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Greetings all,
Having heard the comparison between the Olympus ds-40 and the Zoom H4, I still cannot decide which one I want. I love all of the options and frequency response of the zoom, but the Olympus certainly seems to have a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The major downside of the olympus recorder is lack of external storage options.
Also, anyone with experience with the zoom H2? Leaning heavily towards that one.
thanks in advance, and thanks to Ryan for the link here
Andy
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Greetings all,
Having heard the comparison between the Olympus ds-40 and the Zoom H4, I still cannot decide which one I want. I love all of the options and frequency response of the zoom, but the Olympus certainly seems to have a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The major downside of the olympus recorder is lack of external storage options.
Also, anyone with experience with the zoom H2? Leaning heavily towards that one.
thanks in advance, and thanks to Ryan for the link here
Andy
I have the Olympus DS model but the H-4 sure looks like a next purchase for me as well.
I'll be waiting for an answer on this one as well.
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Greetings all,
Having heard the comparison between the Olympus ds-40 and the Zoom H4, I still cannot decide which one I want. I love all of the options and frequency response of the zoom, but the Olympus certainly seems to have a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The major downside of the olympus recorder is lack of external storage options.
Also, anyone with experience with the zoom H2? Leaning heavily towards that one.
thanks in advance, and thanks to Ryan for the link here
Andy
Hey Andy!
Did you see that we are giving a Zoom H4 away as a prize in our fiction contest. Just saying.
Also – did you listen to the Zoom H4 vs Olympus DS40 in that weird audio clip I got from Wellington? It is in either the EVP or the Editors' blog and it says something about "Hi def" in the title of the blog. Oh – I'm guessing you did since you started with "having heard the comparison". D'oh.
Let me know if you'd like samples from either Zoom or Olympus. I will tell you that Zoom is much clearer, but for the price, the DS-40 rocks it. I will say that both of them blow away the less expensive Olympus and Sony recorders.
We looked at the H2. It is about half the price of the H4. I don't really know a lot about it. I think that Jim (hubby) chose the H4 because it had four channel recording, so we can use four devices and time synch as we analyze. I think. We also record band concerts with it, so there you go.
Probably not helpful, huh? Okay – here's helpful. I would suggest going as hi-def as you can possibly afford on every piece of equipment used for investigating. It could help to eliminate false evidence.
~Karen
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Hey Andy!
Did you see that we are giving a Zoom H4 away as a prize in our fiction contest. Just saying.
Also – did you listen to the Zoom H4 vs Olympus DS40 in that weird audio clip I got from Wellington? It is in either the EVP or the Editors' blog and it says something about "Hi def" in the title of the blog. Oh – I'm guessing you did since you started with "having heard the comparison". D'oh.
Let me know if you'd like samples from either Zoom or Olympus. I will tell you that Zoom is much clearer, but for the price, the DS-40 rocks it. I will say that both of them blow away the less expensive Olympus and Sony recorders.
We looked at the H2. It is about half the price of the H4. I don't really know a lot about it. I think that Jim (hubby) chose the H4 because it had four channel recording, so we can use four devices and time synch as we analyze. I think. We also record band concerts with it, so there you go.
Probably not helpful, huh? Okay – here's helpful. I would suggest going as hi-def as you can possibly afford on every piece of equipment used for investigating. It could help to eliminate false evidence.
~Karen
Thanks for the reply. It was those very comparison clips that got me to post, lol. A big thanks to Ryan for pointing me to this forum/site. I had wondered where all the like-minded researchers were, lol. Personally, with the higher noise floor of the DS40, I am still leaning to the zoom. I like the fact that the DS40 still picks up more, but I am trying to get away from the digital noise that is plaguing my lo-fi setup right now. I am probably going to sell my paranormal puck to finance an H2, and come tax season (much to my wife's chagrin) I will get the new updated H4. In the meantime, I might have to see what I can get together for that contest, lol.
I have been having a bit of a problem deciding what mic setup to go with, so I am encouraged to see people getting decent evp with the zoom line of recorders. There are varying schools of thought saying that condenser (capacitance) mic's are incapable of recording evp's in a coil induction manner, but I disagree, because I have caught many class A's on my el cheapo RCA setup. I do have a RS boundary condenser mic that I will use for ghost box audio only, it is totally unsuited for capturing traditional evp. I have been reviewing it on a trial basis for 4 months now, with no positive evp results in areas that have never failed to produce at least class b or better evp's. There might be something to microphone suitability for evp collection. I know Olympus branded recorders are a favorite, and I had phenomenal luck back with the old VN-1800 series.
