Sound recorders

Using professional equipment to capture audio, such as sound recorders, really enhances the quality of your production. It can leave you with an end result or clear, crisp and voluminous sound, whereas using a standard camera mic generally results in low volume and unclear speech/sound! Although a sound recorder can automatically produce better sounding audio, it can only be done by making sure you follow the right precautions and techniques, or you may end up with similar quality audio to an in-camera mic. 

H1n

The digital H1 sound recorder is smaller than the H4n and it uses a micro-SD card, the micro sd is compact and convenient but could easily get lost, this also means you may have to buy a new sd card as not many mics have mini sd compartments. It has two microphones and an external microphone can be plugged into it, but a boom mic cannot. The H1 mic has a built in directional microphone meaning it will focus on the sound nearest and will drown out any background noise, unlike one-directional microphones. It records in broadcast wave format, meaning it keeps a timestamp and dates of each recording, making it easy for people to find specific recordings.

H4n

The h4n uses a normal SD card, has 2 microphones and the ability to plug in 2 external mics. The only issue with this recorder is that the SD card takes a while to load. The H4n can connect mics, instruments and line level devices, which is ideal for live performances or studio recordings. It can record up to four seperate tracks of audio at the same time, without losing any of the quality. The only issue with this recorder is that the SD can be slow to load, apart from that, its has the best quality out of the 3 and is good for recording multi tracks which is definately useful for bands and musicians.

H4

The zoom h4 came out in 2006?? It has 2 xlr ports and can record four tracks at a time, it also has a headphone socket and usb port for file transportation. Along the right hand side it has 3 gain controls. 2 for each input and one for the mic itself. Gain increases the amplitude of the microphone signal, meaning if you were to plug in an amplifier you'd need to increase the gain on the mic so it can hear the audio properly, whereas increasing the volume on the amp itself would only change the volume for the listeners, not the recording. The SD card is in the top compartment, to open it you must push it up and carefully pull it backwards, be careful as it can be broken easily if opened incorrectly.