Best Internal Mics: DR100 or H4N?

I

iflight

Active member
I've read almost every post i can find on the two players and have learned a lot, though nothing i've found seemed to address the issue of internal mic quality exclusively.

I would love to hear some conclusive opinions (oxymoron?) regarding the quality of each's internal mics. I am on a budget, and will be experimenting with narrative-type film making as soon as my GH2 arrives. I plan to use the internal Mics of whichever recorder i buy until i can afford to buy a better mic (in addition to using a borrowed a Sanheizer wireless LAV whenever i can get my hands on it...)

So please tell me - is the H4n or DR100 better when it comes to the internal mics? From what i've read, it seems the H4n's are better, but i'd enjoy hearing some other opinions.

Also love to know - how big a consideration is having the "Broadcast Wave" format? Is that another big plus for the H4n, or not so much?

Thanks!
 
But H4N have 4 tracks, and tascam have only 2 tracks. Many times 4 tracks are very useful (with external mics)
 
i think you can't adjust levels separately..

ok.
what about the internal mics?
 
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roei z said:
can someone please address the original question ?
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while i appreciate all the info offered, this is exactly my problem. I am quite familiar already with these issues, but still need to know - which one has better internal mics??

Any thoughts?
 
When I was making a decision between the DR100 or H4N I looked at the advantages on both to compare. This is what I saw for what I needed - battery was not an issue for me.

DR100
1. better level adjustment
2. headphone monitoring and line out
3. no complaints of drift

H4N
1. better internal mics
2. thread mount is made of metal
3. some complaints of drift, but depends on each unit with some saying none to others saying in long recordings a few frames that can be fixed

I picked up the H4N because of the better internal mics and lots of followers of the unit. I do wish it had line out and better control of drift. Someone did mention in another thread that there seems to be more threads complaining about the DR100. Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. You just have to pick one that best suits your needs.
 
I prefer the 4 mics on the *H2;* however, there is only one way to tell, which is to audition.
OTOH, for what the H2 costs, it is definitely a buy first and ask questions later item.
 
roei z said:
BTW, until they fix the time drifting on the H4N, i am definitely with the DR100
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I saw somewhere that you had to "shrink" the imported audio down to %99.9 to match up with a framerate of 23.97 or somthing like that.
I a complete noob here, but could that possibly address this "drift" issue?

Also, would Broadcast Wave format address this at all?

Thanks
 
I've been looking into this for 2 months. Neither H4n or DR100 has good preamp, but they r a way better than GH2's built-in audio. DR100 seems having better button controls. It's not great but good enough.
 
stonebat- what better option we have on an upper price step ? (if we consider this as the 300$ step)
 
External XLR Mic + SoundDevice USBPre 2 + External Battery + S/PDIF Digital Recorder.

Sound will be great... but I'm one man production. I just want a simple setup like GH2 + DR100 + optionally Redhead Windscreen. It's good enough for me. But YMMV.
 
stonebat said:
External XLR Mic + SoundDevice USBPre 2 + External Battery + S/PDIF Digital Recorder.

Sound will be great... but I'm one man production. I just want a simple setup like GH2 + DR100 + optionally Redhead Windscreen. It's good enough for me. But YMMV.
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like you, i also need to handle sound on my own. but you've said that the DR/H4N are decent/"good enough" quality recorders. what's the next price point recorder?
 
roei z said:
like you, i also need to handle sound on my own. but you've said that the DR/H4N are decent/"good enough" quality recorders. what's the next price point recorder?
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Sony PCM-D50. Unfortunately it doesn't handle p48 mics without some extra gear.


Fran
 
roei z said:
like you, i also need to handle sound on my own. but you've said that the DR/H4N are decent/"good enough" quality recorders. what's the next price point recorder?
Click to expand...

If you wanted to spend a bit more than the Sony you could get a Marantz PMD 661. We use them at my school and they work great, plus it also has Phantom power output.

To answer the original question. I think you will be happier with the DR100.
 
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