View Full Version : Zoom H4n vs. Sound Devices


Patrick Janka
April 16th, 2011, 04:03 PM
For small productions would you say it's acceptable to strap an H4n (or DR100) to your person and run a boom and lav (or 2 lavs, etc.) to it? I would think at 24/96 you're getting the same quality as an SD mixer/recorder for a fraction of the price and weight. I understand that it's only two inputs, which is why I said small productions. If used in tandem with say, a pro video camera, which has 2 XLR ins that gives you 4 feeds. What do you guys think?

Jon Fairhurst
April 16th, 2011, 05:19 PM
The H4n quality is good, but it doesn't have the quality of an SD setup. Though it supports 24/96 it doesn't mean that it has 24-bits of dynamic range and a flat frequency response through 48 kHz.

If you're producing for the web, making a small indie production, or shooting a local cable show, the H4n will do the job. If you're shooting for network TV or a true feature film, you'd want SD quality.