Instructions for Zoom H4 recorder

Written by Beth MacLeod

Updated May 29, 2008

• Portable digital recorder with built-in microphone

• Runs on 2 AA batteries
• Turn on the Zoom H4 by moving the switch on the left hand side of the unit to the ON position

Settings

1. Select your desired sampling rate from the buttons on the left hand side of the main display
(standard is 44.1kHz)
2. To adjust the bit depth, press the MENU button , roll the jog dial on the left hand side of the unit
down to highlight RECORDING FORMAT then press the jog dial to enter the RECORDING
FORMAT menu
3. Use the jog dial to scroll to BIT and press the jog dial to select it
4. Roll the jog dial the adjust the bit depth and press again to select the desired value (standard is
24 bit)
5. Press MENU to exit menus and submenus

Mono recording using mono mix, which records mono tracks in stereo mode.
1. Press the Input Menu button (push the bottom of the navigation pad on the front of the H4)
2. Use the jog dial on the side of the unit to scroll until you see Mono Mix.
3. Check to see if it says ON or OFF below Mono Mix.
4. Move the jog dial up or down to turn it to ON if it is set to OFF.
5. Push the navigation pad to return to record mode.

Using the Microphone

• There are two possibilities for microphones: the built-in mic and an external mic
• The external mic will give better sound quality

1. First you need to tell the recorder which type of mic you will be using by selecting the correct
input
2. Press down on the MENU button towards the label INPUT/MENU
3. The first selection is SOURCE – press the jog dial to select the appropriate source for the mic
4. If you want to use the built-in mic, roll the jog dial until it says MIC and then press the jog dial to
select
5. If you want to use an external mic, roll the jog dial until it says IN1&2 and then press the jog dial
to select
6. Exit the menu by pressing MENU.
7. Connect the external mic using the XLR cable to INPUT 1
8. Make sure to turn the mic on to the first setting (the straight line)
 9. The microphone needs to be powered – either use a battery in the mic or turn on phantom
power in the recorder
10. To turn on phantom power, press down on the MENU button towards INPUT/MENU
11. Use the jog dial to scroll to PHANTOM
12. Press the jog dial to select PHANTOM
13. Roll the jog dial to select 48V and press the jog dial to set the selection
14. Now the recorder will power the microphone – be sure to use fresh batteries in the recorder or
plug it in

Making a Recording

1. Once the recorder has booted up it is ready to record

2. Press the REC button at top right of main display to enter stand-by mode for recording
• The main display will show the name of the new file to be recorded
• The default filename is STE-###.wav, where the ### increments with each new file
3. Press the REC button a second time to begin recording
• The main display will show the time elapsing and the levels of the mic
4. The recorder can be held quite close to the speaker’s mouth with good results. In order to avoid
noise from aspiration, the mic can be held just to the side of the mouth.
• It is best to test the recorder at varying distances from the mouth prior to collecting
data
5. To stop recording, press REC or press the MENU button upwards toward the Play/Pause symbol

Playback

1. To play back the most recently recorded file, press upwards on the MENU button
• The Zoom H4 does not have built-in speakers, so you will need headphones to hear the
file
2. In the main display you can scroll through the recorded files by pressing leftwards or rightwards
on the MENU button
3. Once the desired file is selected, press upwards on the MENU button to play it back

Editing Files

• You can rename, delete, encode to MP3 or divide a file by pressing the MENU button in the
centre
• Next, press the jog dial on the right hand side of the unit to enter the FILE menu
• Roll the jog dial to scroll through the Rename, Delete, etc menus
• Press the jog dial to select the desired action
• Roll the jog dial to scroll and press to select in any of these menus
• Press the MENU button to exit menus and submenus
Extracting Files from Zoom H4

1. To transfer your recordings onto a PC, connect the Zoom to the computer using the USB cable
included with the recorder
2. To enter USB mode on the recorder, press MENU and scroll using the jog dial to USB
3. Press the jog dial to select USB
4. Scroll to CONNECT TO PC and press the jog dial to select
5. Once connected, the Zoom will appear as a drive on your computer
6. Your recordings can be found in the folder called STEREO
7. Cut and paste your files onto your computer
• If you cut the files they will also be deleted from the Zoom’s memory card
8. Press MENU to exit USB mode

Finishing Up
1. Be sure to take your files off of the recorder before turning it off
2. Be sure to turn the microphone off so that the batteries don’t wear down