When I traveled to Santa Fe to interview Natalie Dessay (September 2009), I faced an embarrassing problem for a journalist, not to mention a singer: a broken recording device. Fortunately I was staying with a recording engineer, the son of an opera producer I was working with, who said he had just the thing for me. Thus was I introduced to the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder. It took me only a moment to get the hang of it—and so impressed was I with the recording quality, and so trusting of the opinion of a recording engineer descended from an opera producer, that I ordered one for myself upon returning to New York. As I was showing off my new toy one day, a friend of mine started bragging about her Edirol—so we decided to have a throwdown.
In this corner: Zoom H4 Handy Recorder
Retails for: $494.99
On sale on amazon.com for: $233.05
Size: 1.3” x 2.8” x 6.0”
In the other corner: Edirol R-09
Retails for: $450.00
On sale on amazon.com for: $349.95
Size: 1.2” x 2.5” x 4.1”
Both devices can record in both WAV and MP3 formats. (WAVs are higher quality but are huge files that take up a lot of memory and take a long time to upload and download. MP3s are lower quality but are smaller files, which make for faster downloads.) Both record to an SD memory card. And both have good built-in microphones.
There are some obvious differences, however. First, the Zoom H4 can be used as a 4-track recorder and can record directly from an electric instrument like an electric guitar or bass. And it comes with software for mixing all these tracks. However, these features are probably of little consequence to most classical singers (and interviewers).
Second difference is the size. The Edirol is significantly smaller. It can be thrown into any purse or even slipped into a large pocket. The Zoom is longer and finds its place more comfortably in a tote bag with your scores and water bottle than in your evening handbag.
Third is the interface. The Edirol’s controls are simpler and quicker to use (since, sporting fewer functions, they control fewer things). The Zoom uses an awkward center button—somewhat akin to an iPod’s—that is a little difficult to control, plus a side jog wheel that works more clearly but still takes a long time to select what you need. The Edirol’s levels are set manually. The Zoom also has this option—but for the less patient, it also lets you just select low, medium, or high by flipping a switch on the side of the unit.
So with those things in mind, my dramatic soprano friend and I, the coloratura, set up our recorders across the room and had at it, using an iPod Voice Memo recorder as the control group.
We followed this testing system:
1. No getting fancy with settings or bells and whistles. This article is for classical singers, and 95 percent of us want to just open the box, sing into the microphone, and have a great recording without having to get too technical.
2. We recorded three sets of passages: quiet (both of us), loud (my Wagnerian friend), and high (me sustaining a high F).
3. We tried two different levels: medium and low. We didn’t bother with high, since we found ourselves peaking with medium.
4. We tried three different rooms: a very dry (low echo) room, a slightly more live room but near a window opened to a noisy Manhattan street, and a very live (lots of echo) room.
That’s about as scientific as we got. Here are our findings:
* During the first take, the Zoom H4 played back with quite a hum. A little detective work showed that this was noise picked up from a nearby fan. When we recorded with the fan turned off, the hum was gone. Interestingly, the Edirol R-09 did not pick up the fan noise at all. I believe this is because the microphones of the Zoom are set at 45-degree angles to get a more stereo sound, and the fan was placed right in the path of one of these angular microphones.
* The Zoom H4 peaked (where the sound is too loud for the recording device and the recording sounds distorted) a lot less than the Edirol. It peaked fewer times at the medium level, and not at all at the low level. However, the Zoom’s built-in low level (without going into the input menu to manually set the levels) was too quiet for practical use—at least for as far away from the microphones as we were standing. My quiet passage on its “low” setting, which I decided was as quietly as I would realistically sing onstage, was at times barely audible in playback.
* The Zoom H4, during the low settings, occasionally picked up an electronic buzz—you know, the kind that happens sometimes when two electronic items are placed too close together, such as a cell phone on top of a stereo speaker. It was most likely a result of the iPhone that was set to Voice Memo—but it’s interesting to note that the Edirol, which was closer to the phone, did not pick up any such noise.
* I expected that, since my Zoom had the diagonal microphones (known as X-Y configuration), it would pick up more room ambiance. This is apparently completely false, and a gross misunderstanding on my part of how microphone technique works. A little research shows that X-Y configuration is actually meant to lessen the spacey feeling of a room, as opposed to A-B configuration (two separated microphones pointing the same direction), like the Edirol has. The heads of the X-Y microphone are so close together (almost touching) that, although they are achieving the stereo effect by pointing in different directions, the traveling sound is hitting both heads at almost the same time. The delay in sound from one microphone to the next that you get in A-B configuration gives the effect of the sound moving through a bigger space. (I learned something today!) In fact, I’d say the Edirol did seem to pick up more of the reverberations of the live room, and I don’t think it’s just because it was recording at a louder level at that point. (Like I said, not a very scientific experiment.)
* I also expected the Zoom to have more issues with background noise. This did seem to be the case with the fan incident, when the offending object was directly in line with the microphone. However, this did not seem to be the case with the open window, when the sound was emanating from behind the recorder.
* The iPhone, as expected, produced a significantly lower-quality recording. I was able to recognize my own voice, but beyond that the sound was not good enough to make critical judgments. The only use I could think of for it would be to record rehearsals and coaching sessions to help learn notes or remember what was said, but I don’t think it gives an accurate enough depiction for technical critiques.
* As for the overall sound quality between the two devices, recording levels aside, there did not seem to be a big difference to my untrained ears. Overall, the Edirol was recording at a louder level than the Zoom (because of our intentionally haphazard setup), so naturally it sounded slightly better. But it also peaked more easily.
So what should you buy? Well, naturally, it depends. If you are a rock star and want to be able to directly record electric guitars and mix a four-track recording, the Zoom H4 is your only option. If you just want to record your singing and that’s it, the Edirol R-09 will do a great job. Is its more compact design worth an extra $100 to you? Or does the larger (in size, but not in price) Zoom seem “sturdier” (and more budget friendly) to you?
Actually, now that I’ve done all the research for this article, and my allowance is long-since spent on the Zoom, I’ve got my eye on the Zoom H2 Handy Portable Digital Recorder. It’s smaller, cheaper, and doesn’t have the superfluous features. But, I’m a rock star, and I’m happy to have the extra functions. If I were you, though, I’d see if anyone has one of these H2s to try out first. Someone must have it, because it’s the number one seller in Amazon.com’s “Portable recorders” section. Hmm. I’d better navigate away from this online window shopping before I get buyer’s remorse. The Zoom H4, for the record, is number 8. The Edirol comes in at a distant 19.
Before I leave you off to your shopping, let me offer one final thought. The Zoom H4 totally looks like a taser. It makes you feel pretty tough, but beware when taking it on airplanes.
