Topic: zoom h4 vs. microtrack

[ronpowell34]

so, there's a good chance i'm moving up from the jb3 in the very near future.... i've read all the threads i can find on each. price is the same (though i should be able to get a pricematch @ guitar center for about $40 less after taxes). 24bit is NOT a requirement (i'm not quite that much of an audiophile.... yet, and the ua5 can't do 24bit). any specific reason i should go with one and not the other? thanks in advance.

p.s. i'll be running oktava mc012s > silva digi-mod ua5 > xx

[ronpowell34]

see, that's what happens i edit my posts! not sure why i didn't realize there was no digi in. hmmm... well, that may have solved that. thanks!

[willndmb]

to "activate" the 24 bit on ua5 you need to turn on the advanced switch on the back

[ronpowell34]

freakin finals week. my brain was pretty much fried when i made that post.

[anonymous_user]

Non-musicians might not know, but never pay full price for anything at Guitar Center. Music stores and Guitar Center in specific,.. it's not only that the prices aren't set in stone; they're *supposed* to be negotiated, just like buying cars. People who aren't musicians or don't shop for music equipment might not realize it. The people working there will openly talk about it. The "retail" prices are always jacked up, and you can get them to sell anything for a far lower price simply by asking a short question or just casually mentioning it. You don't even have to use the words "price match", but you can. You can also do it by saying a low figure of how much money you have (like $300), and then asking them how close to that amount they can sell it for. A rough guideline for anything that's a few hundred dollars though is to get about $50 off, and not pay tax either (or $65-70 with tax). For instance, if something retails for $400 + tax, the least they can do is sell it for an even $350 on the dot, with no taxes, or for about $330-335 with taxes, which comes out to the same thing. I'd use the range of $330-350, but definitely don't pay more than $350, because you can get them to drop it to $350 w/ no tax just by asking them to and then not even needing to 'haggle'. So if you buy a Microtrack there for more than about an even $350 then you're just getting overcharged. If you want to go the price match route, just ask them if they do price matching and say you saw it online for about $330-335 with no tax and free shipping, and when they ask if you remember which site, say no. Just ask them how close to that pricetag they can get, or if they can actually do it for an even $335 or so. The least they will do for you is sell it for $335 WITH tax, which comes out to about $351 I believe. If it's your first time shopping at Guitar Center, then another recommendation is to show up shortly before closing. They won't worry as much about their commission or trying to convince you to pay more than you have to, since they just want the sale. Any sale is better than no sale.

Summary is, don't pay more than an even $350 at the very most for an R-09 or Microtrack, regardless of where you buy it.