Sound recording advice with H4n

J

Jay Laville

Well-known member
Hi guys please dont flame me Ive spent hours trolling the forum trying to find out what recording settings do I have on the Zoom h4n when filming 25p. Do I set ity to 48 or 44 and at what bit rate. Have searched honest :embarasse
 
Check the audio forum here in DVXUser. The H4n gets coverage all over the place there.

To answer your question, use 48KHz/16-bit or 48KHz/24-bit. - Tim
 
TimTheFoolMan said:
Check the audio forum here in DVXUser. The H4n gets coverage all over the place there.

To answer your question, use 48KHz/16-bit or 48KHz/24-bit. - Tim
Click to expand...

thanks mayte was just interested in what canon 7d users record at when shooting 24 or 25p if there was a rule of thumb with 24bit over 16 bit
 
I would say that the audio resolution (16/24 bits) has nothing to do with the recording fps .... sometimes I had an issue with some PAL preset in my NLE regarding using 44 Khz vs 48 Khz.
Anyway, higher bit value will translate in better audio quality and larger audio files.
 
T2i & H4n Combination

T2i & H4n Combination

Jay Laville said:
thanks Cipo ill record at 48KHz/24-bit
Click to expand...

Do some testing first to make sure there will be a discernable difference. It's unlikely that the noise floor of the H4n will be low enough (even with a really quiet external mic) to tell. The only reason I can see for grabbing 24-bit depth files would be to make sure you're working at the same bit-depth from multiple sources.

If you're using just the internal mics of the H4n (not bad, but not fantastic) as your only source, I would stick with 48KHz/16-bit, since the files are smaller. Even if you're using a quiet external source (i.e. the Rode NTG-3 that I use frequently), you'll be hard-pressed to not the difference from a sound-quality standpoint.

As for applicability to DSLR usage, the H4n is a popular option (for both budgetary and ease-of-use reasons), and in fact, I was using the T2i/H4n combo last night to record some portions of a memorial service. You can easily feed the output of the H4n into the T2i (or 7D, presumably), which should make it easier to line up the audio in post.

As far as I know (and consistent with what CiPo seems to be saying) this isn't really an issue that's specific to 24/25 or NTSC vs PAL. - Tim
 
TimTheFoolMan said:
Do some testing first to make sure there will be a discernable difference. It's unlikely that the noise floor of the H4n will be low enough (even with a really quiet external mic) to tell. The only reason I can see for grabbing 24-bit depth files would be to make sure you're working at the same bit-depth from multiple sources.

If you're using just the internal mics of the H4n (not bad, but not fantastic) as your only source, I would stick with 48KHz/16-bit, since the files are smaller. Even if you're using a quiet external source (i.e. the Rode NTG-3 that I use frequently), you'll be hard-pressed to not the difference from a sound-quality standpoint.

As for applicability to DSLR usage, the H4n is a popular option (for both budgetary and ease-of-use reasons), and in fact, I was using the T2i/H4n combo last night to record some portions of a memorial service. You can easily feed the output of the H4n into the T2i (or 7D, presumably), which should make it easier to line up the audio in post.

As far as I know (and consistent with what CiPo seems to be saying) this isn't really an issue that's specific to 24/25 or NTSC vs PAL. - Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim, starting to make a bit more sense now, Ive been playing around with it all day Ive set the starting db at -10 and finish db at -20, does that sound about right it seems to sound okay, but think ill have to invest in some good earphones to monitor it spot on
 
If you're talking about the auto-start/stop function, I've not played with that. One thing you have to be careful about with the H4n is that if you "hit the wall" (0dB) and aren't using compression, it does not "fail gracefully."

A safe headphone bet is the Sony MDR-7506, which will go from $85-99. Several H4n users hang around the Audio forum here, so searching those threads will yield a bunch of good info. - Tim
 
TimTheFoolMan said:
If you're talking about the auto-start/stop function, I've not played with that. One thing you have to be careful about with the H4n is that if you "hit the wall" (0dB) and aren't using compression, it does not "fail gracefully."

A safe headphone bet is the Sony MDR-7506, which will go from $85-99.

Several H4n users hang around the Audio forum here, so searching those threads will yield a bunch of good info. If you've got additional H4n questions, you might want to post them there, which will yield better answers and keep things focused on DSLR stuff here. - Tim
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim, I see posts where people are changing DB setting and -10 and -20 db setting seems quite common, only way I see how this is changed is by going menu auto record then start level -10 then stop level -20, is that the wrong place to change this? :embarasse

Also if there is a humming noise I change the mic volume setting on the side of the zoom and hold mic closer and seems to work out. Uploaded to fcp with film footage looking at meter bar seems to not rise above -10db
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top