I went back and forth trying to decide between these two devices for over a week. Landed on the Tascam because of the line level setting. I’ve used it now for a few weeks. Very happy with it. If I had seen this video, I could have saved myself hours of internal debate. Thanks for putting out some good information!
@@Valerick I currently use it in my jam room from the board with the onboard mics at the same time. Then afterwards I will mix both sets of stereo tracks together. Off of the board sounds very good! The room mics sounds great, but position in the room matters, as you might imagine. In short, yes. And it sounds great!
Thank you for letting your personality come through as you do what you do. I found you after the purchase of my DX40. I am also grateful for the time and energy that you placed into the history of the evolution of recording devises. Well done.
straight up godlike review. I decided to go with Tascam as a music producer because I want it for field recordings. The rotatable range of stereo field is what sold me from your review
As a guitarist, the entire bit where you play guitar & ukulele is HILARIOUS and exactly how I feel about most guitarists. I logged in just to comment on this!
I bought the H4n (and 2 lesser models) around 2010 or so and it completely changed my life. As someone is talking and walking across the room it happens in the recording. It's amazing. Plus...the 50 really great effects!
Based on my needs (mainly used for recording a few musicians), I decided to buy the Zoom H4N. This was a great review because it provided a defined path to buy either one instead of just bashing on in favor of the other.
I went looking for more reviews and was sad there aren’t many more. I’d rather watch your review than anyone elses. Keep making them! You’re doing great.
I came here for information to make a decision for one of the recorders. I am now so well informed, that I can not really make a decision, as the review made me decide for both.
Hi Sam, Im from Poland and I want to thank you for your video, which really help me to make my choice. I saw many opinions and revies but yours was the best. Eventually I bought Zoom h4n. Good job, best regards!
Nice Job, Sam, I really appreciate this comparison. You've helped me make my decision. With both recording devices being the exact same price, I was stumped. The Tascam DR-40X is better for my purposes. I wish you all the best. Another reason I like the D40x is that the controls are the same as with their other smaller models. No learning curve there :)
Just bought H4n pro, the most valuable information that you gave for me is the difference between XLR and 6.3 JACK, because I plan to record from a Mixer, also to hook up some lavalier so I know now what cables I need, thank you!
I believe one can use a FETHEAD or CLOUDLIFTER on a Dynamic mic with the DR-40X set to Phantom power and that will give as much as 25dB clean gain! I didn't know about all the effects on the Zoom H4n Pro and would like to hear those.
What a such comparison! Dude please keep doing your excelleent job. The video production may improve over time, however your aproach is outstanding. Thank you Very much.
Excellent review. I’ve been wrestling over which of these recorders to buy, and after watching so many different videos on the comparison between the two, I think I was starting to suffer from analysis paralysis. However, your video has brought healing to my mind, and I think I’m settled on purchasing the DR-40X. Some may see the fact that the DR-40X is made of plastic as a negative, but I think it’s a positive compared to the rubberized outer coating on the H4N Pro, because that rubber gets sticky over time to the point where it almost unusable. Also, the DR-40X may only have reverb for an effect, but if I want more than that I can just load the file into my computer DAW (Garage Band, Audacity, etc.) and add effects from there. I think I’m going to pull the trigger on the DR-40X. Thanks, mate!
got the all black h4n pro.. yep, if i had to make some critiques it would be the startup speed and it runs kinda sluggish with that scroll-push wheel on the side
Thank you for a great video! I picked up the H4n Pro to replace my Zoom H2 - I need a handheld recorder for a new podcast idea I am working on and one thing, and I am hoping I am not wrong. The H4N can pause the recording and resume which the H2 cannot
Yes, H4n Pro can pause and resume recording. You press the round “arm recording” button and then the Play/Pause button to begin recording. Pressing Play/Pause again pauses the recording, which you can resume when you press it again.
Awesome! I watched several videos and was leaning toward Tascam. Now watching this video I'm thinkin about Zoom. Thanks for carefully showing pros and cons of each.
oh man. What a comparison!! Thanks. I really really really appreciate the ''Here's what's the same about them''. It very super duper quickly helps people make choices. Like if you said once feature and someone's like ''oh yeah baby that's what I want'' but the other didn't have it then that's the decision made there and then. Instant subscribe.
