Zoom H4n Pro In-Depth Review

The Zoom H4n Pro is an updated version of the Zoom H4n, a portable audio recorder with a diverse array of features. The original H4n—which is now discontinued—was one of the most popular models on the market. The H4n Pro is very similar, but it has 3 key upgrades that make it a better product. In this article, I use the H4n Pro extensively and share many example sound recordings. There is information about how to use the Zoom H4n Pro in video production, music recording, podcasting, and news gathering.

Similarities to the Original Zoom H4n

If you’ve ever picked up and used a Zoom H4n, then you’ve essentially done the same with the H4n Pro. The two devices are extremely similar. I powered on the old H4n right next to the H4n Pro, and they both take the exact amount of time to boot up (around 17 seconds, which is a bit too long). Animations, fonts, screens, and every menu item are all identical. Make no mistake: this is fundamentally the same machine.

This isn’t a strike against the H4n Pro. Zoom never claimed it was extremely different from the original — it’s just been improved in a few areas, which are:

1. Higher-quality preamps
2. Locking XLR inputs
3. Updated exterior with restyled buttons and a blue screen

Not a long list, but the changes are meaningful. The most important update are the improved microphone preamps. I communicated with Zoom and confirmed that they’re the same ones used in the Zoom H5 and H6 recorders. In the past I reviewed the H5 and was satisfied with how it sounded. In my tests with the H4n Pro, I found that the sound quality has been improved a little, but not dramatically so.

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Specs that Zoom Uses to Advertise the H4n Pro

Zoom states the H4n Pro has a noise floor of -120 dBu EIN. I searched for a similar specification for the original H4n and could not find it. I asked US-based Zoom representatives for this specification, and they did not have it. They passed my question on to Zoom headquarters, who have not responded yet. I will update this post if I get the noise floor spec of the original H4n.

The Zoom H4n Pro is advertised as having an SPL (Sound Pressure Level) of 140 dB, which means you can put it close to loud sounds, such as a rock band, and still get clean recordings because the intense vibrations in the air will not cause the microphone capsules to distort. I asked Zoom what the SPL spec is of the original H4n, and they responded that it’s 130 dB. They also told me that the 10 dB improvement on the H4n Pro is there because the internal voltage has been increased in the preamp. The improved performance is not a result of changes to the built-in microphones.

I only find specifications mildly interesting, at best. I’m vastly more interested in actually using the equipment, and listening to what it sounds like. Other reviewers dive deep into the complex technical minutiae of the differences between the original H4n and the H4n Pro. I find that relying on technical jargon is only helpful for experts. In contrast, I only present you with information using straight-forward language.

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Using the H4n Pro with Dynamic Microphones

There are many different kinds of microphones, but the most common are dynamic and condenser microphones. The biggest difference between them are the type of transducer used. This is the part of the microphone that turns sound vibrations in the air into electronic signals. A dynamic microphone transducer doesn’t require electricity to operate. It’s simply a diaphragm that vibrates when it encounters acoustic energy (such as the sound of someone speaking into the microphone). A coiled wire is connected to the diaphragm, and the wire is set in a magnetic field. From there, the audio signal created by the mic is plugged into the next device in the chain, which in this case is the Zoom H4n Pro.

Dynamic microphones are commonly used in music recording and in live music. Journalists and reporters use dynamic microphones to gather news. For example, the Electro-Voice RE-50B is the most common microphone used for on-the-street interviews. Affordable dynamic microphones like the Shure SM58 also sound excellent for capturing voices in podcasting. Dynamic microphones require more gain from the preamp than condenser microphones, so they’re a good way to test noise performance. You need to turn the preamp up more to get a good level with a dynamic mic, so you tend to hear more noise (if it’s there).

Sound Test #1 – Dynamic Microphone

All of the tests in this post are uncompressed 24-bit 48kHz WAV files that have been normalized. The microphone used here is an Audix OM2, which is similar to a Shure SM58. Both the original Zoom H4n and Zoom H4n Pro had their levels set around -12dB. I used a very quiet room, positioned the microphone in the exact same spot, and spoke at the same volume:

I repeated this test several times, just to be confident my findings were consistent. To my ears, there was very little difference in the noise floor. I did the same test in my recent Tascam DR-40X In-Depth Review post comparing the preamp in the DR-40X with the preamp in the Tascam DR-70D, and you can clearly hear that the DR-40X preamp is nosier.

