Zoom H4n vs Tascam DR040x

[Sam Spoons]

#2 son is thinking of buying a portable recorder. We've pretty much narrowed it down to the H4n and the DR-40x. Both seem to offer the same features and I know there is a lot of love for the Zoom on here but the Tascam is £50 cheaper. Before I advise him to go for the Tascam has anybody used both?

Things I'm concerned about are the quality of the mic preamps* and of built in mics as initially at least he'll be using it with the built in mics but the external mic inputs are a useful bit of future proofing IMO.

I'll read the manuals to confirm that they would both allow overdubs and other niceties.

* I had a DP-02 and while I loved it in so many ways I did find the mic pre's very noisy. I haven't heard similar comments elsewhere though so maybe it was just me.

[Drew Stephenson]

Not used the Tascam, but just thought it worth pointing out that there's an H4n and an H4n Pro. Not sure what the difference is but worth looking into and making sure you're looking at the right one.

[Sam Spoons]

Yes, thanks Drew, I've just been reading reviews, unfortunately SoS haven't reviewed the H4n Pro only the older H4n. They don't comment on the DR-40 mic preamps which are my main concern so I'm assuming they are fine.

[Tim Gillett]

Sam, the H4n model has been discontinued for some time.

[Sam Spoons]

Yeah, sorry it's the HN4x Pro he's looking at. I believe the preamps in the HN4x and Pro are the same though (upgraded on the HN4x I believe) so comparisons between either of them and the DR-40 and DR40x WRT preamps would be useful.

[Arpangel]

Just my experience, but I’ve got a Tascam DR1000 MK111, and I bought it over the equivalent Zoom at the time, I liked the sound of the mic’s, omni mode especially, plus the machine seemed a bit less harsh than the Zoom.
Also, a friend has just bought a cheaper Tascam than the one you’re looking at, he’s very critical about gear, but he’s more than happy with it.
I like the feel and ergonomics of my Tascam, and I think that will play a big part in your final choice, whatever you end up getting.

[Sam Spoons]

Thanks Arpy, price is also a consideration, the Tascam is £50 cheaper. If the Zoom has significant advantages then it might be worth spending but I suspect it doesn't. He's recording horn stuff mostly so the extra fx the zoom has are probably not useful, and he'll do most editing on either an iPad Pro or a Windows laptop.

[trvln]

I'm also looking for one of these types of portable recording devices in this price range. What I gather after some reading and listening to sound demos is that none of them have decent mic preamps, meaning the amount of available gain is much too low for dynamic microphones and the noise floor is even fairly high when using condenser microphones. Recording from the onboard microphones seems to be fine. Recording from the line inputs seems to be fine with the Tascam devices but not with the Zoom devices.

So it seems to be with these devices that the practical recording choices are to use the onboard microphones, use external condensers and accept that the noise floor will be high (similar or higher noise level of the very lowest quality mic preamps in the lowest quality audio interfaces), or use the line inputs connected to a mixer with the Tascam devices.

It seems too bad on the mic preamp situation in these devices, as I want one as a good-enough live recorder for all playing situations from home practice and songwriting to live gigs, not having to fiddle with everything involved with my daw setup. And the varispeed function in these devices is important to me for learning and practice, which is a major function that keeps me chained to my daw.

Looking outside of these devices, the field recorders seem to have usable mic preamps and line inputs, but they don't have onboard microphones and varispeed. And the small portable studio devices seem to almost hit the mark, having onboard microphones. But the Tascam devices are limited to only 2-track simultaneous recording. And the Zoom devices seem to have too many ongoing issues, including phantom power noise and time drift. Then there are the newer small format live mixer recorder devices at a significantly higher, don't have varispeed, and who knows what other issues since mum seems to be the word these days on device flaws from too many product reviewers.

Also, of all the devices that do have varispeed, it looks like none of them have varispeed that works at 96k sampling rates. 96k is nice for varispeed with source material that is 96k for preventing artifacts when slowing down recordings to half speed. It's a pretty big difference in clarity from 48k, which is a good thing when listening to touch to hear passages.

Does anyone have it together on these devices? The things have been around for over a decade. It is looking like for now that I should just keep using my daw at home for practice and songwriting and carry a laptop and interface for other playing situations.

[trvln]

To the original poster, what I'm reading is that the H4n line inputs aren't really line inputs, but are instrument level unbalanced inputs which will clip with line level sources unless you use some pads to knock the levels down. And it seems that the DR-40X has more mic preamp noise, but both are said to be not very good with dynamic microphones, unless you are ok with a high level of hiss or use boosting devices such as fet heads or cloud lifters, for which a pair of either will cost more than the recording device itself. I found some sound clips over here of the mic preamps using an Audix OM2 dynamic mic. https://www.sam-mallery.com/2019/09/in- ... l-thoughts

[trvln]

There is some discussion here on recording line sources with the H4N. https://forums.creativecow.net/docs/for ... 41&pview=t

One poster mentions using 40-50db pads on the H4N's inputs. Another poster further down the page mentions using unbalanced xlr to 1/4" cables and getting good results.

It seems like the H4N along with some way of reducing or padding the input levels might be the better way to go, given that it has lower mic preamp noise.

Also, if you're looking at the H4N, it seems that there is very little difference between the mic preamps on the H4N and H4N Pro (sound examples linked to in previous post). And Zoom said in a few places that the new all black version of the H4N Pro is merely a cosmetic change from the previous H4N Pro.

[Sam Spoons]

Thanks for the info #trvin, it's much along the lines I was reading, I haven't been able to listen to the recording on that review yet will do so in the morning, but it would be a possible concern, have you had personal experience of either? It would be useful to have feedback from anybody who has used either in the real world, especially with decent mics and acoustic music as that is probably what to will be most used for.

Just to throw another option into the pot, he was originally considering a Zoom IQ7 mid sides mic for his iPhone. I don't think it is a good choice for using when filming for various reasons but for recording just audio it might be a decent choice. Any thoughts?

[trvln]

have you had personal experience of either? It would be useful to have feedback from anybody who has used either in the real world

I have no experience with them. And I would like to hear from others too.

I have been listening to more demos today of the DR-40x, and the preamp noise really doesn't sound that bad with dynamic microphones, at least for my intended purposes. So I think either the H4N or the DR-40x would be fine for me. But the DR-40X has actual balanced line inputs not requiring any sort of workaround as with the H4N that has unbalanced instrument level inputs. And the DR-40X is a little less expensive right now with the Tascam instant rebate thing going on.

In this video at around 5 minutes 30 seconds a Sennheiser E835 dynamic is being used and the preamp noise level seems fine for this type of device. Also, a full range of mic types is demonstrated during the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUVJutxxC4c

That is the DR-40, and from listening to other demos, the preamps in the DR-40X are just slightly less noisy.