Really good video! more than just a talking head review. Gets straight to the point and into comparisons without a bunch of blah blah blah and still managed to be entertaining while factual. Thanks!!
Like the way you demonstrate haha great review, I think I might be getting a H4n Pro, like the design more and the effects part is a big selling point for a guitarist like me!
so fun to learn about audiorecording, handyrecorder, Preamps, balanced/unbalanced XLR Inputs, GUITAREFFECTS ;-P while laughing a lot around every minute! :-D thank you nice Pro-Guy!!!!
Man this is a great video between the two! My H4n Pro headphone jack got broken, and I didn't like the Line/XLR jacks for recording from mixers, and the X/Y mics did not sound natural to me. So I'm going to give the Tascam a run for it. Thanks for this detail video! Sub'd !
Was going to leave a similar comment. I use a switchable -10/20/30 db attenuator, cost me 6 British schmucks. After all, this is only a simple voltage divider circuit that consists of a couple of resistors.
I'd say the Tascam is best for musicians and audio/video recording. Especially if you're using more than one synth hardware units. Also that function to automatically lower peaking levels, if this works it could be the best reason of all.
Thanks, hugely helpful! I wanted to get my brother a portable recorder that he can also use for a 2-3 person podcast in the meantime. The Tascam looks ideal (not to say perfect) with its adjustable mic positions :)
The Tascam DR-40X isn't a great choice for podcasting. Dynamic mics work well for podcasting, and the DR-40X struggles with dynamic mics. If your brother is doing a podcast with 3 people, he needs a recorder with 3 XLR mic inputs that handles dynamic mics well. Check out the new Zoom PodTrak P4.
Yeah I know where you're coming from, if it were my choice I'd get him a some dynamics and an interface and be done with it. The issue there is not only the budget but that he is studying journalism and needs something that will be able to do a variety of tasks. The Podtrak P4 is unfortunately well out of said budget, let alone with mics on top. Aah yeah just reading about the dynamic mic issue now. It has optional phantom power for condensers so I just assumed dynamic mics would be fine. Was thinking in future he'd be able to hook up another mic for better quality interviews on the go and a 2nd mic if he wanted to record guests. Well, I ordered it hours ago so will just see how it goes. Still far less than anything else I could find so if he only uses it for other stuff that's fine.
@@jackhb7552 The preamps in the DR-40X struggle with dynamic mics. Dynamic mics require more gain to get a good signal, and the DR-40X ends up introducing too much noise when you set levels with dynamic mics. As far as Tascam recorders go, this is only a problem with the DR-40 and the DR-40X. Other recorders like the Tascam DR-70D don't have this problem. For a journalism student on a tight budget, the DR-40X is still a good choice, though. I recommend spending an extra $29 USD on a Tascam WS-11 windscreen, though. The built-in mics are very sensitive to moving air, so the windscreen will help them a lot.
@@HiddenDriveways Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your comment about the WS-11 and that you didn't just tell me other portable recorders I should have bought :) I wasn't sure what it came with accessory-wise but a wind shield was on the to-buy list incase it didn't (actually an aftermarket one, so the WS-11 is a better shout thank you). Ashamed to say I studied audio production when I can spend days trying to find the perfect solution for the budget and a big detail like that escapes me. It's been 6 years since uni so I'll blame that 🙈
@@HiddenDrivewaysI believe one can use a FETHEAD or CLOUDLIFTER on a Dynamic mic with the DR-40X set to Phantom power and that will give as much as 25dB clean gain! I didn't know about all the effects on the Zoom H4n Pro and would like to hear those.
Awesome video! I'm interested in having one of these to support recording audio from my computer as I do tutorials (for TH-cam & clients). This would be cool for podcasting on the go instead of bringing a whole recording rig with me. Thanks for posting this!
@LORDLESS I went with the Tascam. It works well and I keep it on my desk. If I traveled more, I would’ve went with the Zoom. I’m happy with the Tascam tho!!
