I’m about to buy a portable Zoom recorder to document my Digitakt jams and wonder which one of the three usual suspects has the best overall sound. How do they compare when it comes to usability, line level quality, etc. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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H4n can only record one stereo output at a time.
I think the others do better, that’s something to consider.
That said, I really love the sound quality of my H4n!
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Good point. On the other hand, the DT has only one stereo pair. Which kind of cables do you use to record into your H4n?
I picked up a Spire Studio a while back that I like for recording quick jams. It has 2 1/4” input jacks, built in mic, and a rechargeable battery. It’s pretty simple no frills quick recording. Press new project button, Auto set the recording level with a button press, and hit the record button.
Afterwards I connect my iphone to its wireless AP and sync the recording to my phone. Nice and easy.
Just throwing that alternative out there (depending on your needs).
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Thanks! I’ll look this one up too.
Hi,
I have a Tascam DR44-WL and it work as stereo very well.
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Thx Gat! How does it compare to the three Zooms - if you have any experience with any of them?
the DT has only one stereo pair
I know. But you might be willing to add another piece of gear at some point… Worth considering, at least.
What I don’t like in the Zoom series is the size of it. And the UX is pretty dated, even if I don’t need a lot of fancy animations… Less menus is always better 
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Big fan of the h4npro myself. I no longer have my DT but use it with the Circuit and Sp404 pretty often. Sounds great imo, just be sure to get your levels right before hand. These don’t clip very easily anyways but it’s always better safe than sorry.
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As often stated: record in 24bits if possible for headroom, especially when your gain is sub par.
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I grabbed a zoom H5 for field recording originally, but I’ve been enjoying using the two 1/4" inputs for my Digitakt mains and using the built-in XY to record the rooms sounds to mix in a little in the back.
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Nice to hear! The h4n PRO seems to address some of the weakest points of the h4n (pre-amps, …)
Very sound advice! Pun intended Augenadler ^^
Both the H5 & H4n pro are very high on my short list. And the prices of both units have kind of converged. The h4n pro seems to be built upon the technology developed for the h5 and h6.
Capturing my Digitakt jams with good sound is my first goal, but being able to use the recorder as an audio interface does matter. Fortunately the three units on my shortlist do both.
As for the U-24, I’ve read nice things about it. But I already have a portable audio interface (Novation Audio Hub) as well as iRig Pro Duo that connects to my iOS devices for recording.
I’ve got the Zoom Q2N. It’s a camera and an audio recorder. I use the line input from my mixer and the sound is excellent. …plus you can get video of the process. It’s only $150 or so. I recommend it.
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The H6 is very tempting and included in my shortlist. Thx for the link to the PMD661.
I am loving my H4Npro tracking my Digitakt. I just run the stereo outs on the Takt into the two inputs on the bottom of the zoom. It’s inspired me enough to start a multi song project using just those two devices, and with the added compressor on the digitakt, bringing something to a nearly mastered product is easy.
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i use the h6.
love it.
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Another satisfied h6 user here. The interface could be better, but it’s very easy to operate. That being said, you might need two hands to operate it sometimes if you have small hands like me.
I’ve used the h6 standalone and with my iPad. I can confirm that you can use both stereo inputs with iOS devices even though the manual says you can’t (YOU CAN!) - just have to keep an eye on battery life. I also like that I could add another set of 1/4 inputs for less than $100.
…but it still won’t show up as a USB drive when you plug it into an iOS device. Thanks, Apple.
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