Goodbye Zoom

E

EDRAKEL

Active member
In the last three years I've had two Zoom H1's and 1 Zoom H4n stop working for me.
The H1's would turn on but when I hit the record button---Nothing. When turning on the H4n
the Zoom would appear on the screen with the Ver-1.72 appearing in the upper left
hand corner of the screen and would freeze up. It would not let me turn the d--n thing off!
Anyone else having these issues? Guess I'm going towards Tascam recorders.
 
Had a tascam that didn't work on its first outing.

Learnt my Lesson about threatening my professional reputation by using cheap crap.

Bought a sound devices recorder the same day.

That was six years ago. I now have a recorder that I trust.
 
I've had issues with Tascam in the past. Bought a Zoom F8 recorder a few months ago and it's been working perfectly so far.

Sound Devices is the industry standard for a reason. Their products are basically bulletproof, so if you can afford them, do it. But the Zoom F8 is quite nice as well. Far better build quality than the consumer-ish Zoom H4n.
 
As far as handheld recorders, none of them are very robust. That said, I have never been a fan of the Zoom handhelds. I had one of the original H4 recorders when they first came out. It had noisy pre-amps and after a year developed a strange power issue (would drain fresh batteries in under 10 minutes... without phantom running).

I have had a Tascam DR-40 for several years and it still runs like a champ. It's traveled the country with me, it's been strapped to roller coasters... never an issue.

Handhelds are purpose-built and should never be the primary recorders in a kit. I keep one for SFX recording, and for low/no-budget projects, but it isn't my primary device.
 
I also owned the original Zoom H4 that had a weird "beeping" problem that would show up in some recordings. Bypassed the Zoom H4n and went with a Tascam DR-100, which I owned for about a year, and then sold it after buying the Tascam DR-40. Later on bought two Tascam DR-07 Mk2 recorders to FEDEX to people for audio interviews. ( which worked out great for 30+ interviews ) I still own the DR-40 and the two DR-07 Mk2 recorders, and they are all working perfectly. I also bought a Tascam DR-70 recorder, which also works perfectly, but I've sold it now as I plan on picking up a Sound Devices MixPre-6 soon.

If I was buying a new low cost recorder I would also consider the Zoom H5 and H6 models, which seem to be on par with the Tascam gear, but if you've got the budget the Sound Devices MixPre-3 and MixPre-6 are hard to beat.
 
We have Tascam DR-40 recorders that our students use, no problems so far except the battery level is not correctly shown when using Nimh rechargeable batteries (but still get over 6 hours internal mics on a charge). Have some friends that do sound (among other things) for a living, they most use Sound Devices mixers and recorders, partly because they are what clients specify, and partly because of quality and feature set.
 
Greg,

Was the battery set correctly? You have to tell it if you are using NiMh batteries to have the level show correctly.


Generally I have used but never liked the Zoom H4n and own the shaver one H2 I think. Build quality pretty much sucked, labels wore off, the plastic door for media broke with in a week or so, etc. It still works so... But I was never really happy with it. I have had a DR-40 for a number of years and it has gone through a lot tougher treatment including getting soaked in a surprise rain storm and is still going strong.

I'm completely with Alex in that I would never use a handheld as a primary recorder except for SFX gathering. It's great to have around because you can have it up and recording on almost zero notice and it does a decent job. If I have time to prep I will bring it along as a backup and plant recorder but will be using a better setup for my main recordings.
 
As long as we're talking cheapo small recorders or nearly cheap and small; I'll throw in for Tascam. I have had great success with the Tascam DR100 series. After getting rid of a miserable Zoom H1, I purchased the DR-100 series 1. The one feature in particular that I came to appreciate is a dual battery system on board which switches automatically. The pre's are decent and the metering is adequate. I liked it enough to purchase the newer version 2 which is better yet. I think for many, it is plenty enough recorder for basic video and in my case, makes a very good backup.

Grant
 
Yes battery is set for nimh which gave me some level, but fresh off the charger is normally only 2 out of 3 bars.
 
