Topic: H4n Limiter

[analoghell]

Hi All,

Has anybody yet got clarification on wether the compressor/limiter on the H4n is analog and pre-ADC?

Unlike the H2 which has a pointless digital limiter!

I've not been able to find anything about this yet and it's a deal clincher for me.

Cheers,

ac

[Walstib62]

I have an Hn. The manual is very difficult for me to read, as it is written in "Chinglish" It is new to me. I just did a Donna The buffalo show last weekend using Avantone ck1's in. There is no attenuator on the input, as you know. I had the input set all the way down, and the limiter on. The high signal input and the limiter were fighting each other, so the sound is "fluctuating" slightly on playback. I am going to buy a plug-in attenuator for the next loud show and turn the limiter off.
I would be interested to hear your experiences/tips on this unit.
take care,
John

[analoghell]

Thanks for your reply John.

I also read the manual and couldn't find a clear answer about the limiter.

I haven't yet bought an H4n as this is the deciding factor for me.

Surely somebody out there must know???

ac

I have an Hn. The manual is very difficult for me to read, as it is written in "Chinglish" It is new to me. I just did a Donna The buffalo show last weekend using Avantone ck1's in. There is no attenuator on the input, as you know. I had the input set all the way down, and the limiter on. The high signal input and the limiter were fighting each other, so the sound is "fluctuating" slightly on playback. I am going to buy a plug-in attenuator for the next loud show and turn the limiter off.
I would be interested to hear your experiences/tips on this unit.
take care,
John

[Walstib62]

FWIW,
I don't see the limiter as really being a necessary feature anyway. I've never used one in all my years of taping. I've just decided to ignore it. One feature I do like is the auto level. You can just start recording, and the unit will set the peaks at -12 dB.
Great for situations where you can't keep an eye on levels.
So far I'm pretty happy with the unit-you just have to find work arounds for it's little quirks.

[analoghell]

How is auto level different to a compressor? Confusing!

I plan to use the H4n for field recording on-the-fly. Not really for music recording. So i need something I can pull out of my bag at short notice, set the level quickly and not worry about it clipping whilst still getting good quality material that doesn't vary wildly in level.

I work a lot with sounds that are slowed down and like to work at 24/96k to allow this. Having a decently loud signal with reasonably low noise can make quite a different to the results.

So the limiter is kind of essential for my purposes (rather than a compressor).

Thanks for the level control tip though, i didn't know it had this feature.

ac

[Walstib62]

You know what-
I will have to try it out myself and see what it actually does. Again, the Chinglish text is quite confusing.
I taped 2 acts this past weekend with great results. The 1st. was an acoustic guitar/dobro duo.
The 2nd was loud rock. Both acts were put through house sound. I did not use the limiter, I just set my levels and let it eat.
Easy peasy.
For the rock band, I used plug-in attenuators in the xlr jacks, set at -15 dB.
I am changing my rig ,however to an active cable> preamp which will plug into the mini-jack mic input. This should simplify matters greatly.

[Walstib62]

Also,
No matter what equipment you're using, it has always been my experience that you get tuned in pretty quick when using a given rig. After several sessions, I can set up and run the rig very easily, and get great results.
Good luck!