New Zoom?

[landshark]

FYI:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/06/samson-delivering-zoom-h4n-handheld-recording-device-at-ces/

Mike

[flintstone]

Nice find.  Looks like the mic capsules are positioned one above the other, as X-Y theory requires, instead of just pointing at each other like Sony and Yamaha's portables do.  Anyone going to CES or NAMM?

Flintstone

[heyitsmejess]

ability to use internal and external mics simultaneously for 4-channel recording

[leehookem]

[Kevin T]

Mana from the Zoom Gods to us bottom feeders:) Now with my H2 & one of these I can do 6channels

[digifish_music]

Cool, also looks to be true coincident XY for all the mic-placement pedants

[boojum]

Tasty.  The one question is price.

[gossling]

Tasty.  The one question is price.

From CNET (http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10131461-100.html?part=rss&subj=Crave):

No word on pricing or availability, but Zoom has historically kept its portable recorders in the $200 to $300 range. (Update: Pricing on the Zoom H4n is expected to be $500 MSRP, with an expected street price around $349.)

That's a good price...very good price.

One site said that Zoom was going to release it at CES...does "release" mean show off, or actually release to the general public?

[drewloo]

here's a little review from cnet. 

http://ces.cnet.com/2300-19506_1-10000185-1.html?s=0&o=10000185&tag=mncol;page

[Will_S]

Cool, also looks to be true coincident XY for all the mic-placement pedants

Also looks like the mics are angled more than 90° apart, which is good too.

[heyitsmejess]

so for 4 channels, can you only use the internal mics and line in, or can you use external mics with line in, or internals with externals?

did i make sense there? 

[flintstone]

A report from CES said that the four channels come from two internal mics plus two external mics, or two internal mics plus a stereo line input.   The XLR inputs can be used for mic or line level input. The internal mic capsules can be rotated so the angle between them is either 90 or 120 degrees.

[boojum]

A report from CES said that the four channels come from two internal mics plus two external mics, or two internal mics plus a stereo line input.   The XLR inputs can be used for mic or line level input. The internal mic capsules can be rotated so the angle between them is either 90 or 120 degrees.

I think we have a winner.

[Ozpeter]

I think we have an invention looking for a use - or am I being unimaginative?

[gossling]

I think we have an invention looking for a use - or am I being unimaginative?

One could feed a soundboard or mixer to the H4n's line-in and record what's actually being heard by the audience with its internal microphones.  Then mix in post.  I don't know...just one possible use, I guess.

What I hope to do for my classical/acoustic applications, assuming its internal microphones are usable (yes, I realize this is quite an assumption), is just record the hall  with the internal microphones (facing the audience) and connect a stereo pair of SDCs to its microphone inputs as the main pair.  Just because I don't have the money for a proper 4-channel recorder.  Not sure if this is a bad idea.