Hello Sam! Great review, thanks a lot! One question though. This will be my first portable microphone and i'm going to use it mainly to record nature sounds which i will later use in music production. Which would be better for that? Cheers/ Marcus
Are you able to talk on rumble durability, heavy dust resistance, humidity resistance, and how easy they are to wipe condensation and trace amounts of liquid and dust off of? That may be what it comes down to. They both meet the recording ability needed.
Excellent Comparison. I have the DR40. but the build quality is very cheap. the USB socket is flimsy and the Headphone jack is equally flimsy. They're just connected to the circuit board directly. There's nothing around them to reinforce them. Like a metal or even plastic housing to strengthen the ports. Over time the headphone jack gets loose and don't even get me on the USB power cable port because it can't support the weight of the cable without getting loose. It is after all just dangling off the circuit board directly. All the these things seemed to be reinforced on the more rugged H4n.
Hey Sam - I was torn between these 2 puppies and had a "WHAT!!!!" moment with something you mentioned about the XLR inputs on the ZOOM. You said a line level input - say from a mixing board - would completely overdrive the XLR inputs whereas the Tascam has a mic/line switch to sort this. Considering the Zoom H4n is supposed to me the "musicians choice" I think that this is a real oversight. Many purchases of it as an all rounder machine would be very disappointed. Please can you clarify if this is correct? - Thanks, Peter (also a ukulele player).
Only thing better than these recorders was this review, 11/10 for effort m8.
Probably the most helpful comparison for the two recorders I've seen. Thank you
I went back and forth trying to decide between these two devices for over a week. Landed on the Tascam because of the line level setting. I’ve used it now for a few weeks. Very happy with it. If I had seen this video, I could have saved myself hours of internal debate. Thanks for putting out some good information!
Hi, have you by any chance used the Tascam to record audio from a mixer? How did you find it?
@@Valerick I currently use it in my jam room from the board with the onboard mics at the same time. Then afterwards I will mix both sets of stereo tracks together. Off of the board sounds very good! The room mics sounds great, but position in the room matters, as you might imagine. In short, yes. And it sounds great!
@@tompass82 so do you recommend it for recording a lecture with one microphone directly from the mixer?
Yeah i simply love the Dr 40X for me it has BBC Radio4 quality. H4n a bit to complicated
Thank you for letting your personality come through as you do what you do. I found you after the purchase of my DX40. I am also grateful for the time and energy that you placed into the history of the evolution of recording devises. Well done.
straight up godlike review. I decided to go with Tascam as a music producer because I want it for field recordings. The rotatable range of stereo field is what sold me from your review
As a guitarist, the entire bit where you play guitar & ukulele is HILARIOUS and exactly how I feel about most guitarists. I logged in just to comment on this!
I bought the H4n (and 2 lesser models) around 2010 or so and it completely changed my life. As someone is talking and walking across the room it happens in the recording. It's amazing. Plus...the 50 really great effects!
if every product comparison/review was this in depth AND easy to understand my life as a broke beginner filmmaker would be so much easier
Based on my needs (mainly used for recording a few musicians), I decided to buy the Zoom H4N. This was a great review because it provided a defined path to buy either one instead of just bashing on in favor of the other.
I loved this comparasion! Enjoyable and illustrative.
I will go for the Tascam DR-40X!
high quality, informative review
lowkey Rickroll at 1:02 , nice m8
I went looking for more reviews and was sad there aren’t many more. I’d rather watch your review than anyone elses.
Keep making them! You’re doing great.
I came here for information to make a decision for one of the recorders. I am now so well informed, that I can not really make a decision, as the review made me decide for both.
Sorry! 🤪
Your content I find is very refreshing! It’s not to over the top but it’s fun! QUALITY!
Hi Sam, Im from Poland and I want to thank you for your video, which really help me to make my choice. I saw many opinions and revies but yours was the best. Eventually I bought Zoom h4n. Good job, best regards!
Nice Job, Sam, I really appreciate this comparison. You've helped me make my decision. With both recording devices being the exact same price, I was stumped. The Tascam DR-40X is better for my purposes. I wish you all the best. Another reason I like the D40x is that the controls are the same as with their other smaller models. No learning curve there :)
Does noise bother you? I read reviews that the noise is too much.
