Zoom H4: Replacement Portable Audio Recorder

I've been using an iRiver MP3 player and a stereo Giant Squid microphone for recording meetings and some in person discussions destined for some eventual podcast episode. It was a nice, compact setup that I could just keep in a jacket pocket.

I took it to Washington DC in November (and actually had some audio of the tours we went on stored on it). I packed it in my bag for the return trip and checked the bag. When we got home, I discovered the wonderful little note from the TSA baggage folks that they had inspected my bag. Unfortunately, someone on their end also apparently decided that my bag was a better source of an MP3 player than their local Best Buy. The bag contained no trace of the iRiver or the attached microphones.

The really sad part is that I'm willing to bet the person that took it thought the Giant Squid mics were actually headphones, so those really decent microphones (worth more than the iRiver) are probably in the trash somewhere.

At any rate, I've been looking for what I can use to replace the setup ever since. An obvious choice would have been a straight replacement. However, all of the iRivers that had the right microphone inputs have been discontinued. Given my aversion to using eBay (mostly due to the fact I won't go within 100 miles of Paypal), and not wanting to rely on discontinued technology for my podcast going forward, I rejected that option.

I looked at Minidisc recorders and more sophisticated portable recorders. The Minidisc setups bothered me because they record in their own format on discs that only work with that technology. The other portable recorders generally record in WAV or MP3 format and use either Compact Flash/SD, etc. or a hard drive. That appealed to me, but the $500-600 price tags, most decidedly did not.

I looked around casually for a while, thinking that I'd use any money I got for Christmas to buy this. With the holidays over, I started thinking about it again. Then, last week, the Yahoo Group for podcasters erupted in yet another argument about this exact technology choice. In the midst of the arguing about iRiver vs. Minidisc, Stephen Eley mentioned the Zoom H4, which I remembered seeing back in October on Gizmodo.

So, I took a closer look at it. This thing is loaded. First was the built-in stereo microphones (though that makes this thing look like a taser) plus 2 combo mic input jacks (XLR and 1/4inch). I don't want to *need* an external microphone, but I *do* have them. This blend is really nice.

Then I started reading through the features like a built-in mixer, that it can serve as an external sound card, a tripod mount, runs on AA batteries or an AC adapter, included windscreen, etc. and the fact that it came in under $300.

I ordered one from zZounds and it came yesterday. Digging through the manual, it's clear that this thing has more features than I'm likely to use in the next 2 years. That is to say, I already love it. It's clearly one of the best bang-for-the-buck gadgets in portable audio. Unfortunately, it's going to be 3 more weeks before I can buy an SD card for it without the impulse tax on it.

I'll be trying it out tomorrow at breakfast and we'll see how well it does recording during the meal and conversation.