Samson Zoom H4 Windgag/Deadcat
For its price the Samsom Zoom H4 is a very neat package, it was this toy that got me interested in audio recording. My only previous experience of audio recording and editing was way back in my college days when we learnt to edit theatre sfx on an open reel Revox, DAT being far too expensive for a provincial UK college teaching technical theatre to young kids.
ZoomH4 Deadcat
The Zoom H4 despite being an overall good buy does has some drawbacks: it’s poor handling noise can be a problem if you do not have a delicate touch, the inbuilt stereo microphones can be a little noisy but perhaps worst of all is it’s high sensitivity to wind, even in the most modest of breezes. The foam windgag included in the prices is fine as a pop shield but is no use in anything above a whisper of wind.
The windgag pictured above is simply made from one piece of fake fur stitched together at the sides with a drawstring style fastening to hold it in place. Sadly I couldn’t find a longer haired fur with an open weave fur so performance is not as optimal as it could be.
Also:
How does the H4 work out? I read when it came out here was a high pitch whine in some circumstances. Do you notice it?
As far as I know the issue is resolved now. I didn’t experience it myself but it looks like it happened when using an external mono mic with phantom power – something to do with the unused channel creating the noise.
There was also a “beeping” when using very high gain on one of the settings… something to do with a flashing led.
All in all it’s a good unit… for it’s size its fantastic that it has XLR’s the UI isn’t the best though.
One day I’ll get something better but in all reality I guess my money would be better spent on better mics.
Thanks for posting.