Can I do this with a Zoom H4N?

Well. I started a little shakedown cruise on the Zoom tonight, because it looks like in 2 weeks I'll be doing a live remote recording of the known world choir at the Pennsic War in PA. The environment won't permit me to do a big setup, so the big question will be what mics I'm willing to risk. So far, the SONY is a little better than the onboard mics, but they're all electret condensers and lack good bass response. The C2000B's annihalated them both pretty badly. Tomorrow, I'll try the Oktavas, and just for grins, the Neumanns. No way are the Neumanns going to the 12th century. Too much risk. If it turns out to be the AKG's, I'll need to pick up some wind screens at the GC sale this weekend. Looks like the little zoom is going to get a trial by fire, and somebody else will be synching the WAV files to video.
Yo Darrin! video is a weak suit for me. Is the video guy likely to have a problem with 24bit/96kHz?-Richie
 
Thanks, Darrin. Sorry about mildly hijacking this thread, but Darrin and I are both people that use the little Zoom units, in addition to a bunch of full size studio gear, and have honest curiosity about the new wave of micro-recorders. I finished my mic shootout. The Oktavas were "OK", but just not as smooth as the C2000B's, which compared favorably to the KM184's. Yeah, the Neumann's win on high frequency detail, but not by as much as I thought they would. The C2000B's are difficult to position, because the H100 shock mounts are pretty bulky, making it difficult to get the capsules close together on a standard stereo mic bar. So I set them up in a modified ORTF, and the sound was almost as good as the Neumanns. A definite step up from the Oktavas, and pretty much trashed any available electret mics, onboard or outboard. Better, they will run on any phantom source 9V or higher, so by setting the phantom at 24V instead of 48V, I extend the batteries. Once again, the little C2000B has impressed me, and is the perfect tool for this job.-Richie
 
Well the recording is done, and I am in post now. The H4n performed flawlessly, and dumped it's WAV. files into the laptop for backup without a hitch. The sound with the C2000B's on a 60 voice choir is nothing short of stunning. My mission now is to clean it up. I had tractor trailers. trucks with stereos blasting AC/DC, golf carts, helicopters, chanting, every possible pain in the ass, but a 60 voice choir can drown out a lot. We did a number of stops and starts to avoid the worst of it. Now I just substitute silence for the empty spaces at the beginning and end of the pieces, and subject the main tracks to clean compression and noise reduction. It will be easy, because the tracks are basically beautiful. I agree with Darrin on the compressor/limiter. It saved my ass when the choir director whipped out a Bohrain and started smacking it with a drumstick! I should be able to post up some tracks within a few days.-Richie
 
Richard Monroe said:
Well the recording is done, and I am in post now. The H4n performed flawlessly, and dumped it's WAV. files into the laptop for backup without a hitch. The sound with the C2000B's on a 60 voice choir is nothing short of stunning. My mission now is to clean it up. I had tractor trailers. trucks with stereos blasting AC/DC, golf carts, helicopters, chanting, every possible pain in the ass, but a 60 voice choir can drown out a lot. We did a number of stops and starts to avoid the worst of it. Now I just substitute silence for the empty spaces at the beginning and end of the pieces, and subject the main tracks to clean compression and noise reduction. It will be easy, because the tracks are basically beautiful. I agree with Darrin on the compressor/limiter. It saved my ass when the choir director whipped out a Bohrain and started smacking it with a drumstick! I should be able to post up some tracks within a few days.-Richie
Click to expand...
Last time I whipped out my bohrain I was arrested... I actually play the bohrain... oooh.. that doesn't sound right
 
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