Zoom H2 with mixer or Zoom H4n

magicmack

magicmack

Active member
Hey, so I have an At835b mic and I am looking to record seperate audio from my Pentax KX since it has no audio input. So I have come up up with two options that fit my budget and I am wondering which one will be the most useful and provide me with the highest possible quality of recording.

Options:

(1) Zoom H4n- hook up my mic directly to the xlr input to the H4n, and record.
(2) Zoom H2 with Rolls Mx34 Mixer- hook up the mic to the input of the Rolls, and use the stereo 3.5mm output to go into the H2 and record.

Thanks, and if you can think of any other options in or around the same price range please let me know.
 
people have been doing a lot of great things with just the zoom h4n. but having a mixer is more my cup of tea. i've never used a rolls mx34 so i know nothing of its quality, nor a zoom h2.
 
What is the purpose of the mixer? If it's just converting XLR to 3.5 mm, you can get away with doing that with a cable like this. You do lose the benefit of a balanced signal though although I've used this technique a lot for small projects with good results. Just make sure you monitor.
 
I thought about using that cable xlr to 3.5mm, but will I not lose a signifigant amount of quality if I do not use the mixer, as it won't be balanced?

Now how much quality loss will there be if I use the Zoom H4n and XLR directly into it, comparred to using the H2 with the cable adapter from XLR to 3.5mm?

Thanks.
 
magicmack said:
I thought about using that cable xlr to 3.5mm, but will I not lose a signifigant amount of quality if I do not use the mixer, as it won't be balanced?

Now how much quality loss will there be if I use the Zoom H4n and XLR directly into it, comparred to using the H2 with the cable adapter from XLR to 3.5mm?
Click to expand...

It's not so much a loss of quality as a greatly increased potential to pick up unwanted electrical interferance. It really depends on your environment. If you're in an area of high RF and use long cables you might find that you get a some noise. If you use shorter cables and there doesn't happen to be as much RF activity you might find you get away with it. XLR cables are all shielded anyway which helps. The main thing is just to test it in the location before you use it for something important.
 
I use a zoom h2 pretty often for backup sound.
It works pretty well for me to just take the files and dump them onto the computer in post.
 
I own an h2 and luv it... great as a concealable wireless mic solution... and the mic on it is great for atmosphere sounds
 
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