- [Voiceover] The Zoom H4n is
a high-quality, professional portable audio recorder. This video will get you up and running with this device quickly and easily. The H4n runs off of two double A batteries found in the compartment
on the back of the device. Remove the cover to ensure
batteries are in the device, and that the switch marked
Stamina is set to off. The stamina mode increases battery life but sacrifices recording quality
and functionality to do so. The H4n records to a standard SD card located on the right-hand
side of the device. There are multiple options
for recording audio. You can plug microphones
or instruments directly into the device, via the XLR
quarter-inch combination jacks, located on the bottom of the device, or use the built-in stereo microphones as well as a combination of both. The stereo microphones have two settings for audio capture direction. The 90 degree setting
as shown by the markings on the microphones is ideal
for recording a subject that is directly in front of the H4n. You can rotate the microphones
to the 120 degree setting to have a wider pickup pattern. This is useful if you are
recording an interview so that you can put the
H4n in between both people, and they'll both be recorded clearly. Turn on the device by
sliding the power button on the left-hand side. The LCD screen features several important pieces of information. Recording Status icon, which will display either stopped, paused or recording, Timecode, which displays how much time has elapsed during a recording, Battery Life indicator, Recording Format, which displays the digital
audio sample rate and bit depth, File Name, Volume Meters,
for left and right channels with decibel levels indicated underneath, Phantom Power Indicator, which is used for powering specific
external microphones, and the Remaining Recording
Time on the SD card, this is affected by both the
memory available on the SD card as well as the recording format. It is very important to take note of this remaining time before recording. To turn off the H4n, slide
the power button down and hold until you see the
message "GoodBye See You!" On the front of the device,
there are three input buttons, labeled Mic, 1 and 2. To record using the built-in
microphones, select Mic, select 1 and 2 to record
using the external inputs. The three lights at the top of the device indicate the recording mode being used. Press the Menu button
on the right-hand side and use the wheel to navigate to Mode. Press the wheel in to select this menu. Stereo mode record two channels
of audio, left and right, and is the ideal choice
for recordings using just the built-in microphones,
or just external microphones. Four channel mode simultaneously records four tracks of audio, two
from the stereo microphones and two from the external inputs. These two pairs of tracks are saved as two separate stereo audio files. MTR or Multitrack mode is
an advanced recording mode for recording overdubs or
combining two or more recordings, some buttons on the H4n
may function differently when used in this mode. Stereo mode will be the most
common record mode used. The H4n creates a new
file for each recording, and saves those files in
a series of 10 folders on the SD card. To select which folder
your files are saved to, click the button labeled 1
underneath the word Folder, use the wheel to navigate
to the specific folder you want to save your recordings in, and press the wheel in
to select that folder. If you're using the
H4n for the first time, it is recommended that you
first format the SD card. Press the Menu button
and scroll to SD Card and push the wheel in. Select Format, and when you
are asked "Are You Sure?" click Yes. To begin recording, press
the Record button once. You'll see the red ring flashing, and the Pause icon
flashing on the LCD screen, indicating that the device
is prepared to record but is not yet recording. You can now see your audio levels displayed by the meters, labeled L and R. Speak into the mike as you are going to, and use the Record Level
controls on the right-hand side to adjust the audio levels so that the audio will be peaking,
or at its loudest point, around negative 12 and
negative six decibels, which is marked below the meters. Press the Record button a
second time to begin recording, indicated by the solid record
light, passing Timecode, and the Pause icon now replaced
with the Recording icon. You may press the Play/Pause
button to pause a recording, and press it again to resume recording. Pressing the Stop button will
stop the current recording and save the file. It's recommended that you wear headphones to monitor your audio as you record. The headphone jack can be
found on the left-hand side of the H4n, the volume
controls on this side adjust the volume of what you are hearing, but does not affect the
actual recording volume. To review a recording,
hit the Play/Pause button after you have stopped recording. You can use the Track Forward
and Track Backward buttons to navigate to the beginning of a file, or to navigate through all the files in that folder on the SD card. Notice the changes in
File Name on the screen, below the Timecode. You may also view a list of all files within the selected folder, by pressing the button labeled
2 underneath the word File. To transfer your audio files, first turn off the device
and remove the SD card and insert it into your
computer or card reader. The SD card has three default folders, one for each recording mode. Navigate to the folder
where your files were saved and transfer them to
your desired location. If you don't have access
to an SD card reader, you can transfer files via USB. Turn on the H4n, and
plug it into a computer using the mini-USB cable
connected via the port on the left-hand side. Press the Menu button
on the right-hand side, scroll down and select USB,
and then select Storage. The H4n should now appear
as a drive on your computer and you can access your files. When done, press the Menu
button to disconnect. While the H4n is relatively simple to use, it also features a wide
variety of options. The Zoom H4n defaults to recording 16-bit audio at 44.1 kilohertz. To change the recording quality, press the button labeled 4
underneath the word WAV/MP3. Use the wheel to scroll down
to see a variety of options. Choosing WAV96kHz/24bit will yield the highest quality audio, but
result in larger file sizes. You can also access these options by pressing the Menu button
and navigating to Record. Here, you can adjust the recording format in the same manner. You can also set the H4n to Auto-Record, which sets the device to begin
recording when triggered, by detecting noises of a certain volume. The Pre-Record function, will
set the H4n to pre-record audio two seconds before the
Record button is pressed. This is achieved by the
device always recording and deleting information until
the Record button is pressed. Using the Pre-Record function
can impact battery life. Under File Name, you can
adjust whether the files are named in the default, sequential order prefixed by the record mode, or if the files are named by the date, formatted year, month, day. There are more detailed features
outlined in the H4n manual.
