The best Zoom recorder for your Digitakt: H4n Pro vs. H5 vs. H6

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#85

Brought my options back to the H4N pro, H5 or H6. The price difference is not a issue because

  • H4N pro is around €200
  • H5 is around €230
  • H6 is around €275

What the recorder must do and must have

  • portable (all 3 are)
  • occasionally field recording (all 3 can)
  • Multi track recording
  • record a track from my DT, overdub it with my DN, overdub that with a electric guitar
  • mixing the sound levels before mix down

effects like reverb, delay are not important. I do that on the DT and DN.

What’s the best choice? And, what do i forget what is important?

#86

Dt = 2 tracks Dn the same guitar 1 track, so zoom h6 seems better suited for the task

#87

All these recorderd have at least 4 tracks.

#88

H4n
but you will hate it. It’s fiddly like finger(skate)boarding.

#89

H4n has 4 tracks, he needs 5 so only the h6 can do the job

#90

H6 is the way to go.

#91

Why not record the DT and DT on the same 2 tracks?

#92

I do not have to connect my gear all at the same time, i can switch them. But if i do that i probably will not have the overdub possibility? Or can i move a recorded track to an empty new track?

#93

You have to change track in order to overdub…

1 Like
#94

Of course but he said he wanted to record everything separatly, so…

#95

Yeah, sorry. Just trying to understand why you would record the DT and DN on separate stereo tracks (4 tracks) instead of together on a single stereo track (2 tracks) since you’re already combining tracks in each separate device.

2 Likes
#96

for recording Digitakt and Digitone you only need two tracks as you can feed Digitakt into Digitone and record these simultaneously into the same stereo track. Guitar will take one track, so you are fine with three tracks. Or four, if you feed the guitar trough the stereo FX box.

1 Like
#97

This makes sense.

Thank you all for your input and advice!

1 Like
#98

In case anyone here has a Macbook Pro, this might be useful: Tip: use Macbook Pro to record, no additional hardware needed

#99

If anyone wants a barely used H4n Pro I’m looking to sell mine…

#100

After a lot of reading, watching and hesitation, i bought the Zoom H6. And it is exactly what i was hoping for to record audio from my DT and DN. The multitrack, the overdubbing and mixer works perfect. The sound quality of the recordings are crisp and clear. I have to say that navigating through the menu is quite a challenge, but i will get used to it when using it more.

Connectivity with my PC and iPad via the build-in audio interface or Cardreader mode is working without any problems. I can copy the individual tracks to my DAW(Ableton) to finalize it. On my iPad i can use all 6 inputs of the H6 in Auria Pro to record the DT or/and DN directly.

So, i’m happy. Thanks all for your opinions, help and advice!

5 Likes
#101

Question about pre-amps. So in what sense are pre-amps important if I’m recording my OT jams?
I know if using mics that the pre-amps are important, but I won’t be pushing the pre-amps hard if I’m recording line-in from my OT.
In this scenario would I notice a difference in recording quality between say a Zoom H6 and a SoundDevices Mixpre if not using mics?

#102

actually you’d be recording line in so IDEALLY the preamps don’t get engaged at all (some cheaper Zoom and Tascam devices can’t do that - ie cannot circumvent the preamps - and that’s a negative). Then there’s ADDA conversion which is also important to the quality of your signal.

I’d just venture out and say that anything SoundDevices will have better conversion than anything Zoom. Whether that up in quality is actually needed really depends on application and intended purpose/outcome.

2 Likes
#103

Cool. So it comes down to the ADDA conversion with transparent being better (I guess).

1 Like
#104

not so much transparent vs coloured (eg the conversion in Apogee and Antelope devices tend to be quite coloured but in a great way!), it’s more a matter of detail and dimensionality.