record with a sound device instead of h4n (VIDEO)

Using a sound device suppose to be better for low noise preamp and for a better limiter, more gain, better quality ? Any other advantages ?
 
Most amateur (and many "professional") Vimeo/YouTube "demonstration" and "review" videos are not very well done.
The video you cited was recorded under ideal conditions (rather quiet ambient, ideal mic position, etc.)
It wasn't terribly well done. It was more of a rant than a real scientific demonstration.

However, I heard a significant difference between the Zoom and the SD preamps.
If you couldn't hear it, perhaps your monitoring equipment (undisclosed) is lying to you.

The difference between the mic preamps is even more pronounced when operating at higher gain (because of SNR, distance, etc. etc.)

That isn't to say that more noisy gear like the H4N is completely useless.
For many people that is all that is available, and they live with it.

Professionals don't typically select gear because of the name brand or the price.
They select gear that does the job properly and is reliable, etc.
 
I have owned several inexpensive recorders, and under ideal circumstances, you can get good results from them. Using a mixer in front so they record line in and bypass the preamps is the best. Next best is making sure to use a hot mic so as to minimize the gain since many have weak preamps. Recently, I purchased a SD recorder, and did so mostly for the reliability, feature set, and quality of construction. Better audio is always a good thing, but there are more reasons to go with a better recorder than just the audio.

Grant
 
I compared the h4n to the h4n + 302 and the h4n to the 788t in a workshop. Heard with three different headphones (7506, DT 770, M50s) and used different lavs (DPA 4060, TRAM TR50, MKE 2 and ME2).

There is a difference, but it is very very small. I could only notice if paying a huge amount of attention to the detail. IMHO, paying for a sound devices is paying for features(timecode, tracks, inputs, outputs, durability, mixing capabilities), but not sound quality.
 
Hmm, I will not agree with this, imo buying sd recorder, you are paying for sound quality and features. Now, the thing is i don't own a sd device, my recorder history is short...h4n -> fostex fr2le...the first thing i noticed, that yes there is slightly less noise, more clean gain, but overall sound quality is different, because of how preamps sound...and testing with matched pair of microphones (one going into h4n, another going into fostex), overall sound quality was different. And in the end, fostex is still lower end recorder, compared to sd devices.
 
H4n kids - constantly need a batt change at the critcal moment - there is nothing more painful to watch than the H4n, skinny jeans combo.

SD will work, all day every day and simply are for professional use in every aspect of conceptualisation design and execution.

S
 
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