SHOULD YOU BUY THE ZOOM H4 ESSENTIAL?

all right three videos in 3 days on the new essential series of handheld recorders from zoom and this being the second day that means we're going over the new H4 essential and if you missed the first entry into this series with the zoom H1 essential you can check that out up here now it didn't go well I was a bit frustrated with it but most of the points are going to be summed up in this video If you can't be asked to go and watch that now this is the zoom H4 essential and well this thing is already doing better than the H1 but before you rip out your pocketbook and start throwing money at the screen let's talk this the H4 essential gives off vibes from the original h4n but by no means should you be expecting the 160ish page manual with this unit this is very much a strip down version of the older recorder but I guess there is one plus it's very hard to get lost in the menus as for those menus well it is a well- needed upgrade still a bit clunky at times but far better than the older version by a mile and I guess here's a good time to talk about the screen as well I'm not exactly sure how Zoom makes their screens look both new and extremely outdated at the same time I guess yes it is an upgrade but it's kind of like we finally replaced our old kico Vision with an original Xbox yes an upgrade but it's still several Generations behind as for the feel of the unit it is so much better than the H1 that I reviewed in the last video however the last generation of H series I guess you can call it feels just so much better just feels so much better in the hand saying that though this new H4 has a bit of half to it and because of that it doesn't feel or sound as Hollow which results in less handling noise I got to say it's really easy to hit these buttons exit file list yeah that that's annoying so when you're holding this you got to be really careful you're not hitting the volume button just keep that in mind also you can turn off the audible prompts as well but make no mistake there is still handling noise there and I think that's going to be mostly due to the XY mics being hard mounted instead of the shock mounts they had on the H5 and H6 again though Zoom plastic on the build and again I'm going to say it that's nothing too surprising here also much like the last unit the H1 this comes with an EIN of neg 120 which I think is my biggest disappointment on this whole release and yes that is the same as the older h4n and H5 but again these are 10 years old neg1 120 is not okay in 2024 I don't know who at Zoom needs to hear this but it's time to move on from those preamps so then saying all that let's check out the EIN with a dynamic mic and see how it fares on the H4 this is a whisper test we have the sure sm58 going to directly into the H4 Essentials now this is going to be really interesting to see because this is a dynamic mic really low noise so we're really going to get an idea of what those preamps can do with this the sure sm58 also ASMR new channel that is the Ein in full action now remember the UR of 32-bit float isn't just for Peaks not distorting it's also for the quietest of signals being able to be bo boosted without additional noise now what this thing does offer is the meat and potatoes of what the old h4n offered with a few upgrades meaning you get those XY mics as well as the two XLR inputs down here and of course you get all of the features that the new H1 has like the accessibility options which is a really nice touch Rec settings output settings input settings file list I guess I should also mention like the H1 this does take micro USB cards up to one tbyte now in the last video I also remarked about how much audio that would be and I couldn't even fathom it now to make that point I have a 32 gig card which gives me over 15 hours of record time now I'm no hairdresser but I think that math means I would have around 480 hours of recording time with a one tbyte card that is absolutely insane but then with all of that behind us I guess this whole review comes down to is this the H4 essential usable in the answer to that is yes however this is basically an h4n with an upgraded screen and 32-bit float combine that with the additional handling noise I'm wondering which one is better this or the way more feature packed h4n Pro which by the way is currently priced at 170 bucks or even better this H5 for 250 where you can actually take the capsules off and replace them that's cool so it should come down to that 32-bit float I guess which is a really big deal in handheld units I'm not going to lie but why go through all the trouble to release them with that bit rate with quiet buttons and all that jazz with preamps that are several Generations old I don't get it now this big reveal teased upgrades but I'm starting to wonder if Zoom is just upgrading the wrong thing sure new screen sure higher bit rate I don't know about you though I would gladly take one of the older h4ns with a monochromatic screen and the 24-bit depth for just some better preamps I mean no matter what you're doing clean audio always comes first right cuz we can all learn how to gain stage but then why is this happening I think I have an idea I think these are just a precursor to the new pro versions that will be coming out later this year and these are just an updated silhouette to the older lineup which is both exhilarating and kind of insulting at the same time and if you're considering buying something like this perhaps it might be smart to give it a bit of time to see what Zoom might be doing next it might be worth those few extra bucks if they are planning that pro version so then should you buy this the H4 Essentials well I guess if you've always wanted the latest Zoom handheld sure I guess though I would tell you to take a long look at their older lineup which can be picked up still for a very decent value but you know what I still have one of these in the lineup to review that is coming up tomorrow the H6 essential so let's see if this series can fully redeem itself cheers thanks for [Music] watching

Channel: Dark Corner Studios

Views: 22,602

Keywords: Dark Corner Studios, Aiden Wolf, Zoom H4, Zoom H4 Essential, H4 Essential, h4essential, zoom essential

Id: Mc6JRQ8n65w

Length: 6min 51sec (411 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024