Zoom R4 MultiTrack

The Lounge Other Gear
21

I always kinda feel sorry for the Zoom development teams as I and a great many others have the H4n original which is pretty much perfect and I still just keep seeing them everywhere. Whenever I look at their new things I’m always yeah this looks cool I could replace my H4n with them and then I realise that the H4n pretty much does everything (including 4 track) that I’d ever need in that form.

It’s like making the best sandwich ever and then making all these other sandwiches which look prettier and have a bit more stuff in them but everyone just wants the old sandwich. That was a terrible analogy.

But this looks good. I can imagine they could patch in midi via usb if everyone complains just like the Bluebox magically patched in audio recently.

8 Likes
22

Time to sell my bluebox, only if it ran on battery

23

I moved from H4n to F3 (only need 2 channels) and found 32bit float to be a complete game changer…

5 Likes
24

What would make you sell it? Is the difference in quality that big? I am thinking of buying one of the two and can decide.

25

I wonder if the 4 tracks could be either mono or stereo. As in, would you potentially have 4 stereo tracks? I don’t see a detailed manual online yet.

26

think I’ll stick with my trusty, shirt pocket-sized Boss BR-80 with it’s 8 tracks.

3 Likes
27

Why is that?

1 Like
28

Built in drum patterns should be handy.

1 Like
29

Now I’m wondering if the 414 / no input mixing trick results in sounds louder than the Big Bang.

What if god was just an experimental musician who went too far?

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30

32bit flot: no need to set or think about levels - just plug in, activate recording, done…

H4n to F3: form factor, UI, USB C, battery life, simplicity of data transfer, haptics of the device

2 Likes
31

This looks like a really handy little device, and I actually enjoyed the demo video song. I’ve been looking for a floating point field recorder, a multitrack recorder, and something to play back longer clips into various devices in my semi modular modular, as well as a compact mixer. At the price point, it’s certainly attractive to try that workflow on and upgrade later if needed.

One thing I’d add if it’s not there already is a built in tuner. This would be great for guitar players and analog synths too.

1 Like
32

if the floating point is not a must, the Sonicware Smpltrek will do all those things, including the tuner functionality.

2 Likes
33

Ooh, interesting idea. If there’s none of that weird sticky coating on it it could be a winner. I’ve wanted to try something Sonicware for a bit since I saw a cute video of them at NAMM or whatever, and I love Star Trek, soooo…

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35

The website says it keeps original recordings even when they’re bounced - which means this records unlimited 32 bit files that you can rough mix/bounce on machine and then get the individual files out to a DAW later? If so this is clearly a step up on the 16 bit machines mentioned above (br 80 / hn4)

1 Like
36

Adjusted for inflation, this will probably cost less than I paid for my H2n. The mic probably won’t compare to the H2n’s quad mics or even the stereo mics on my M10, but I already have those.

This seems like a great way to play with 32 but, and the multitracking / sound on sound is a nice bonus.

Seems like a great gift idea for your musical friends too.

I still want a newer Sony, but expect a successor to the Fuji X100v will arrive before a true D100 successor, and my Canon M6 is getting a bit long in the tooth. (Also, I’ve got camera GAS :sob:)

1 Like
37

Do these record /export in wav? Or is it the proprietary nonsense of the previous ones? Needing the wave convertor etc? Thanks.

38

I always take out the SD and do things that way, same as the OG BR, never had a problem.

39

I don’t understand. What format are they recording in?

41

Yeah, you’re right! I was confusing it with my old tascam dp-32 recordings, sorry. Converting faff required.

1 Like