9 replies to this topic

[Eric Adams]

I am curious...please fill me in.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

yes. It has 2 XLR inputs so 1 wired Lav would go into each XLR input.

[Eric Adams]

thanks for the reply... that's pretty impressive...that seems to be the way to go if u have two talking heads at a table or something.... would it record on two separate tracks or one one track?

[Adrian Sierkowski]

That's a good way to go. Though another would be just to use an Omnidirectional mic overhead; depending. I'm not really an audio guy-- but you could do it that way.
I'm not 100% certain if the H4 would record it as a stereo track or as multiple mono, you'd have to consult the manual; though either could be turned to stereo, or turned to mono in an editing program.

[Martin Hong]

Use the 4 channels mode you will get 4 channels recording. Otherwise, on the Stereo recording mode you get to choose either on-board mic, ext mic input or the XLR (6,35mm jack), when you use those two inputs, it records into one single stereo file.

[Matthew W. Phillips]

My recommendation as a somewhat audio guy is to get a mixer and run both lavs through that into the Zoom while recording in mono. All pro audio guys I know record voice in mono. And dont say you cant afford a mixer because radio shack sells 9V battery powered mixers for like $30 or so. Granted they dont include any special features other than line level but that is more than you have now. If you have more to spend, get a real mixer or at least get a Behringer Xenyx 1002b from guitar center which has built in preamp so you can use phantom powered mics as well.

[Mei Lewis]

I think you can use the H4N to take in two mic signals and mix them down to a single mono track as you record. Don;t know what advantage that would have over recording separately and mixing as needed later.

[Matt Pacini]

I realize this is a late post, but my two cents:

1. A $30 Radio Shack mixer is not a professional piece of gear. You aren't just getting 'effects' for the extra money, you're getting quality components that sound better and are more rugged.

2. I always record on separate tracks if at all possible. You have more control that way. Yes, it's almost certainly going to end up as mono after post, but that is no excuse to make that decision while recording, painting everyone else down the line into a corner.

Matt Pacini

[Matthew Freed]

I realize this is an old post but some light needs to be shed here.

A Zoom H4N can record up to 4 channels of audio. They take the form of two stereo interleaved WAV files. One file is the on board stereo mic and the other file is the two XLR inputs. You can plug one lav mic into XLR input 1 and your second lav mic into XLR 2. Input 1 shows up as the left channel and input 2 shows up as the right. You do not have separate gain or volume controls for 1 and 2. The gain and volume controls affect both channels. Will this work? Kind of. Will it ssound good? Nope. The H4N is a lousy little recorder and far from professional. It can be useful in a pinch when you need a disposable recorder that may get blown up from recording explosions.

Nothing audio related at Radio Shack should ever be on set. Ever.

Behringer is half a step up from Radio Shack.

When a sound mixer records multiple mics and people to one channel it is because he/she knows what they are doing and they are actively mixing the microphones. They are not simply setting the level and leaving it.

And you do not want an omni mic overhead. A couple cardioid or hyprcardioid mics are more appropriate. Lav mics are typically omni but shotgun mics, VO mics, etc are very much directional.

[Sebastian Shaw]

Hi Matthew. I thought that you can set the h4n to record in mono so it records in the left and right channel for each mic that you are recording with? It's a feature called mono mix I think...?