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Author Topic: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro  (Read 2354 times)

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Offline damloot

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Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« on: May 12, 2022, 04:03:29 PM »
Hiya, mega newbie here, joining the forum after hours of research on a new mic. I began stealth taping small shows in the bay area 3 months ago, fell deeply in love. Wothout any guidance and super minimal research, I purchased a zoom h4n pro, and started taping shows with the built in mics on it. After recording a couple shows on the built in mics on the zoom, inside my front pocket, and comparing the audio quality to other stealth recorded concert recordings, I want to upgrade my microphone (even though i still love the shows i recorded on the built in mics).

My budget for a mic would be 150-300$, and it would have to work with a stealth recording a show. Church Audio's CA14s look cool but i dont have the knowledge to determine that they will deliver a higher quality recording than my zoom h4n pro's built in mic do. my suspicion is that it will, but if this is the case I would like to understand on a novice level what make the ca14's mics superior.

The other mic i am looking at is a AE5100, but once again i dont know how much or if any of an improvement it would be from my zoom h4n pro's built in mics.

are there other mics yall would reccomend for my situation? And what do yall think bout my two choices in comparison with the built in mics on the zoom h4n pro?

Also any apologies if this post is redundant or posted in the incorrect category. First post on the forum.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2022, 04:06:22 PM by damloot »

Offline lmgbtapes

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2022, 12:45:31 PM »
Yes CA mics would be a significant upgrade over the h4n pro internals. How do you plan to tape? Are you going to set up a stand / clamp for open taping, or do you want everything on your person?

You will probably want a preamp sooner than later as the h4n has pretty noisy pres (this is the thing you plug your mics in to power them and supply gain, which then plugs into your recorder. You could just use a battery box to power your mics but then you'd be relying on the recorder to supply gain, and different recorders result in more or less white noise based on the quality of their preamps). If you get a pair of CA mics and a CA ugly preamp you'd probably be more in the $350 range. I still love this rig though as it's crazy small form factor and very budget friendly.

Not sure how viable this option is but I'd recommend selling the h4n pro and picking up a pcm a10 or m10 or roland r07 tbh... the h4n is super bulky and not that fun to use if you're going to be using external mics. Also, the bluetooth controlls modern devices provide are a godsend for what we do.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2022, 01:49:48 PM by lmgbtapes »

Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2022, 01:16:52 PM »
The CA-14s are terrific cheap mics, but the one thing I would note about them is that their cables are fairly flimsy and tend to break and create static sooner than later. Neutrino on this board does a great job recabling them for a reasonable price, but it might be simpler just starting with a sturdier mic to begin with. (The AT-853s are directly comparable to the CA-14s, but slightly pricier.)

Offline damloot

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2022, 02:22:12 PM »
Yes CA mics would be a significant upgrade over the h4n pro internals. How do you plan to tape? Are you going to set up a stand / clamp for open taping, or do you want everything on your person?

You will probably want a preamp sooner than later as the h4n has pretty noisy pres (this is the thing you plug your mics in to power them and supply gain, which then plugs into your recorder. You could just use a battery box to power your mics but then you'd be relying on the recorder to supply gain, and different recorders result in more or less white noise based on the quality of their preamps). If you get a pair of CA mics and a CA ugly preamp you'd probably be more in the $350 range. I still love this rig though as it's crazy small form factor and very budget friendly.

Not sure how viable this option is but I'd recommend selling the h4n pro and picking up a pcm a10 or m10 or roland r07 tbh... the h4n is super bulky and not that fun to use if you're going to be using external mics. Also, the bluetooth controlls modern devices provide are a godsend for what we do.


Thankyou this is extremely helpful. In due time i probably will sell the h4n. I am doing stealth taping so I would want to have all on my person, and not using a stand. The h4n is a bulky uncomfortable experience. If i sell the h4n,  would you still reccomend preamps along with the roland or pcm options mentioned?

Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2022, 02:39:23 PM »

Thankyou this is extremely helpful. In due time i probably will sell the h4n. I am doing stealth taping so I would want to have all on my person, and not using a stand. The h4n is a bulky uncomfortable experience. If i sell the h4n,  would you still reccomend preamps along with the roland or pcm options mentioned?

I've been fine with just a battery box with the Sony M10 and A10. Some people say they prefer the sound from an external preamp, but imho the most important thing is to make sure the mics are fully powered.

My standard taping setup is either: A10 and battery box in my pants pocket, with wires running to mics clipped to my shoulders; or A10 and battery box in a small bag resting on a shelf, a table, my lap, a chair, whatever, with mics attached to either side of the bag so it provides some stereo separation. M10 works the same in either case, but the advantage of the A10 is I can control it with my phone so I don't have to rustle in the bag (or my pocket) during the show.

Offline detroit lightning

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2022, 03:03:17 PM »
All good advice in here thus far. I'd keep your eyes on the yard sale, always lots of nice used gear being bought and sold - I've never had a bad experience here.


Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2022, 04:06:09 PM »
All good advice in here thus far. I'd keep your eyes on the yard sale, always lots of nice used gear being bought and sold - I've never had a bad experience here.

Same!

Offline nulldogmas

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Re: Looking into a external mic for my Zoom h4n pro
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2022, 07:32:23 PM »
All good advice in here thus far. I'd keep your eyes on the yard sale, always lots of nice used gear being bought and sold - I've never had a bad experience here.

Same!

Speaking of which:

https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=199573.msg2118275

You could afford to buy these CA-14s at $45 and a battery box, and have enough left in your budget to have neutrino repair the CA-14 cables when they eventually break.

 

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