Great video. I ordered a 40x the other day. Really looking forward to using it in a variety of situations; live music, nature sounds, dialogue, etc.
Does noise bother you? I read reviews that there is too much noise
Tascam Reverb Memories! I once taped a concert with a DR-07 and forgot to turn off the reverb 😂
Thanks for your help, i decided to bought the dr40x as i need it in my ambient nature sound videos. appreciate very much ur review!
I will also be using the DR-40X to record nature sounds, namely, Bigfoot! 😮
I am keep coming back to this review time and time again.......it is so good.....
Just bought H4n pro, the most valuable information that you gave for me is the difference between XLR and 6.3 JACK, because I plan to record from a Mixer, also to hook up some lavalier so I know now what cables I need, thank you!
I believe one can use a FETHEAD or CLOUDLIFTER on a Dynamic mic with the DR-40X set to Phantom power and that will give as much as 25dB clean gain! I didn't know about all the effects on the Zoom H4n Pro and would like to hear those.
There's also a great budget-friendly option called the Klark Teknic Mic Boost CT-1 sold at B&H. Out of stock at the moment, though.
One of the wellest made comparison on those two recorders. Bravo Sam, tremendously helped on choosing one.
audio quality: 8/10
video quality: 4/10
demonstration quality: OVER 9000!!!!
Going to work on tightening up my white balancing game for the next one, especially on b-roll. Ouch! Glad you liked the sound and demo!
What a such comparison! Dude please keep doing your excelleent job. The video production may improve over time, however your aproach is outstanding. Thank you Very much.
Thanks. I've got another one in the works. Been working on the script for weeks. 🤦♂️
Excellent review. I’ve been wrestling over which of these recorders to buy, and after watching so many different videos on the comparison between the two, I think I was starting to suffer from analysis paralysis. However, your video has brought healing to my mind, and I think I’m settled on purchasing the DR-40X. Some may see the fact that the DR-40X is made of plastic as a negative, but I think it’s a positive compared to the rubberized outer coating on the H4N Pro, because that rubber gets sticky over time to the point where it almost unusable. Also, the DR-40X may only have reverb for an effect, but if I want more than that I can just load the file into my computer DAW (Garage Band, Audacity, etc.) and add effects from there. I think I’m going to pull the trigger on the DR-40X. Thanks, mate!
got the all black h4n pro.. yep, if i had to make some critiques it would be the startup speed and it runs kinda sluggish with that scroll-push wheel on the side
Thank you for a great video! I picked up the H4n Pro to replace my Zoom H2 - I need a handheld recorder for a new podcast idea I am working on and one thing, and I am hoping I am not wrong. The H4N can pause the recording and resume which the H2 cannot
Yes, H4n Pro can pause and resume recording. You press the round “arm recording” button and then the Play/Pause button to begin recording. Pressing Play/Pause again pauses the recording, which you can resume when you press it again.
Great review. This made it clear to me that the Tascam is a better choice for me to record the audio of my dj sets.
Awesome! I watched several videos and was leaning toward Tascam. Now watching this video I'm thinkin about Zoom. Thanks for carefully showing pros and cons of each.
this was a really great video! Thank you for taking the time to make this!
oh man. What a comparison!! Thanks. I really really really appreciate the ''Here's what's the same about them''. It very super duper quickly helps people make choices. Like if you said once feature and someone's like ''oh yeah baby that's what I want'' but the other didn't have it then that's the decision made there and then. Instant subscribe.
Fantastic review. Great in depth breakdown, cleared up a lot of confusion I got from other reviews!! Thanks a lot for the great effort
Just came from your older video. Same charisma different video👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
Thanks! That's some high quality H4N to DR40 comparison
Nicely done.
I own the H4n Zoom Pro and I'm quite happy with it
I find myself coming back to your review after so many years. Respect.
Excellent review that's the way a review should be, testing the equipment
Really good video! more than just a talking head review. Gets straight to the point and into comparisons without a bunch of blah blah blah and still managed to be entertaining while factual. Thanks!!
Super helpful, thank you for all of the details in this video and for the laughs 😄
Loved this review style. And really helpful information!
Good job, dude, congrats on creating this entertaining content!
super thanks for such detail about these two audio recorders!