Only answer to my dilemma: get both, lol.
thanks
Andy
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Only answer to my dilemma: get both, lol.
Uh yeah – that's what I did. Fortunately I have uber science tech geek in my home, and he is a bloodhound when I tell him what I want something to do. We make a good team.
I like the side-by-side hi def, low def approach because it can be very demonstrative of how false positives are achieved. If you take this approach, I'd recommend reviewing low def evidence first to see what you hear, and then bring in the hi-def review to either verify or eliminate.
~Karen
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Sorry to inform everyone but the contest was already decided as soon as I wrote my story. Just let me know when you want to send me the H2.
Andy, I see you already found this section. I figured you would like this part of the place.
I can't wait for you to show some of the folks here your IR pictures.
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Sorry to inform everyone but the contest was already decided as soon as I wrote my story. Just let me know when you want to send me the H2.
Andy, I see you already found this section. I figured you would like this part of the place.
I can't wait for you to show some of the folks here your IR pictures.
Wait – what? Ryan is willing to accept only an H2 instead of the H4….ooooooooooo…..hmmmm….
Actually, the judging is blind. Well – we'll be able to see to read the stories, but we won't know who wrote them.
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Wait – what? IR pictures?
….waiting…
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Wait – what? IR pictures?
….waiting…
Agreed on the lo-fi / hi- fi…..after awhile, being situationally aware of my movements during recording, I developed an ear for those pesky false positive "whispers". It has been mentioned here before, and truer words have never been spoken….it is amazing what benign actions result in mistaken evp whispers.
Ryan was talking about the gallery I posted on another forum with a modified Aiptek camera ($20). Here is a link. Unfortunately, nothing paranormal (that I could see) in these pics, but these resulted in me becoming obsessed with IR modifications to cameras.
here is IR album:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/o…..obouros2k2…57619270744236/
Thanks
Andy
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Wait, the grand prize isn't a H2 Hummer?
Well heck, I guess I'll have to settle for the H4 recorder instead.
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Greetings all,
Having heard the comparison between the Olympus ds-40 and the Zoom H4, I still cannot decide which one I want. I love all of the options and frequency response of the zoom, but the Olympus certainly seems to have a higher signal-to-noise ratio. The major downside of the olympus recorder is lack of external storage options.
Also, anyone with experience with the zoom H2? Leaning heavily towards that one.
thanks in advance, and thanks to Ryan for the link here
Andy
Welcome Ouro!
Rae Abney wrote our Equipment Update in the July issue and mentioned the H2 and said they got great results using it.
I don't have any experience using anything but the Olympus VN-4100 PC yes, so I'm not help!
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Welcome Ouro!
Rae Abney wrote our Equipment Update in the July issue and mentioned the H2 and said they got great results using it.
I don't have any experience using anything but the Olympus VN-4100 PC yes, so I'm not help!
Ohhh…that's righhhtttt….
there you go!
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Ohhh…that's righhhtttt….
there you go!
Attention everyone, the above-mentioned uber-tech geek will now weigh in…
I actually looked at the H2 originally, and if I was looking to make audio-only EVPs that would've been the way I'd have gone. It has 4-channel recording, but only on it's 4 built-in microphones. The front mics are set for a 90° sound pattern (normal stereo), while the rear mics are set for 120° (wide-field stereo). Almost unbeatable as a compact way to record sound fields during an investigation, and it's not much more expensive than the little pocket recorders that people carry around for taking notes.
The reason I went with the H4n is that it can record 4-channel with the two built in mics (selectable between 90° and 120°), as well as two external mic or line inputs at the same time. That feature gives me the ability to plug in either different types of microphones (besides the built-in electret condenser types), or as we tried at Wellington, external pickups like the SpeakJet talker box and the Tennessee Spirit Mike. I want to have the built-in mics and the externals all time-synched, so that if something comes through on the externals, we'll know what audible sounds were also occuring at the same time.
