Yes, I know it looks like a tazer, but the Zoom H4 is a very cool digital audio recorder. I love it and want it’s children. So, here are some tips for getting the best out the Zoom:
- Always use the black, foam rubber wind guard, even when indoors. The built-in microphones, as good as they are, are very sensitive to air movement. One person I know had to re-record a session recorded without the wind guard, because the air movement caused by the ceiling fan, some 2 meters above them, had rendered the recording useless.
- Observe the level on the display when recording. They should, on average, be at around the half way point and occasionally hitting the max position to the right. There is a sensitivity switch on the right hand side labeled ‘MIC’, with low (L), medium (M) and high (H) settings to control the microphone sensitivity. The M setting usually works best.
- When interviewing, hold the device about 10 inches from the interviewee’s mouth, but off axis, i.e. not directly in line with the blast of air that comes out of their mouth with every B or P.
- Always remember press that REC button TWICE, before you start the interview. The first press puts the device in ‘monitor’ mode. It’s hearing through it’s microphone but not recording and the REC button is flashing. The second press puts it into ‘record’ mode and the REC button is steady red. Don’t get caught out by this. The results of some of my early interviews were a 3 second recording of me saying “Pooh! It was on standby!”
- Always monitor as you record. Plug a pair of headphones into the PHONES socket on the left hand side and listen as you record. This way you can hear if anything is going wrong such as bad background noise, excessive popping (wind noise from Ps and Bs) or if the batteries suddenly fail.