Zoom H4

Easy to use at a basic level: I unpacked it, put batteries and a 2Gb card in it, and started recording (in stereo mode) without needing the manual.
But... DO READ THE MANUAL! Most functions are hidden under menus and I didn't even know you could press the scroll wheel, which is how you enter changes.
Being such a small unit, it's understandable that there cannot be many buttons and controls, so everything has to be hidden under menus. But it's quite intuitive once you play with it a couple of times.
I have used it mostly in stereo mode. Dead easy, and it connects straight away to a PC (WinXP) so transfer of recorded files is simple, and you can then edit them at will.
I only tried it in 4-track mode once. Again, just as easy. Selecting tracks to record on, and inputs etc is very intuitive. Zoom has done a great job at packaging so much into such a small unit and make it easy to use.
But you do need to read the manual. Especially if you want to use any of teh special features, like FX, guitar/bass/mic simulations etc.

Sound is GREAT!
I was already counting on buying a pair of condenser microphones (Behringer C2, a small pair of nice sounding condensers at low price... they require phantom power, but the H4 supplies that!). However, I like the built-in microphones and I won't buy any external ones anytime soon.

I haven't even tried the guitar/bass/mic simulations, so I cannot comment on that. I don't think I'll use them, to be honest, as I try to get my sound with other units.

I used it in stereo mode to record voice: very warm yet crisp sound.
To record a bass combo, at low volumes at home: fantastic sound!
To record the band at rehearsal: it works! The rehearsal didn't sound as good... but then it really doesn't sound too good in real life in teh room we use ;-) And all I did was turn the H4 on, placed it on a music stand where it was convenient for me, and pressed record (after adjusting the input level roughly). It captured a good image of the band. In fact, I can hear some things better in the recording than live!
This was my first attempt, and teh sound levels were low. I exported the wav files to my computer and opened them in SoundForge: the waves looked tiny (I need to adjust levels more carefully this time, I was afraid to record too loud and saturate, but it looks like this unit can cope with anything from a whisper to a loud band!). In SoundForge I added a touch of EQ to remove some boominess from my bass (next time I won't place the H4 right in front of teh amp :-) and compress the signal a little (the dynamic range the H4 can pick up is amazing... I compressed to be able to get a louder sound when we're discussing things between songs, but still not saturate when we start playing)... then I normalised the overall volume (to RMS)...
This process brought the original veyr low levels to quite loud without distortion... without noticeable added noise in the quiet bits. This means that the H4 is very quiet in operation (well, it has no moving parts, but electronically seems sound).

I am very pleased with what this small thing can do.

It's not the most solid looking box. You have to be careful with it. Don't drop it etc... just be sensible.

NA

Overall rating? a 10, of course.

You get a tiny device that is able to work on batteries or plugged in, with a veyr good stereo condenser mic built in, making it a breeze to record anything from speech, to a loud band rehearsal with good sound quality. It also can work as a 4-track amchine, using 2 inputs at once. It will provide phantom power if needed to external microphones, it will provide guitar/bass amp&speaker simulation if required when plugging in directly, it can model the mic response of different types of mic (might come handy when using it to record from a guitar amp, for instance)... it has tons of FX... you can easily transfer files to and from the H4/PC. It can record in WAV or MP3 formats (user selects teh bit rate, etc), it will play back wav or mp3 (hey, it's an MP3 player too ;-) it will even just work as an external drive so you can use it to store data, and as a card reader...
How multitasking can you get?
I'm not likely to use the FX section, for instance, but it's nice to have.
I was originally looking for a cheaper alternative. But I am so glad I got this one. Fantastic unit.

This works flawlessy as a live recording unit making awesome warm recordings of jam sessions! I have not tried 4 track mode or any of the effects. The software Cubase seems very hard to understand so I have not been able to edit any of our jam sessions.

See above for recording jam sessions with the onboard mics I would have to give it a 9.

It seems reliable enough. I have used it 30 hrs or more and it works flawlessly.

no idea

I have been playing 28yrs now. I would buy this unit again! I play all original music but love anything from 70s (as almost all guitar music was good in the 70's) such as Rush, Robin Trower, Scorps, Sabbath, Nugent, Aerosmith, Kansas and UFO to King's X, Porcupine Tree, Adrian Belew, Ohm, Mike keneally, Satch, Opeth, Annihilator, Clutch, and on and on... This thing is so small and the mics work great, really a great unit for $260.00 it cannot be beat!

Looked like a great product - advertised everywhere in UK and USA

DOA when arrived EVENTUALLY after 3 weeks

UK distribution Exclusive Distribution took 3 weeks to delivery stock - then when told unit was DOA said another 4 weeks before they could get a replacement - or I could get it repaired within a week or so but I never trust something DOA

sent it back to the Uk shop where I bought it from

very disappointed