The Clarinet BBoard

The Clarinet BBoard The C4 standard

New Topic | Go to Top | Go to Topic | Search | Help/Rules | Smileys/Notes | Log In

Previous Message | Next Message

Re: Zoom H4

Author: Noqu
Date: 2010-10-20 09:26

The decision is a trade-off between sound quality and file size. The four recording qualities on the H4 (96 kHz, 48 kHz, 44.1 kHz, MP3) are ordered in decreasing quality and file size.

MP3 is the only "compressed" format of the four, where the file becomes really small in exchange for some information loss. The numbers on the other formats denote the number of sound samples taken per millisecond (96 kHz ~ 96000 samples/sec), so you can roughly imagine this as a unit like megapixels on digital cameras.

96 kHz is pretty impressive studio-like quality (I rarely need that). On the other hand, if you intend to do digital post-processing on the sound files (other than just cutting and trimming), you should probably stay away from MP3.

Personally, I often use the H4 to just capture a rehearsal and hear it again later (just like a snapshot foto for memories, not for making a CD or something like that). For this, I found MP3 absolutely sufficient, and the small file sizes make the handling easier and faster. Also keep in mind where you are going to hear it - I often use an iPod, where all my music is in MP3 form anyway.

The best idea is probably to just try it out - see if you can hear a difference.

Reply To Message | Avail. Forums | Flat View

Newer Topic | Older Topic

Topics