Looking for something with decent clean pres and stereo mics to record general life, with an emphasis on spoken word.
Also would like to record contact mics and EMF receivers.
Equipment I have that would good to hook up to easily are Digitakt and Torso S4 (and occasionally Ableton/Logic).
Ability to transfer over SD Card and/or USB and/or mounting to desktop.
Thanks
i just got the Zoom H1 essential and despite the constant lambasting it gets for having noisy preamps, I can’t tell. i guess it depends how quiet of an environment you want to record/if your ears are sensitive to noise.
its got plug in power for external mics, can be used as a USB mic, can transfer via usb or SD. and its the new hotness with 32 bit float. pretty inexpensive too
I’ve also been using an H1 for a few years but the older version and it’s a good value for the money. H4 would be a better investment for not much more cost, but my needs were simple and in this way they still are.
They can power a lavalier mic but on the older one it lacks real phantom power, can’t say as to the essential version. Line-in recording works very well, field audio depends on your preparation. Very easy to get (unwanted obviously) chassis vibrations / wind noise etc. depending on your boom or tripod and wind blocker.
this is where Zoom really shines.
I have the zoom h6 and it’s great. I was looking for an h4 but found the h6 for crazy cheap because the body is a bit damaged, works fine though. Might be a bit expensive if shopping new but you didn’t mention budget. Interchangeable mic heads are a cool idea. They have a side address one (you mentioned spoken word) in addition to the normal stereo pair and dual mic/ line input capsules, plus it has four xlr/ trs combo jacks built in.
I used to have the h2 (first version) and it was really frustrating. It sounded good but was unreliable. Recordings failed or failed to save regularly with whatever cards I tried. I’ll put up with a lot of shortcomings and compromises but not that.
It would be cool if the h6 was a little smaller (nice when a field recorder is pocket sized) but it can’t be without dropping features.
If you’re wanting to record with contact mics you’ll probably want something with XLR combi sockets.
Although tbh to do good contact mic recording you usually want to be using those impedance matcher adapters, so normal XLR would be fine. The Tascam Portacapture X6 is probably worth a look.
Combi sockets are the most convenient for hooking up music gear though.
My son uses a Zoom H5 for his student film making and it works exceptionally well, if paired with good mics. I occasionally borrow it for this and that, and have found it everything you really need, apart from what is a bit of a clunky interface.
But all his mates are buying the Zoom F3 at the moment as its the first decent and cheap implementation of 32 bit float recording technology, which basically provides a load of extra dynamic range, meaning it never clips, and you don’t have to bother about setting levels or anything, really. Tiny, does the job. Just plug and play. Looking forward to him buying one so I can have a fiddle with it myself
Tascam DR-40X is nice.
I got mine 2nd hand for ÂŁ80. Lots of nice features, easy to grasp after a few uses, but I found I needed a wind screen for outdoor recordings with the internal mics. They are great though, x/y a/b and wide. Even 4 track recording or dual, with the 2nd set lower incase overload.
H6 black is discontinued and can still be found for around 200€. Excellent bang for buck.
You can record up to 3 stereo inputs, with excellent quality and useful tools such as limiter.
And it starts without scanning the whole SD card, which is something that bothered me with H4n.
My Zoom H4 is the oldest piece of gear that stuck around like a stubborn gem.
I don’t use it to record much voice these days, but when I did it was doing a great job at it. Also works great to quickly record some random band playing live (at their request 
), rehearsals, has a tuner and USB interface … just a great Swiss Army knife to have around really.
Tascam has great press for their recorders but I never used one of them that doesn’t use tape 
I originally bought it to have a better sound while shooting videos. First time I mount it on the “flash shoe” of my camera, I broke the thread - got the screw split in two pieces - while unscrewing it. That partial screw stayed and was sticking out of the H4’s case. I tried to remove it by drilling into/around it, but didn’t succeed, so I made a hole in its plastic case instead (so I could still store/transport the H4 in it).
I often lend it to some friends and family for recording this or that, and at some point, my father in law took pity and succeeded in removing the screw, and managed to put a brand new “plug” into the H4. The plastic case still has the scar though 