I was recently shopping around for an all purpose recording device that I could use to capture lectures, record reminders to myself, use in the field, capture music ideas, and many other situations where I said to myself, “I really need to get myself a recording device.”

Well I started looking around for something that would suit my needs and I found the Zoom H4n Portable Digital Recorder that is great for field and journalistic recording, studio recording, and songwriting among many other uses.  When I investigated further I found that there was a lot of bang for the buck in this tiny little device so I am sharing my thoughts in this Zoom H4n review.

Outstanding Build

When I played around with the Zoom H4n the first thing that captured my attention was the unit was larger than I anticipated and felt very solid in my hand.  The casing has a rubber coating which gives it a great solid feel along with reducing noise when you handle the device which is a plus during the recording process.  One of the interesting aspects is the recorder has a quality windshield that you can mount on the Zoom H4n which is not the case with other similar recording devices on the market.  This adds to the solid feel of the device since the windshield fits securely in place.

Great Recording Modes

The Zoom H4n is equipped with versatile recording capability which is delivered in three different modes which include stereo, four-channel, and MTR (multi-track).  In multi-track mode it is possible to channel any of the active inputs to any of the tracks in this mode and you can also channel one input to multiple tracks.

The Zoom H4n also does not stop at this point with recording capability.  When you are in overwrite mode you can punch in and out as well as preset the in and outpoints and then key in the times into the counter to enhance and promote accurate punching.  This design comes from other products manufactured by Zoom that offer digital portability in a small unit that is packed with technology and capability.

Impressive Features

For a small recording device the Zoom H4n is packed with impressive features that really blew me away.  The features I thought was totally cool was the unique karaoke capability which can remove the vocal parts to convert it into a track you can sing along with, a complete set of tuners, auto-record and pre-record functions, metronome, guitar amp modeler, two combo inputs, SD/SDHC data storage, USB port for data transfer, built-in stereo microphones, and a four-track onboard mixer with level and pan controls.

The Zoom H4n also provides a place for you to connect external mics and when I tried a variety of different brands of microphones the results were quite surprising for a device of this size.  The sounds came out crystal clear and the recording was free of any distortions regardless of the equipment I used.  The Zoom H4n is capable of recording with two built-in mics plus two XLR mics simultaneously which adds variety and redundancy.

The screen on the device is not modest and is brightly lit so you can easily view all of the data and contains a built-in loudspeaker which allows you to share a recording with other people in the room.

The equipment features that come with the Zoom H4n are also surprising compared to other recorders on the market.  The Zoom H4n comes with a hardshell plastic case, USB cable, foam windscreen, ac adapter, mic stand adapter, manuals and cubase le software, and a 1GB memory card.  I did not find another recorder on the market that had this much included in the package.  Usually you are required to purchase all or some of it separately.

These are only a few of the features for starters which is why I was so impressed. You can clearly see that Zoom packed all of its technological expertise into this nifty handheld device.

Zoom H4n Manual

The manual that is provided for this portable digital recorder is quite comprehensive and at times can get quite complicated due to the many features that are included on the Zoom H4n.  Due to the manual’s complexity the company came out with a new manual which explains things in much clearer detail and can be downloaded from the Zoom website.

As a general rule, the Zoom H4n is in between a pocket device and a device that is used by journalists in terms of its size.  Regardless, it is still portable enough to carry with you without having to leave the quality and great features behind. The Zoom H4n price reflects all of the features that the device offers however when you look at everything it does most people would never be able to afford a full-size device that does everything that is offered in the Zoom H4n.

Overall the recorder seems to be the best portable digital recorder on the market right now with capabilities that are unmatched to other similar devices on the market.  ZoomH4n price comes in around $600 as a retail offer however you can get steal deals on this remarkable device here.