What exactly does the Zoom H4n do?

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Jean Dantes

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Sorry for this very novice question, and sorry if it has been answered here before, but what exactly does the Zoom H4n do?

Why is it beneficial?

Does it disable/workaround "AGC"?

Does it record audio at any given frame-rate (even 23.976/24)?

When you press "record" on your 7D, would the Zoom H4n start recording automatically, or do you need to press "record" on the Zoom H4n at the same time you press "record" on the 7D?

Would love to know more. Please share your knowledge of the Zoom H4n if you know about it! It would be truly, truly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance to any replies! :)
 
the zoom h4n is just a good recorder. it kind of fell into film making somewhat on accident i think. pretty sure its primary goal was in the music industry. the makers created the zoom h4, which exploded in popularity, and then they made some improvements in the preamps and other parts with the h4n.

its a beneficial recorder because its a-cheap, b-good, c-small and easy to use

the 7d/5d has auto gain control with its audio recording. with the h4n you can set your levels and high, medium, or low to somewhat have control over your audio's gain.

in general audio does not have a frame rate, only time code has a frame rate. a lot of higher end audio recorders intended for eng or efp will have time code or a time code input.

you need to press record on both devices
 
here is the H4n used in a "live" situtaion, recording a classical harpist in a park. the wind was a bit problematic at times but considering the low volume output of an acoustic harp in a not very quiet enviroment...i was happy with what the H4n did (all elements considered). i set it for 48k 16bit which imported into FCP nicely. on one of the clips you will see a wireless transmitter. i had a lavalier inside the box of the harp but didnt end up using it since the Zoom did a more natural rendition of the harp. any hiss you hear is the trees swishing and the birds you hear chirping were real.

so all that was used were just the built in cross patterened condensors which were about 15" from the strings. i did dip a somewhat wide/400hz and added a little reverb in PP.

all of the takes were slated for easy lining up of audio to video in post.

be sure to click HD for best quality and sound...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjehb82yFlQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmCrzrRbCI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvhNBKHkgMY

{EDIT} just in case anyone is interested i used an EX1 on tripod and a Steadicam Pilot. i also used the 5DmkII with either a 200mm 1.8L & 85mm1.2. most on tripod and a few handheld.

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
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david_p said:
here is the h4n used in a "live" situtaion, recording a classical harpist in a park. The wind was a bit problematic at times but considering the low volume output of an acoustic harp in a not very quiet enviroment...i was happy with what the h4n did (all elements considered). I set it for 48k 16bit which imported into fcp nicely. On one of the clips you will see a wireless transmitter. I had a lavalier inside the box of the harp but didnt end up using it since the zoom did a more natural rendition of the harp. Any hiss you hear is the trees swishing and the birds you hear chirping were real.

So all that was used were just the built in cross patterened condensors which were about 15" from the strings. I did dip a somewhat wide/400hz and added a little reverb in pp.

All of the takes were slated for easy lining up of audio to video in post.

Be sure to click hd for best quality and sound...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjehb82yflq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmcrzrrbci
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svhnbkhkgmy

david
www.davidprobst.com
Click to expand...

wow!
 
Thanks so much for your replies guys! Very informative! Much appreciated!! :)

P.S. Is there any way around AGC, or do we have to wait for something like "Magic Lantern"?
 
the beachtek xlr adapter has some nifty technology that turns off the agc. it does it by sending a certain frequency tone to the camera that keeps the audio at a set level. i've heard its kind of noisy as well. from some tests i've seen on vimeo, the juicedlink 231 is super clean compared to the beachtek, but thats using the magic lantern firmware.

you can see/hear the tests at this vimeo link, http://vimeo.com/5370880
 
I'm curious if anyone has used the h4n as a boom device (I imagine it would be heavy - but maybe if it was a stationary boom you could rig it up without straining your boom op)...but aside from that logistically is the audio of the built in mics good? I'm planning on picking one up for the 7D and was going to get a rode ntg-2 as well...but that stretches the budget pretty tight with lenses etc. being more important to me if I can get quality sound out of the h4n itself. Anyone know?

Thanks!
 
livelikeriley said:
I'm curious if anyone has used the h4n as a boom device (I imagine it would be heavy - but maybe if it was a stationary boom you could rig it up without straining your boom op)...but aside from that logistically is the audio of the built in mics good? I'm planning on picking one up for the 7D and was going to get a rode ntg-2 as well...but that stretches the budget pretty tight with lenses etc. being more important to me if I can get quality sound out of the h4n itself. Anyone know?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can use the H4N on a boom just by having a longer xlr cable. Just have the H4N on your body, and a 12+ft xlr cable up to the mic.

I hear the mic on the 7D is "decent", but honestly if you're needing to capture good audio then you ALWAYS want to capture audio separately and just sync it up in post. The NTG-2 is hands down one of the best shotgun mics for the money.

If you have a rental house in your town, just rent lenses for a while until you are willing to invest in the EXACT glass that you want. We rent Canon 70/200 2.8 IS L-Series ($2100) from our rental place all the time for only about $25 for the weekend. You'd have to rent it about 84 times to get to the same price as owning. The Rode will ALWAYS be a good investment for you!
 
Michael Olsen said:
I think he was talking about putting at the H4n at the end of the boom and using it as the microphone.
Click to expand...

I don't think the microphones are that good to justify the physician costs. A cheap shotgun like that popular Audio Technica would be better suited for this.

However, i do tape the H4n at the other end of my boom pole, and since it's internal coil, I only use a small xlr cable and it looks and operates pretty swell. It's actually pretty cool to not have any dangling cables, especially in some run/gun low budget shoots where we don't need/want/can lav the talent.

What is really incredible about the H4n, is that it's a much better recorder than any video camera, cheap or not, ever was. Recording in 24 bit really gives you much more headroom to separate sound from noise, and gives you more tolerance for extraneous audio.
 
The Zoom H4n... records the faint noises that only dogs can hear, and as you plug it into your computer and download the files you will soon be enlightened with the secrets to the universe. But listen too closely you shall not, for your brain will melt into primordial sludge.
 
can anyone tell me if the octava mic from sound room would yeild the best audio recordings for my narrative work, and how does it compare to the rode nt1? Also would using this in conjunction to the h4n give me the best audio?
 
I have an H4 which came in very handy this weekend. I was mixing live sound for a band and was disappointed to discover they had no reverb or delay unit that I could use on the vocals. I remembered the H4 had built in FX and sure enough I was able to use it as an outboard reverb unit for the gig.

The H4 has been an amazing little tool and all for such a low price.
 
the octava is a great hyper mic. i use it quite a bit for interiors. the rode nt1 is also a good mic, but its fairly heavy for boom work. pretty sure the nt1 takes a battery, its been a while since i've messed with it. but the preamps on the h4n are pretty good, i've used it with an h4, not the n. i put a mixer in front of the h4 and was much happier with the octava. but with the new h4n's preamps it should be just as good as feeding it power from a mixer or a camera.
 
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