In this test I can hear noise in both the original H4n and the H4n Pro, but it’s ever-so-slightly lower in the H4n Pro. I think the sound of my voice has more definition and clarity with the H4n Pro.

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Using the H4n Pro with Shotgun Microphones

It has often been said that the Rode NTG-2 and the original Zoom H4n are not a good combination, because the preamps in the H4n are not powerful enough to get a good clean level with the NTG-2. I own the NTG-2 and the original Zoom H4n, and I have never had this problem. But, I can see how in certain situations the preamp on the original H4n would need to be turned up high, and then later in post production the audio would need to be boosted to properly hear dialog, how the noise floor could be problematic.

QUICK NOTE: If you don’t fully understand how to properly set audio levels, don’t worry! Just read my post entitled How To Set Audio Levels. It’s much easier than you think!

I tested the original H4n and the H4n Pro with the Rode NTG-2. Again, I was careful to keep the microphone in the exact same spot, and speak at the same volume. Have a listen:

Sound Test #2 – Shotgun Condenser Microphone

To my ears, the original H4n and the H4n Pro sound similar in this test. The preamp in the H4n Pro had slightly more gain, which required me to adjust it down to 81, because setting the same as the original H4n was just slightly too hot.

The overall sound of the original H4n and the H4n Pro are slightly different. However, the same attributes in the H4n Pro that made the dynamic mic sound clearer in the first test gives the NTG-2 a bit more of a shrill sound at times. I’m not saying that it sounds bad. You can get great audio with this equipment. It’s just that with this condenser microphone, I cannot hear much of a difference at all. The noise floor of the H4n Pro is only minutely less noisy. I hear noise all over this audio, and it only ever-so-slightly less noisy on the H4n Pro.

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Using the Built-In Microphones on the Zoom H4n Pro

The box that the H4n Pro comes is states that the microphones have been “redesigned.” Again, I asked Zoom representatives what was different about the microphones, and, quite to my surprise, they did not know. They passed this question on to headquarters, and we’re waiting to hear back.

Redesigned or not, the built-in microphones on the Zoom H4n sound pretty good. They’re sensitive to moving air, wind, and plosive sounds (such as words the start with the letter p), so you need to be very careful if you’re going to speak directly into the mics. In fact, if you plan on speaking into these microphones, you will need to buy a foam windscreen, because it doesn’t come with one. A good option is the Auray WRF-H4N. If you plan on using the built-in mics outdoors, you will definitely need a furry windscreen like the Zoom WSU-1.

The Zoom H4n and H4n Pro recorders are popular for music recording, podcasting, and journalism, but they’re also heavily used in recording sound for video productions. The XLR inputs on these recorders make it possible to use professional shotgun microphones, and one of the most popular and budget-friendly XLR shotgun microphones is the Rode NTG-2.

Sound Test #3 – Built-In Microphones

I didn’t hear a dramatic difference. The built-in microphones in the Zoom H4n Pro use the updated preamps from the Zoom H5 and H6, but the improvement here is minimal. The mics on the original H4n did seem to overload with plosive sounds from my mouth a bit more, but those imperfections likely have more to do with how I held the recorders during the test, rather than a material difference between the two models.

I do think the improved preamps helped in this test. The preamps are helping a little in all of the tests. In general, the Zoom H4n Pro seems to have 4 dB more gain, so there is more headroom, and more clarity in the overall sound. That still amounts to only a small difference, but in audio, it’s common for differences and improvements to be subtle. For example, the Audix SCX1 is an excellent sounding microphone for capturing interior dialog on a boompole in video production, but the Schoeps CMC641 sounds a little better. The SCX1 costs $500 USD, and CMC641 costs $1655 USD.

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Recording Line-Level Audio with the Zoom H4n Pro

When you plug something into an audio recorder that isn’t a microphone, it’s most likely a line-level signal. It’s common for wedding videographers to plug an audio recorder into the DJ’s mixer, so they get a clean copy of the DJ’s sound that they can use in editing later (for clean audio of toasts, announcements, and other sounds). DJ mixers typically do not have mic-level outputs, they only have line-level outputs. So if you need to do this, you must use a recorder that can handle line-level signals.