I will goes to DX-40X now from h4N
When I got to the guitar part, I sent a like. 😂👍
Like the way you demonstrate haha great review, I think I might be getting a H4n Pro, like the design more and the effects part is a big selling point for a guitarist like me!
Incredibly helpful video. I now realize I don't want either one of these 😆 on to more research. Thank you so much!
Brilliant review...exactly what I was looking for!
The best product comparing video I have seen since long time. You made my day.!....great work! Thx & greets from Berlin
Best review I've ever seen. Concise, informative, clear and entertaining. Really useful. Thanks.
Loved this review. I've seen 2 of your revies and you made me chuckle a few times. I like that :) I've made my decision, thank you!
so fun to learn about audiorecording, handyrecorder, Preamps, balanced/unbalanced XLR Inputs, GUITAREFFECTS ;-P while laughing a lot around every minute! :-D thank you nice Pro-Guy!!!!
Man this is a great video between the two! My H4n Pro headphone jack got broken, and I didn't like the Line/XLR jacks for recording from mixers, and the X/Y mics did not sound natural to me. So I'm going to give the Tascam a run for it. Thanks for this detail video! Sub'd !
Great review, Simple and Precise. I go with TASCAM DR 40X
Found you through your blogs, great video, really good reviews with insightful details.
This is a perfect product review, thank you so much!
Underrated channel, keep at it!
Nice video Sam, very informative and has helped me make a decision on which unit to get. Cheers
Sold me on the DR-40X. Thanks for the video! Super helpful.
I really appreciate this! I have been trying to decide between the two.
Made my choice much easier, thank you kind sir
dude, clicked on a bunch of videos. liked yours best. keep at it :)
you make me feel good about my handwriting. Awesome video!
You can plug XLR line level -20db adapters to bypass the clipping from line input on the Zoon.
Was going to leave a similar comment. I use a switchable -10/20/30 db attenuator, cost me 6 British schmucks. After all, this is only a simple voltage divider circuit that consists of a couple of resistors.
excellent review, exactly what I needed! thank you!
Very helpful review. Thanks Sam.
Best review on these audio recorders thank you
I'd say the Tascam is best for musicians and audio/video recording. Especially if you're using more than one synth hardware units. Also that function to automatically lower peaking levels, if this works it could be the best reason of all.
Great review! So informative!
I am missing your homepage! Thanks for detailed comparison!
That was a really solid review. Thanks!
Great review! The fact the Tascam has reverb makes it ideal for recording an acoustic act straight to videocamera
Don’t.
You can always add rev in post.
You can’t undo it.
@@WEHAVETHISDREAM A touch of reverb is no harm. Post production is not worth the time in my case, cheers
@@toneranger True that :)
All the best.
Thank you this made up my mind, I'm definitely gonna get the DR-40x for a sweet deal of $178. Gonna use it for some asmr and YT video narration!
Perfect video with deep info. Thank you.
Hola, cual me recomiendas de las dos.
What a great video, soo many different subjects, thank you!
Thanks, hugely helpful! I wanted to get my brother a portable recorder that he can also use for a 2-3 person podcast in the meantime. The Tascam looks ideal (not to say perfect) with its adjustable mic positions :)
The Tascam DR-40X isn't a great choice for podcasting. Dynamic mics work well for podcasting, and the DR-40X struggles with dynamic mics. If your brother is doing a podcast with 3 people, he needs a recorder with 3 XLR mic inputs that handles dynamic mics well. Check out the new Zoom PodTrak P4.
Yeah I know where you're coming from, if it were my choice I'd get him a some dynamics and an interface and be done with it. The issue there is not only the budget but that he is studying journalism and needs something that will be able to do a variety of tasks. The Podtrak P4 is unfortunately well out of said budget, let alone with mics on top.
Aah yeah just reading about the dynamic mic issue now. It has optional phantom power for condensers so I just assumed dynamic mics would be fine. Was thinking in future he'd be able to hook up another mic for better quality interviews on the go and a 2nd mic if he wanted to record guests. Well, I ordered it hours ago so will just see how it goes. Still far less than anything else I could find so if he only uses it for other stuff that's fine.
