TECHNOLOGY REVIEW First impressions It’s impossible not to be constantly comparing the H4n Pro to the original H4n. The Pro is instantly familiar as it looks very similar to the H4n; I had to put them side by side to really appreciate the differences. The body of the Pro is now black and rubberised, the screen is clearer and the back light brighter (it’s now grey as opposed to the original orange); it seems to fit in the hand more comfortably (despite being 14g heavier) and the front and side panels sport a new bezel which neatly guides the fingers to the two volume rockers (i.e. record level and output level). All of the inputs/outputs and controls on the top, sides and back are identical, albeit slightly improved, for instance the volume rockers protrude slightly more and feel firmer to the touch. The big difference at the base is that the combo sockets are now lockable, which is a great improvement on the original. In use I could not detect any difference in the user interface – all the menus and options are present
exactly as before and thus the software side of things is identical (although the firmware itself is not contiguous with the H4n). I did a series of test recordings, at gigs and in my home studio, and everything worked exactly as expected – there is no learning curve whatsoever for H4n users. The microphone preamps on the H4n weren’t amazing but they always did the job – and at that price there’s little room for complaint – so I was quite excited to hear that the H4n Pro has the same improved high-performance microphone preamps used on the H5 and H6. My first impression of using the in-built microphones was very favourable indeed – the recordings were clear and distinct with a very natural sound, and on headphones the stereo field was wide and clear and it almost sounded like a high-quality binaural recording. When I compared simultaneous recordings of the same source the H4n sounded slightly dull and a bit more in the centre of the stereo image; the H4n Pro was wider, clearer and had a little more ‘sparkle’ (although please
take into account the fact that my H4n is now six years old). Bearing in mind the fact that the H4n Pro can handle sound levels up to 140dB SPL with a noise floor measured at -120dBu EIN you can see just how much it’s moved on from its predecessor. The other big difference between the H4n Pro and the H4n is what you get in the box. The H4n came with a DC power supply, a 2GB SD card, an MA2 mic clip adapter and a USB cable; the H4n Pro comes with none of these. Personally I never used the MA2 clip, I have a drawer full of USB cables and a 2GB card is a bit small for most uses but an AC adapter is always handy (and can of course be bought separately). Not including these items does brings down the cost of the unit and all of the H4n accessories will work with the H4n Pro, so for those upgrading it’s not a big deal.
Conclusion The power of the H4n lay in its versatility – you could shove it in your pocket and record just about anything
you desire, you could clip it to the top of a DSLR and get high-quality timecoded audio or you could plug in your guitar and multi-track to your heart’s content. In some ways the H4n Pro is an incremental upgrade of the H4n, designed to improve upon and replace it in the same way the H4n superseded the original H4. However, the major improvements to the microphone preamps should not only entice new users but might also inspire existing H4n users to upgrade sooner rather than later. I can quite easily see the H4n Pro becoming as much loved and widely used as the H4n.
The Reviewer Andy Coules is a sound engineer and audio educator who has toured the world with a diverse array of acts in a wide range of genres. andycoules.co.uk
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