Here’s another example of line-level usage. Say you’re making a video, and there’s a voicemail on a subject’s iPhone that you need to get a clean recording of. If it’s a recent iPhone that lacks a headphone jack, you will need an Apple Lightning to 3.5mm dongle. Then you’ll need another cable to connect to the 3.5mm jack on the dongle to an input on your recorder. Lastly, since the audio you’ll be recording is line-level, your audio recorder will need to be compatible with line-level signals.

You can record line-level audio with the original H4n and the H4n Pro, but you cannot use the XLR inputs to do it. It is possible to record line-level audio with the 3.5mm input on the back of the H4n Pro, and the 1/4″ inputs on the bottom. The XLR inputs on the base of these recorders are “combo” inputs that provide XLR and 1/4″ jacks in a single input:

The fact that you can’t use the XLR inputs to record line-level audio is my main gripe with the Zoom H4n and now the H4n Pro. The Tascam DR-40X is a very similar recorder to the H4n Pro, and it has a physical switch that lets you change the sensitivity of the inputs to line-level, and you can use either XLR or the 1/4″. This limitation on the H4n Pro bothers me because it causes me to dig around in order to find the appropriate cables. If you plan on recording line-level audio at an event, you will need to bring a special pack of cables to make sure you can get the recorder connected.

One thing I found interesting in my testing was that when you turn the input level down on either the original Zoom H4n or the H4n Pro, when you get to the bottom, it changes to decimals, so after 1 it goes to 0.9, 0.8, and all the way down. This is really useful, because I often found the ideal setting for getting a good level around 0.5 or so.

The first line-level test I did with the H4n Pro was to plug into the 3.5mm input on the back of the device. In the past, I never thought of plugging a line-level signal in there. This input is mainly used for connecting mini-plug mics to the Zoom H4n Pro, such as a Rode VideoMic, or a Rode SmartLav+. Somewhere on the Zoom website I noticed that this input could take mic or line, so I gave it a try:

Sound Test #4 – Line-Level Audio

As you can hear, the test went decently. I needed to turn the input level all the way down to 0.5 on the Zoom H4n Pro. That’s incredibly low, but I was able to record a clean line-level signal on this input, so that counts for something.

Next, I tried plugging a professional +4 dBu line-level signal into the TRS inputs on the device. Zoom stated on their website that this kind of signal isn’t supported, but it worked for me:

I needed to turn the input levels on the H4n Pro all the way down to 0.7, so there isn’t much room for error there, which is likely why Zoom states it isn’t supported, but as you can hear, you can get a workable level.

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Using the Zoom H4n Pro with a Camera

The original Zoom H4n and the Zoom H4n Pro are both often used in video production. A common practice is to plug shotgun microphones and wireless lavaliers into the H4n, and to record the sound for the video separately. Later in post production, the externally recorded audio files are synced with the video footage. Video editing software like Final Cut Pro X has dedicated tools for syncing audio and video files.

Another way these recorders are used in video production is to plug them directly into the camera. Doing this allows you to record a second copy of good sounding audio in the camera. Instead of having an unusable “scratch track” recorded by the built-in mic on the camera, you can record a rather good sounding version of the audio in the camera by connecting the headphone output of the H4n to the mic-input on the camera.

Another advantage of plugging the H4n directly into your camera is that it enables you to plug two XLR microphones into your camera, or you can use the built-in mics on the H4n as an on-camera microphone.

If you connect the headphone output of the Zoom H4n Pro to the mic-input of a DSLR, mirrorless, or other kind of camera using a regular 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, you have to be mindful of what level you have the volume of the headphone output set to. If it’s set too high, you will have very little headroom in which to get a clean signal. If it’s set too low, you will need to turn up the audio input level of your camera, which adds noise or hiss to the signal.

A better option is to use a cable with a built-in attenuator. This kind of cable will reduce the level of the signal passing through the cable by -25 dB. This allows you to turn up the headphone output of the Zoom H4n Pro, and turn down the noisy preamp on your camera to get a cleaner overall sound. There are many cables that were built for this purpose. If your camera has a dedicated headphone output, this cable by Sescom is a great choice. If your camera doesn’t have a headphone output, this cable from Movo features a splitter with a headphone jack so you can hear the audio.