Hmm.

The other thing that took me awhile to figure out with my first batch of NiMh's is that they only last so long and then don't hold much of a charge. And the tricky part is that it doesn't happen to all in a uniform way. I was getting terrible battery life and then I tested and a couple of the NiMh were shot and died right away. That was three or four years of a lot of usage, but now aside from always carrying Alkaline as backup, I run checks on the batt.'s if they act at all out of the ordinary. The ones that went bad went from fine to 10 min or so and dead in what seemed like over night. I bought all new.
 
Really you people consider placing your reputation on AA batts?

My SD702 has a np battery and and volts in.

Meaning you can run from a large battery or the mains and the NP providing back up should the primary supply fail somehow.

A used 702 is I guess merely 125% the cost of Zoom Tascam plastic horrors
 
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The way I see the world of low budget recorders is ranked like this:

Tascam DR22WL / Zoom H1 (I'd suggest skipping right over this tier of recorders! But hey, my first ever short film I did years ago was with a chinese shotgun running straight into a Zoom H1!! :-o Shocking but true... everyone starts somewhere!)

Tascam DR60D mk2 (the DR60D mk1, before the mk2 came out, is what I myself started out using for no budget shorts as a budding location sound recordist)

Tascam DR70D (the *minimum* I'd recommend for a location sound recordist, even if you're just a student / no budget guy. Although in desperate cases, you could scrape by with getting the DR60Dmk2, but doing the opposite and stretching for an F4 is very worthwhile. Certainly, I could travel back in time I'd just have gone straight for the Zoom F4 from the starts! *Except* the F4 didn't come out until a few years later... you live in a very lucky time with so many wonderful options to choose from!) or Tascam DR680 (these can be found at bargain prices secondhand, which is what I did before I then later on purchased a Zoom F4 once that came out & I spotted an F4 at a good price)

Zoom F4 / Zoom F8 / Sound Devices MixPre6 (I skip right over the MixPre3, as the MixPre6 is very similar yet does so so much more at only a relatively small extra cost. Also I regard the three of F4/F8/MixPre6 as all on broadly the same level to each other, just varying slightly from each other in one area or another that ones might have a small lead over the other one. This is the tier where I'd see you're now reaching the semi-pro level)

Sound Devices 633 / Zaxcom Maxx / Sanosax SX-R4+ (finally you have now got up to the "industry standard" when it comes to recorders people use for small shoots, especially when mixing from the bag. If you're doing this full time as your job or hiring someone who is, then likely this is what is being used. Either that or similar gear, or even something better above this)

And if you considering ones priced above those last three.... you're surely doing this full time as a sound recordist and getting a healthy income from that, so why are you asking us here on dvxuser? ha! :-P But yes, tonnes and tonnes more options exist at the higher end as well!

Finally, if you're considering something in the budget range within what I just covered, but isn't one of those that I mentioned, then it probably is *not* a good idea to buy if you're intending to be a location sound recordist.

Something else only might *maybe* make sense if you've got in mind some other purpose for it, such as perhaps you want to record a band in a studio (which has very different needs / constraints), or you're the rare exception which proves the rule, or you are getting lucky finding some amazingly priced deal which can make an otherwise bad purchase decision then make sense if "the price is right" (for instance I didn't include the Roland R88, as I feel it is extremely poor value for money in 2017! However.... there was a time at the end of 2016 when the Roland R88 got a huge price drop because it was being discontinued. Even with that massive price drop, the Roland R88 probably still wasn't a smart purchase vs the Zoom F8, but the big drop in price at least made the R88 a somewhat competitive option worth mentioning in a round up of all the various choices. However, that sale is now long since ended, and the prices I see on eBay for a Roland R88 is even higher than what you used to be able to buy it new from B&H Photo! Clearly those eBay sellers are dreaming. Anyway, that was just one example which might have been applicable but isn't now, so I don't rule out the possibilities of something like that perhaps popping up again in the future especially if you very keenly look around for secondhand deals. But for over 95% of people reading this, that won't be applicable)
 
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morgan_moore said:
Really you people consider placing your reputation on AA batts?