I've been looking at some fiber-optic mics that have no electronics in the mic, and are completely impervious to EMF (you can use them inside an MRI machine, which is about the strongest magnetic field this side of a particle accelerator). I'm also looking at some highly-directional shotgun mics.
So many gadgets, so little time…
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Attention everyone, the above-mentioned uber-tech geek will now weigh in…
I actually looked at the H2 originally, and if I was looking to make audio-only EVPs that would've been the way I'd have gone. It has 4-channel recording, but only on it's 4 built-in microphones. The front mics are set for a 90° sound pattern (normal stereo), while the rear mics are set for 120° (wide-field stereo). Almost unbeatable as a compact way to record sound fields during an investigation, and it's not much more expensive than the little pocket recorders that people carry around for taking notes.
The reason I went with the H4n is that it can record 4-channel with the two built in mics (selectable between 90° and 120°), as well as two external mic or line inputs at the same time. That feature gives me the ability to plug in either different types of microphones (besides the built-in electret condenser types), or as we tried at Wellington, external pickups like the SpeakJet talker box and the Tennessee Spirit Mike. I want to have the built-in mics and the externals all time-synched, so that if something comes through on the externals, we'll know what audible sounds were also occuring at the same time.
I've been looking at some fiber-optic mics that have no electronics in the mic, and are completely impervious to EMF (you can use them inside an MRI machine, which is about the strongest magnetic field this side of a particle accelerator). I'm also looking at some highly-directional shotgun mics.
So many gadgets, so little time…
Yay!!! More gadgets.
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Attention everyone, the above-mentioned uber-tech geek will now weigh in…
I actually looked at the H2 originally, and if I was looking to make audio-only EVPs that would've been the way I'd have gone. It has 4-channel recording, but only on it's 4 built-in microphones. The front mics are set for a 90° sound pattern (normal stereo), while the rear mics are set for 120° (wide-field stereo). Almost unbeatable as a compact way to record sound fields during an investigation, and it's not much more expensive than the little pocket recorders that people carry around for taking notes.
The reason I went with the H4n is that it can record 4-channel with the two built in mics (selectable between 90° and 120°), as well as two external mic or line inputs at the same time. That feature gives me the ability to plug in either different types of microphones (besides the built-in electret condenser types), or as we tried at Wellington, external pickups like the SpeakJet talker box and the Tennessee Spirit Mike. I want to have the built-in mics and the externals all time-synched, so that if something comes through on the externals, we'll know what audible sounds were also occuring at the same time.
I've been looking at some fiber-optic mics that have no electronics in the mic, and are completely impervious to EMF (you can use them inside an MRI machine, which is about the strongest magnetic field this side of a particle accelerator). I'm also looking at some highly-directional shotgun mics.
So many gadgets, so little time…
A mic impervious to EMF? That sounds quite intense!
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A mic impervious to EMF? That sounds quite intense!
It shines a laser down a fiber-optic cable, which reflects off of a non-mettalic diaphram, and returns down another fiber-optic cable. The diaphram vibrates with incoming sound, which changes it's reflective characteristics, which are converted to an electrical signal back in the sending unit. The sending unit can be thousands of feet from the microphone.
Great way to eliminate the "stray EMF" theory for EVPs, but I'm not sure if it'll fit in the ole' paranomal investigation budget.
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It shines a laser down a fiber-optic cable, which reflects off of a non-mettalic diaphram, and returns down another fiber-optic cable. The diaphram vibrates with incoming sound, which changes it's reflective characteristics, which are converted to an electrical signal back in the sending unit. The sending unit can be thousands of feet from the microphone.
Great way to eliminate the "stray EMF" theory for EVPs, but I'm not sure if it'll fit in the ole' paranomal investigation budget.
So, if I understand correctly, the H4 has the ability to record two additional channels in a 4 track setup? That would be great, especially if you can isolate channels in post processing. Oh, the possibilities…..Raudive diode on one channel, regular audio on two channels, umm perhaps speakjet on one channel….talk about flexibility.
