For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
By 6/8 Stanley Thu Jun 07, 2018 12:03 am
I was looking for a little recorder for practice and working out some ideas, watched some videos on youtube and noticed they sounded better with the rig they used to make the video than the boxes they were testing. So I started checking out the Zoom H4n, H5, and H6 that are made to go with a video cam. And sure enough, when THEY were auditioned on youtube they sounded pretty damn good for the money. The H4n has some features for multitracking, the others are made for live sound but maybe they would be OK too. Easy to use, not many inputs or tracks though. H4n has 4 tracks but 2 have to be a stereo pair I think, use 2 for the MPC and 2 tracks left. H6 has 6 tracks, 4 plus a stereo pair but no track bouncing or punch-in capability.

I was looking at a Boss BR-800 but maybe the handheld's are better. Few features but better specs. I can see how these would be good combined with computer DAW for live sound music or video production but not sure if they'd be good as a standalone music scratchpad.
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By tapedeck Thu Jun 07, 2018 12:33 am
i've recently been using a zoom h5 for everything. i also got an adapter to let it take an extra pair of xlr inputs instead of the mics.

you can record as stereo or not - i really like it. i've currently got it setup hooked up to turntable for ripping records.

really great device.
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By tapedeck Fri Jun 08, 2018 2:16 pm
a handheld with more than 2 inputs + stereo mics is going to put you into more expensive territory pretty fast, and also give you a lot fewer choices, so might make your decision easier.

if thats really what you need, yer gonna be looking at less handheld-type stuff.
By 6/8 Stanley Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:38 pm
Glad somebody on the forum that knows what they're doing has one. I think the H5 will be OK if I get the adapter with 2 xlr's. Then I can hook the MPC audio outs to that, and run a mic to input 1 and guitar or other instrument to input 2, or record the MPC and guitar and overdub correct? Or use the stereo mic on L/R, hook MPC and guitar or other instrument to a small mixer, and put that on 1/2. For quick and dirty mix make 1/2 inputs stereo and run MPC outs to that, record vocals and guitar with stereo mic. A lot of options to try, probably some won't work but something else will.

Been reading the manual and not sure if you can overdub with stereo mic over existing stereo track like MPC etc but cool if it works. OK manual but it left me wondering about a lot of stuff. It's like the MPC manuals that way. Guess I need to get one and experiment.

Seems like H5 beats H4n and H6 and the Boss BR-800 for my use. H5 seems to have much better overdub and mixdown options than H6. Sound quality and ease of use more important than features, no use for millions of effects and patterns. For real recording I have a good hardware mixer and 8 track recorder but H5 may be useful in that process too. Allows import of mono track wav files to computer which Boss box can't do.

Main question now is about the X/Y mic that comes with it. Saw a youtube that says the X/Y mic that comes with the H6 is better for recording quiet stuff, while the one that comes with the H5 is better for loud stuff like recording a live band. Don't know if that's true or if it matters. Seems like using an attached stereo mike would be helpful sometimes since less stuff to hook up. I could even run MPC through sound system, play guitar and do vocals along with it, and record in hi-def stereo without hooking up anything at all to the H5.
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By tapedeck Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:23 am
you can do everything you said in yer post. i think the included mic is nice - i have not stress tested it but it goes from really quiet to really loud.

that is the one thing to watch out - don't get the inputs anywhere close to 0db, shoot for around -12db. if you get too hot, it will break up before you think. keep yer levels good.

i'm not too sure about the overdubbing features but i seem to recall reading something about that in the manual. who cares? you'll have plenty to work with anyway.