File Name Question

[Jim Simon]

A person would either be incredibly idiotic or horribly badly informed/ignorant to buy a Zoom H4n in 2017!!! :-o

I already own the Zoom, purchased many years ago. I was only offering that as the type of device I was looking for.

So...anyone know of a Zoom-like recorder than offers all five points below?

1. I need nat sound and a board feed recorded simultaneously on one device.
2. I need remote control access to start/stop functions. (Wireless preferred, but wired accepted.)
3. I need portability, ease of setup and use.
4. I want files named using date/time.
5. I'm looking in the $300 and under range.

 

[Noiz2]

As long as we are at it I'm looking for a Tesla and I have a $1,000 budget...

Or the old way to say it "beggars can't be choosers". The point is it's fine to ask but the reality is if you have a list of must haves then you just need to come up with the $ to pay for them. OR you set a budget and make the compromises that are the least impactful for you.

I don't think you get all five so figure out which you can do with out.

I basically disagree on the H4n. It wouldn't be my choice but it's not nec. an ill-informed or idiotic choice.

 

[graywolf]

I already own the Zoom, purchased many years ago. I was only offering that as the type of device I was looking for.

So...anyone know of a Zoom-like recorder than offers all five points below?

1. I need nat sound and a board feed recorded simultaneously on one device.
2. I need remote control access to start/stop functions. (Wireless preferred, but wired accepted.)
3. I need portability, ease of setup and use.
4. I want files named using date/time.
5. I'm looking in the $300 and under range.

The F4 is limited on item 2, if you run it from a camera that has TC Out it can start and stop automatically, otherwise not.
Nothing out there that meets item 5, I think.

So Zoom F4 = 3.5. I think your H4n scores 2 (has 3 & 5).

But don't give up, I am currently looking for an 85ft yacht that I can afford (GRIN). Don't laugh too hard, I once found one for free, only I figured it would cost 2 million to fix it up.

 

[Rick R]

I'm not aware of any recorder that adds the time to the file display name. Why can't you just look at the file's metadata, it can be placed right next to (or before) the file name. Computers in general, "View> Details pane" and select the header, 'Date created' and/or 'Date modified', all of which shows the date/time.
The Tascam DR-40 and DR-44WL gives you all except #4. The RC-10 wired remote (or a simple foot switch) for the DR40 is an additional purchase.

I concur with Scott: I'm not a fan of the Zoom H4n either.. or the H series in general.

 

[Noiz2]

There is a solution I hadn't thought of that hits your points, with an asterisk. The * is you need to have an interface and a Mac. But assuming you do and can have a laptop doing your recording, IE no run and gun, then Boom Recorder will let you name file just about anyway you want, can record 100+ tracks to a USB drive and I believe is at or close to $300.

 

[IronFilm]

There is a solution I hadn't thought of that hits your points, with an asterisk. The * is you need to have an interface and a Mac. But assuming you do and can have a laptop doing your recording, IE no run and gun, then Boom Recorder will let you name file just about anyway you want, can record 100+ tracks to a USB drive and I believe is at or close to $300.

Is even cheaper than that:

US$260
http://www.vosgames.nl/store/

 

[IronFilm]

If I was using radio mic.'s then they are a good fit for 5/6, but I would probably be using the Mix Pre to feed 5/6, which makes the F4 a 6 channel recorder with 6 mic pres.

Fair enough, but I haven't found that to be strictly necessary. And I've recorded an entire feature film with 6 tracks running at once on my F4.

 

[Noiz2]

Fair enough, but I haven't found that to be strictly necessary. And I've recorded an entire feature film with 6 tracks running at once on my F4.

As I said it's tricky to make assumptions. While I do some production sound I do a lot of post and FX recording and event/ music recording. For what I do I am often either running lots of wireless or none at all, mostly none at all. 99% of the cases I'm running two channels or over 10 but I can see a lot of flexibility to having an F4 since it fits right in the hole and it's portable. Some where around 4 - 8 inputs and you really need to be on a cart or a table so the F4 seems like a really good size. It would actually be smaller/lighter than my current two track setup and if I'm sitting down and have AC I would much rather be running Boom Recorder.