Zoom H4essential 4-Track Handy Recorder with 32-Bit Float, Accessibility, Stereo Microphones, 2 XLR/TRS Combo Inputs, Record to SD Card, USB Interface, for Musicians, Podcasters, Filmmakers

The Zoom H4 essential is a great recorder for the money. It is very durable, I have no worries about tossing it in bag. The audio quality is great and it is easy to operate. The battery life isn’t great, especially when using on cold days. I have tried both alkaline and NiMH batteries. Just make sure you have a couple sets of batteries when using for extended periods of time. I have been very happy with this product.

I've been a musician and YouTuber for many years. I'm always looking for the best quality sound for the money. I want the best but I don't want to pay pro level prices all the time. The Zoom H4 essential is a perfect medium of both price and functionality. The 32 but float recordings give you pro level audio even if you're not in ideal recording environments. In post most audio files can be edited to sound amazing. I own several zoom products and they're all excellent quality. This is no different. It's a bit bulky if youre looking for a pocket sized recorder. Id suggest going with the zoom H1 essential if you need something smaller as it is half the size. The menu is easy to navigate and the the battery life gives you plenty of time to record your projects without having to worry about running out of power. You can also power the H4 by using a battery pack. I'm happy with it. This fits right in with the rest of my pro level gear.

I bought this recorder to up my game in terms of professional recording ability and to replace an old Olympus recorder which had reached the end of its useful life. I am totally blind, so the accessibility features of voice output for the menus and tactile buttons are very important to me. The recording quality is outstanding, even just using the built-in microphone. I have read complaints that the preamps can be a bit loud, and while I think this criticism is valid, for the price the preamp noise is pretty minimal. The 32-bit float makes levels easy to adjust later with no fear of distortion, and the sound quality is awesome. It was easy to set up and learn to use, and the interface with the Zoom H4 app is fantastic. I used it during a recent rehearsal to record our group, with the recorder at the back of the church and me starting and stopping the recording from the front of the church. I plan to test the range at greater distances. The ability to transfer files to a computer is also extremely smooth and intuitive.There are three reasons I gave it four stars instead of five. 1: While most of the interface provides speech output, it does not announce file names as you're going through your file list. I'm not sure why this couldn't have been incorporated into the accessibility features because the file names are simply numbers of month, day, and year. I can play the file to determine which file it is, but this is an extra step that a sighted person doesn't have to take because they can see the file names on screen. Another thing that doesn't get announced is whether one of the mic tracks is armed (active) or not. The arm/disarm button for each track is a toggle, and when you press it, it just beeps. Ideally it would announce "arm track 1" or "disarm track 2." Or if it couldn't do that, it could give a low-pitched beep for disarming and a high-pitched beep for arming. So far those are the only two parts of the interface that I have found to be inaccessible, and they both seem like easy fixes that I hope Zoom takes care of with their next firmware update. 2: When you run a line in sound source such as a computer or older external mic using the 1/8-inch port, it consistently announces "input overload" and shuts off the input of the XY microphone. It doesn't matter how low your input volume is. It consistently overloads. It continues accepting the input of the line-in jack but shuts off the input from the XY microphone built into the device. One use case that I was really hoping to use this for was playing along with recorded music coming through the line-in jack, but I will not be able to do this as of now. 3: It's a little too big to fit in a pocket, but still small enough to easily hold in your hand. I believe a simple carry loop or belt buckle that could screw into the tripod attachment on the back would be a no brainer in making this device easier to hold and less prone to being dropped. I have ordered a belt clip that I hope will work with the recorder, but that was an extra $10 I had to spend.Overall though, I'm very pleased with the H4 Essential, and I am optimistic that Zoom will take care of the accessibility challenges soon.

This is a replacement to an old zoom h4n that I was using.I make presentations and lots of different locations and I usually have the audio levels just set to whatever they were set to previously using my lapel mic. But I was in one location where there was so much reverb, that the microphone was being overloaded and it caused the zoom h4n to clip really badly, so I lost the entire recording.With this new zoom essential H4, you don't have to set levels. It has two HD converters that cover a huge range of audio and it just switches between the two of them depending which one will give it the headroom it needs.It also records in 32-bit float, which means it can record the tiniest sounds and the loudest sounds because it has such a huge dynamic range .So basically you never have to set the audio levels. However, one thing I didn't realize, was that means you have to adjust your recording level in post. You can use the built-in mixer and adjust the level that's recorded, but then you end up with the same problem as the h4n.So it's an extra little bit of work after you finish your shoot to adjust the levels, but the quality of the recordings are so much better. The noise floor is much lower to begin with.But the biggest thing is that it's just so easy and gives you tremendous peace of mind. I just hit record and walk away from it .Have used it with XLR shotgun mic requiring phantom power. Also a condenser voice mic with XLR. But I also use it often with 3.5mm lapel microphones that plug in on the side, and it just works really well.Like I said, just power it on, hit record and walk away.Would highly recommend it but it does require post-processing so just bad that in mind if you don't want to do that with your workflow.