experience you can’t go wrong with a Zoom for this kind of stuff. For my own level and amount of use, I could probably have stuck with the H2, but the 1/4 inputs on the H5 have come in handy a few times. In my experience it’s easier to have a little dedicated Korg tuner around rather than access it on the Zoom.
Thanks man. I must have missed that about the metronome and tuner on the H5. That’s good to know and makes the choices a bit more difficult. I should look at the H6 manual again as well. The extra battery life is nice.
As much as I like the detachable head option, I’m still leaning towards that newish H4n Pro Black. It seems to cover my needs and looks nice.
It sounds nice in these clips as well. Damn them for using my musical hero Steve Gadd to tempt me.
I picked up a H1n and it’s awesome. Had a few higher models but I couldn’t stand navigating the menus. Maybe I’m alone on this but it’s so antiquated. H1n is not great either but it’s so limited that there is not as much interaction.
One difference I just noticed is that the H6 can be an audio interface for an iPad while the H4n Pro only works with PC/Mac. I wasn’t thinking about using it as an audio interface, but the H6 could be useful as an audio interface in a pinch, particularly as my current audio interface (UAD Arrow) doesn’t have a lot of inputs.
It seems the only features the H6 is missing that the H4n Pro has are direct guitar input + amp models/effects. I guess I need to weigh the pros/cons a bit more.
My gut still tells me that H4n Pro is probably all I’ll ever need…
You do add a bit of weight with the H6 - that was a factor for me, and I assume there’s even more of a difference with the H4n. Could be important if you plan to travel or walk around with it in your hand a lot, though in your example of recording acoustic instruments I expect the colour screen and its monitors might be useful (though I’m not sure what effect that has on the battery). I’m not trying to live vicariously by getting you to buy more expensive equipment, I promise.
Haha. Yeah. I’m still thinking it all through. From the video reviews I’ve watched the battery life on the H6 is way better than the H4n Pro. Like 20 hours versus six.
The size is something I’m thinking about, but like you said, it would mainly be for throwing into a bag and bringing to a studio for recording rather than for handheld stuff, although there look to be pretty cool hand mounts and accessories for people that do that kind of thing.
Not sure on the H4n, but the H6 takes twice as many batteries as the H5 (4 vs 2), which gives it a supposed 20h vs 15h of life. So not as advantageous as it sounds…
Oh man, I’ve watched waaaaay too many videos on these. After a lot of thought, I think I’m pretty much sold on the H6. The H4n Pro would be perfect for me now, but given my experience with mixers I think it’s probably good to have a little room to grow and the price difference (and size difference) isn’t massive.
My main use wouldn’t be for recording electric guitar and bass direct so losing those features isn’t the end of the world. To be honest, I have a couple of killer little amps from the 1970s and an outboard tube-driven reverb tank that I really should be recording. Maybe this will be what finally gets me there.
I feel a little guilty now but, as you say, it’s not a massive price hike and it does expand your options quite a bit in terms of connectivity. Enjoy your recording and please don’t post anything about your house being repossessed in the near future.
the H4n Pro is nice but i got really, really frustrated by the boot-up time. it’s absolutely no good if you’re out and about and want to capture something spontaneously. no good at all. i replaced mine with a Tascam DR-60X and it boots up near-instantly. i’m also currently using it as my primary audio interface and am having no issues there, either.
I use my H1n a lot, and it’s great. I wouldn’t use those mics for recording a vocal performance, but they’re great for capturing the sound of hitting things in the wild. I’ve used it a lot as an interface too, it works with PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
It’s surprisingly good on acoustic guitar as well! I also love it as a songwriting tool, capture ideas, put them on repeat till you find what your after.
Not sure how bad it is (I have an H5) but I read somewhere that it’s partly to do with the SD card and if you format the card in the recorder it reduces start-up time significantly.
I just purchased a refurb DR-05 for cheap… had the H1 and H5 previously, this time I just wanted something basic but with good enough sound quality for stereo field recordings.
It is to do with the SD card… Mainly the capacity of the card. Smaller = Quicker boot time.
4gb is okay. A 32gb card is like waiting for the kettle to boil ! - - Not good on a field recorder.
I think the unit scans the whole card on power up or something.
Used to have an H4n. Really noisy, simply not good enough quality recording.
Now I have an H6 – it’s actually very good. Preamps are way quieter, flexibility is decent, recording quality is nice, boot up time is fast… It has quirks with the UI, but I’d still definitely recommend. When I bought it a couple of years ago, there was nothing that could beat it for the price.
I’m not super familiar with the Zoom recorders, so I can’t do a feature-by-feature rundown. But given you’ll pull my DR-40X from my cold, dead hands, I’m a little surprised by the lack of Tascam love so far in this thread.
Do the Zooms work better with synths in some way such that this forum is dominated by them? Or is it more a “you root for the team you grew up with” thing?