I love the idea of an optical microphone, at ITCbridge.com there was some experimentation with lasers and optical mic's.
http://www.itcbridge.com/forum…..view_topic….amp;forum_id=32
and a link to Babcock's work (most of which is over my head):
http://www.worlditc.org/h_23_b…..mation.htm
Thanks
Andy
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So, if I understand correctly, the H4 has the ability to record two additional channels in a 4 track setup? That would be great, especially if you can isolate channels in post processing. Oh, the possibilities…..Raudive diode on one channel, regular audio on two channels, umm perhaps speakjet on one channel….talk about flexibility.
I love the idea of an optical microphone, at ITCbridge.com there was some experimentation with lasers and optical mic's.
http://www.itcbridge.com/forum…..view_topic….amp;forum_id=32
and a link to Babcock's work (most of which is over my head):
http://www.worlditc.org/h_23_b…..mation.htm
Thanks
Andy
The H4n creates two simultaneous stereo files when recording in 4-channel mode. I think the H4 does the same. The H4n is newer and more expensive, but it has a better mic setup and has USB 2.0 High-Speed data transfer rates. The flexibility rocks, which is why we got one. Your processing software will have to split the channels.
I'd love to play around with laser interferometry, but having done some of it for a living, it can be a bear to get set up properly in a lab much less at an investigation site.
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I just purchased both the Zoom H2 & Olympus DS-50 to test this weekend when I go to Gettysburg. I was completely torn between the for various reasons.
1-I couldn't find the mic freq response spec on the H2 anywhere!! Has anyone else found this? Let me know. Some have said if the company doesn't advertise it then it's probably not good thing.
2-I read some negative things about the Zoom H4 from those who have used it on investigations in the field; and for the money H2 was better. Plus H4 has options I feel I don't need. I do think the H4 mics are probably better (H2 v. H4).
3-I've read many times that you should use wav format whenever possible to avoid compression formats like mp3 and wma that may lend less credibility to your evidence. H2 records in wav & mp3 but a downfall is…
4-H2 claims a 4 hour battery life which is insane compared to the 30+ hrs of the DS-50. Although they both offer a plugin adapter! Definitely a plus!
5-I went with the DS-50 over the DS-40 because on Newegg.com they are essentially the same price.
6-One thing I didn't read until recently was the H2 supports a maximum file size of only 2gb. Which should be about 1 1/2hrs depending on your bit rate. It will take larger SCHC cards (16gb, etc.) of course but… I don't like file size limits.
I couldn't decide. So I bought them both! We shall see how they preform.
Any thoughts on this?
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I just purchased both the Zoom H2 & Olympus DS-50 to test this weekend when I go to Gettysburg. I was completely torn between the for various reasons.
1-I couldn't find the mic freq response spec on the H2 anywhere!! Has anyone else found this? Let me know. Some have said if the company doesn't advertise it then it's probably not good thing.
2-I read some negative things about the Zoom H4 from those who have used it on investigations in the field; and for the money H2 was better. Plus H4 has options I feel I don't need. I do think the H4 mics are probably better (H2 v. H4).
3-I've read many times that you should use wav format whenever possible to avoid compression formats like mp3 and wma that may lend less credibility to your evidence. H2 records in wav & mp3 but a downfall is…
4-H2 claims a 4 hour battery life which is insane compared to the 30+ hrs of the DS-50. Although they both offer a plugin adapter! Definitely a plus!
5-I went with the DS-50 over the DS-40 because on Newegg.com they are essentially the same price.
6-One thing I didn't read until recently was the H2 supports a maximum file size of only 2gb. Which should be about 1 1/2hrs depending on your bit rate. It will take larger SCHC cards (16gb, etc.) of course but… I don't like file size limits.
I couldn't decide. So I bought them both! We shall see how they preform.
Any thoughts on this?
Welcome to the forum!
I'll be interested to hear how the H2 performs. We love the H4. Yeah – it is bulky, but that's okay. I use the H4 DS40 combo regularly – we just used it the other day. We capture stuff on the H4, and I like it because it is much easier with the high def to discern ambient noise, etc. I have often ruled things out captured on other recorders that sound like genuine EVPs when I listen to the same clip on the H4 and realize it is something natural – like breathing, a bird, a bug or traffic noise, for instance. The H4 plays noise pollution type sounds very clearly so you can tell what they are.
I do have to say that for the money, the DS40 is one of the best audio recorders I've worked with. It picks up things quite clearly.
On the H4, we record everything in WAV format. I think it is a good option if it is available.
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