@@jackhb7552 The preamps in the DR-40X struggle with dynamic mics. Dynamic mics require more gain to get a good signal, and the DR-40X ends up introducing too much noise when you set levels with dynamic mics. As far as Tascam recorders go, this is only a problem with the DR-40 and the DR-40X. Other recorders like the Tascam DR-70D don't have this problem. For a journalism student on a tight budget, the DR-40X is still a good choice, though. I recommend spending an extra $29 USD on a Tascam WS-11 windscreen, though. The built-in mics are very sensitive to moving air, so the windscreen will help them a lot.
@@HiddenDriveways Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your comment about the WS-11 and that you didn't just tell me other portable recorders I should have bought :)
I wasn't sure what it came with accessory-wise but a wind shield was on the to-buy list incase it didn't (actually an aftermarket one, so the WS-11 is a better shout thank you). Ashamed to say I studied audio production when I can spend days trying to find the perfect solution for the budget and a big detail like that escapes me. It's been 6 years since uni so I'll blame that 🙈
@@HiddenDrivewaysI believe one can use a FETHEAD or CLOUDLIFTER on a Dynamic mic with the DR-40X set to Phantom power and that will give as much as 25dB clean gain! I didn't know about all the effects on the Zoom H4n Pro and would like to hear those.
Great review Sam. Just subscribed to the channel.
very helpful review, thanks man. subbed
very nicely done
Incredibly useful. Thanks, mate.
Awesome video! I'm interested in having one of these to support recording audio from my computer as I do tutorials (for TH-cam & clients). This would be cool for podcasting on the go instead of bringing a whole recording rig with me. Thanks for posting this!
@LORDLESS I went with the Tascam. It works well and I keep it on my desk. If I traveled more, I would’ve went with the Zoom. I’m happy with the Tascam tho!!
@LORDLESS nice! I use it to record my Twitch mixes and when I’m testing tracks off beatport. Hope it works well for you fam! :D
Love your style. Subbed! 👍🏿
Hello Sam!
Great review, thanks a lot!
One question though. This will be my first portable microphone and i'm going to use it mainly to record nature sounds which i will later use in music production. Which would be better for that?
Cheers/
Marcus
I love your review!!! thank you so much
Great tutorial. Very useful!!
really awesome audio comparision, congratulations!
Thanks!
Super helpful video - thanks!
Are you able to talk on rumble durability, heavy dust resistance, humidity resistance, and how easy they are to wipe condensation and trace amounts of liquid and dust off of?
That may be what it comes down to. They both meet the recording ability needed.
Thanks, this overview was very useful.
Great review thanks, you helped me make my choice :) (tascam)
Excellent Comparison. I have the DR40. but the build quality is very cheap. the USB socket is flimsy and the Headphone jack is equally flimsy. They're just connected to the circuit board directly. There's nothing around them to reinforce them. Like a metal or even plastic housing to strengthen the ports. Over time the headphone jack gets loose and don't even get me on the USB power cable port because it can't support the weight of the cable without getting loose. It is after all just dangling off the circuit board directly. All the these things seemed to be reinforced on the more rugged H4n.
Great video! Informative and also funny!
It was ingenious review!
Great video! Thanks a lot :D
I feel happy with my DR-40X
Thank you for a detailed and efficient review.
Damn good video! Best about handy recorders I've seen.
Hey, Brilliant review. Quick Question is either powered via USB when used with a MAC/PC ?
Yes, both the DR-40X and H4n Pro are powered by USB when connected to a computer.
@@HiddenDriveways Great, thanks for your speedy reply.
Hey Sam - I was torn between these 2 puppies and had a "WHAT!!!!" moment with something you mentioned about the XLR inputs on the ZOOM. You said a line level input - say from a mixing board - would completely overdrive the XLR inputs whereas the Tascam has a mic/line switch to sort this. Considering the Zoom H4n is supposed to me the "musicians choice" I think that this is a real oversight. Many purchases of it as an all rounder machine would be very disappointed. Please can you clarify if this is correct? - Thanks, Peter (also a ukulele player).
Good explanation Bro! Thanks so much!
Such an amazing comparison. Thank you for sharing in-depth information.