My SD702 has a np battery and and volts in.

Meaning you can run from a large battery or the mains and the NP providing back up should the primary supply fail somehow.

A used 702 is I guess merely 125% the cost of Zoom Tascam plastic horrors
Click to expand...

What is wrong with AA batteries? Nothing, so long as you go with solid quality AA batteries (eneloops).

AA batteries get used over and over again by virtually all the professional sound recordists out there.

As for the old Sound Devices 702, it is an ok choice if you never ever ever need more than two channels.
But I am almost always going to be running 3 tracks or more at some point during every shooting schedule.
 
What is wrong with AA batteries? Nothing, so long as you go with solid quality AA batteries (eneloops).
- I agree. My rechargeable AAs have never let me down.. of course, careful organization is necessary. If this is not you, use fresh name brand alkaline or lithium batts. A recorder that has a redundant power system is indeed a nice feature. I believe the Zoom F4/8 has this as well as 'some' of the Tascam DR series. The new Sound Devices MixPre 3/6, power options are currently not good, but third party vendors are coming up with alternate solutions.
 
From what I read, you can add the DR100 MKIII into that mid-line list of Iron Film's.

Yest the F4 takes redundant battery power, a 3d party external lithium-ion battery pack will automatically roll over to the internal AA's when it runs out of power. Since you can get really large external packs quite cheaply that is a good option. Also, you can buy extra battery holders which means you can change the internal batteries in less than a minute. Actually, I am surprised someone has not come up with an internal LI battery pack for these recorders.

However, I have discovered that the F4 eats batteries when it is not being used, plus the RTC is not super accurate, about 5 minutes a month, my 25 year old wrist watch keeps one minute a year.
 
Many of the Tascam take 5 volts on a USB connector, not the most solid connector but a choice for big battery, all day power.

AA batteries are available in most any relatively modern village store, middle of Africa maybe not, but most civilized villages with a general store will have a pack of AA batteries.
 
Rick R said:
What is wrong with AA batteries? Nothing, so long as you go with solid quality AA batteries (eneloops).
- I agree. My rechargeable AAs have never let me down.. of course, careful organization is necessary. If this is not you, use fresh name brand alkaline or lithium batts. A recorder that has a redundant power system is indeed a nice feature. I believe the Zoom F4/8 has this as well as 'some' of the Tascam DR series. The new Sound Devices MixPre 3/6, power options are currently not good, but third party vendors are coming up with alternate solutions.
Click to expand...

*ALL* of Tascam's recorders which are intended for field production have the option of external powering. Yes, even their older and dirt cheap low end Tascam DR60D mk1!

http://ironfilm.co.nz/firmware-upda...ons-when-running-on-external-usb-power-packs/

Greg_E said:
Many of the Tascam take 5 volts on a USB connector, not the most solid connector but a choice for big battery, all day power.
Click to expand...

Yes, having a Hirose connection like the Zoom F4 has would be nicer connection for the Tascams.

But you need to remember who most of these are targeted (I picked up my DR60D for barely a little more than a hundred bucks brand new!!), and for them being able to use a USB powerbank (with internal AA as a safety back up measure) is by far and by far the easiest and cheapest approach for them to use with their new Tascam recorder they're using for the first time.

Greg_E said:
AA batteries are available in most any relatively modern village store, middle of Africa maybe not, but most civilized villages with a general store will have a pack of AA batteries.
Click to expand...

Yup, one of the benefits of AA batteries! Though I'd absolutely hate to use random store bought AA batteries instead of my eneloops!!! :-o Hell no. But in a desperate pinch, they'd be better than nothing at all and might save the shoot.
 
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I had a Tascam DR-40 conk-out on me after a few months of recording sermons once a week. One of the circuit boards whent out for no reason, and of course the warranty doesn't actually cover anything, so they charged me for the repairs. I haven't had any issues with my Tascam DR-100 though, knock on wood.
 
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