Sound Test #4 – Plugging Into a Camera

I plugged the headphone output of the Zoom H4n Pro into the mic-input on a Canon 7D Mark II DSLR. First I used a normal 3.5mm cable. When I did this, I needed to turn the headphone volume of the H4n Pro to 50%. If you have it much higher than that, you won’t be able to get much of a signal before your camera’s audio will distort.

Then I did the same test using a Sescom cable with -25 dB of attenuation instead of a regular 3.5mm cable. This allowed me to turn the headphone volume of the H4n Pro up to 100%, and turn down the audio level of the camera to 25%. The produced cleaner, less noisy sound quality.

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Using the H4n Pro as an Audio Interface

One of the great features of the original H4n and now the H4n Pro is the ability to use it as an audio interface for a computer. These recorders have a USB port that you can connect to the USB port on a computer. This enables you to either plug microphones into the H4n to record directly to software in a computer, or to use the built-in mics to record directly into a computer.

Why would you want to do this? This is often used in video production to record voice-overs into video editing software. When you use music production software, you also need to plug microphones into the computer to record tracks and overdubs, and you can use the H4n Pro as the hardware for this task.

Although it isn’t mentioned in the manual for the H4n Pro, it’s also possible to use it as an audio interface for an Apple iOS device, such as an iPhone or iPad. In order to do this, you must use an official Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter.

Sound Test #5 – Using H4n Pro as an Audio Interface

For this test I simply connected the H4n Pro to my MacBook Pro computer via USB. The port on the H4n Pro is Mini-USB. A USB cable does not come with the H4n Pro. My MacBook Pro is from 2013, and it features USB-A ports, so the cable I used was a Mini-USB to USB-A cable.

When you connect the H4n Pro to your computer, it gets powered from the USB connection and the first screen you see asks if you want to use it to access storage (kind of like using it as a card reader) or as an “Audio I/F” which is the audio interface option. When you select Audio I/F, you next need to select the resolution, either 44.1 or 48 kHz. If you choose 48 kHz, it will sound slightly better. But, if you choose 44.1 kHz, you can use the built-in audio effects as you record (the effects are covered in the next section of this review.

Overall, I found that using the Zoom H4n Pro as an audio interface was easy. This is a nice feature to have for video production, music making, and podcasting.

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Using the Zoom H4n Pro for making music

The Zoom H4n Pro features built-in effects for making music, everything from guitar effects, reverbs, delays, flangers, chorus, reverse effects and more. You can put the H4n Pro into “MTR” mode, which lets you use it as a 4-track recorder and overdub tracks with effects. You can record 2 tracks at a time, or use the built-in stereo mics, but you can’t record 2-tracks with the inputs and use the stereo mics at the same time.

A great thing about the H4n Pro is that it features Hi-Z 1/4″ inputs, so you can plug electric guitars and basses directly into it. There are lots of effects for electric guitar, especially if you like distortion. If there’s a strike against the H4n Pro here, it’s that there are too many effects for electric guitar and not enough effects for everything else.

Sound Test #6 – Tracking Music with Effects

I recorded a quick song about the H4n Pro. I plugged my Stratocaster electric guitar directly into it, and used the built-in effects (I think the “Arena” reverb is on the guitar). To record my vocals, I used an SE Electronics X1 large diaphragm condenser microphone, which required that I turn the phantom power on. I believe I used the “Lead Vocal” effect on my voice. I overdubbed a third electric guitar, again using the Arena reverb. It was a fun little experiment, but I wouldn’t want to record a serious project this way.

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Final Thoughts

Like most things in life, the Zoom H4n Pro isn’t perfect. I don’t like that it can’t record line-level audio through its XLR inputs, and I never liked the push-button dial on the side of the device. It’s the exact same control that was on the original H4n, and I just never liked it. It just feels flimsy, but worse, it causes me to accidentally select the wrong item from time to time.

But there’s a lot to like about the H4n Pro. The improved preamps are slightly better. Locking XLR inputs are better than non-locking ones. And the screen, body and buttons do look nicer. I love the protective plastic case that comes with this recorder. I wish all of the gear I bought came with something like that. It would be better if the H4n Pro came with a USB cable and an SD card, but oh well. It’s still a great device at an appealing price.

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If This Review Was Helpful

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Purchase Links

Zoom H4n Pro – Amazon USA, B&H Photo, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr

The previous generation Zoom H4n – eBay, Amazon.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr