Zoom PS04 Palmtop Studio 4-Track Recorder

4-track recorder uses Smartmedia flash rom. Includes 93 effects, drum/bass machine & built-in mic preamp.

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Zoom H4 Handy Recorder

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Introducing the H4 Handy Digital Recorder. The next big thing from Zoom. The H4 features 2 studio-quality electret condenser microphones configured in an X/Y pattern for true stereo recording. It also includes 2 combination XLR-1/4 in. input jacks with phantom power for use with any external microphones of your choice. And the H4 is loaded with onboard studio effects such as compression, limiting and mic modeling. An 1/8 in. headphone jack is also provided for monitoring. The H4 records on to Secure Digital (SD) media, a 512MB SD card is included with the unit. Learn More...

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customer reviews

Rate and Review This Product:

292 People rated this product : * * * * * * * * * * 7 out of 10

26 People wrote reviews

* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

"THE MAGIC BOX"

Feature:
Zoom has this tendency and I have used a lot of their stuff: They pack a little bit of all sorts of stuff into one item. It can be a live guitar tool, a recording tool, a goofy little drum machine to dink around with, a microphone, or a mastering station. I like having so many things to play around with, and when I had mine, I was travelling a lot and this, my guitar, bass and hand drum were all I had with me and I liked that it still allowed me to experiment around with so many different idea angles to come from whenever I got bored. As a recorder/mixer it does what its meant to, and a lot of the guitar effects are really fun to play with (a lot of them are useless too, but thats why they let you program it). I would have given it a 10 except the drum/bass machine is not intuitive enough to get a good vibe from unless you WANT it to sound like a drum machine.

Quality:
I lived with this thing in a backpack for 3 years and the only things that ever failed on it were the data dial started skipping and became harder to just twirl to get where you want when selecting effects - that and one of the volume sliders lost its cap. It saw a heck of a lot of abuse in the time I had it and toughed it out until I sold it a couple months ago. We used to call it "The Magic Box".

Value:
Other than the card issue, there is nothing I DON'T like about the magic box.

Desirability:
It was 'The Magic Box' and the center of my band's creative outlets for 3 years as travelling musicians. I miss it very much. I'm sad that it became obsolete because of media format. Still... I miss The Magic Box and would get another one when I have the opportunity. I can deal with the card problem, it just frustrates me.

Sound:
I enjoyed a lot of the gtar amp sims... especially the rect-big and beatle sounds. I wasn't too impressed with a lot of other ones, but really I only use a couple of tones anyways. I liked having access to so many options though. The bass sim is laughable but I didn't want it for that, and the drum machine sounds like... well... it sounds like a drum machine. I guess it works if you want to make cheesy pop or simplistic beat music but its no sub for real drums. The internal mic is absolutely awesome in my opinion, but careful it will pop if used for close in singing. decent mic technique is a must. I usually used it on hi-gain setting from 2-3 feet away rather than closing in on it. One last thing - and this makes the whole thing seem worth it to me... the MASTERING and SEND effects are so easy to use and a lot of them drasticly improve your end mix. By the end of my stint with this thing, I no longer used it for 4-tracking, but just input my mix externally, added a hint of verb and dialed thru the preset mastering until I found something tight. It was extremely easy to get a good semi-pro final result like this.

Ease of Use:
If you aren't dumb, you'll get the hang of it quick enough. Well - some aspects of it. The learning curve is pretty steep at first unless you are just recording, overdubbing and mixing using the presets. When you start digging around with track editing, bouncing, cutting and pasting, drum programming and so on, it's good to have your manual handy for reference. It isn't "ease" of use - but after a while the book becomes less and less necessary.

Support:
The data cards it uses no longer exist. You are stuck with the card that came with it. Sad really because everything about this little thing is so cool except for that. I hope they reissue it using a more updated format for storage. I am pondering getting another one just for all it's other handy little gadgets. But as a standalone recording studio it is no longer viable because you will run out of card space before you get to your final bounces. You'll have to have something outboard to mix onto unless you use lo-fi mode, use very few tracks, or delete each project once it's finished.

Overall:
I think I've pretty much summed it up already. lose a point for the data problem, lose a point for the silly drum machine (but only 1 point - because its still a programmable drum machine - it's just hard to use and I'm lazy about meticulous programming)

Submitted: 6/2/2007

Style of Music: shao-lin temple style ultramodern uber-rock

* * * * * * * * * * 9 out of 10

Feature:
The best feature is that it's tiny. That means I can keep it with me all the time and when the muse arrives I'm ready to go.

Quality:
For what it is, it's laughingly good sounding.

Value:
For the price, what more do you want?

Sound:
Amazingly good quality built-in mic for the size of this unit. Could use a bit more input gain.

Ease of Use:
Could be layed out better but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Support:
N/A

Overall:
I looked around a bit before buying this. The size, sound quality and multi-track ability were most important to me. I wanted something I could use to jot down song ideas and vocal arrangements quickly and painlessly. This unit has turned out to be perfect for that! One thing I hate about it though is that it uses a Smart Media card. What? You can't even find these dinosaurs anymore.

Submitted: 2/6/2007

Style of Music: Alternative, Jazz

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About This Product!
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Zoom really smart concept #1 - Your ideas and talent travel with you so why shouldn't your idea and talent recorder? Zoom really smart concept #2 - the new Zoom PS04 Palmtop Studio is a hand-held, completely portable, totally amazing, 4 audio track digital recorder with internal stereo drum tracks, a bass track, multi-effects, and recording microphone. The PS04 features 4 audio tracks each with 10 virtual tracks and editing tools like bounce, copy, auto-manual punch in-out, and trim. It provides 2-track simultaneous recording with 65 minutes storage on a 128MB Smart Media Card (mono Hi-Fi mode). Its programmable drum-bass machine has 7 drum kits, 6 bass sounds, and 190 internal patterns. Other features include Zoom's "FAST" assisted song rhythm programming, EQ & Pan on each track, individual track effects send-return with 94 internal effects including amp modeling, bass, vocal and mixdown effects (6 effects simultaneously), and a very high quality condenser mic with preamp for recording vocals and acoustic instruments (mic can be routed to the internal chromatic tuner).

PS-04 SmartMedia Non-Compatible Brands:
FUJIFILM
HAGIWARA SYS-COM
ADTEC

The PS04 is extremely easy to operate - level meters, status, and all functions display on a large, easy to read back-lit LCD. Free Card manager software (downloadable) lets you move your Smart Card recording to your computer using a standard USB Memory card reader and converts your recording to WAV/AIFF files. 32MB Smart Media card included. Operates over 5 hours on 4 AA alkaline batteries (10 hrs. with display backlight off) or with optional 9 volt AC adapter.

Features:
4 audio tracks, each with 10 virtual tracks

93 versatile effects including vintage amp modeling

Programmable drum/bass machine with FAST method

Audio track editing: Copy/paste/erase/, punch-in/out, bounce tracks

High-quality built-in mic with preamp

SmartMedia for file management with Windows and Mac computers

Over 10 hours operating time on 4 AA batteries (display backlight off)

A recording wonder in the palm of your hand
The PS-04 is a fully-functional 4-track recorder, mixer, multi-effect device, drum & bass machine.

The PS-04 has everything you need to record whenever you want, wherever you want. Take it everywhere you go. When inspiration strikes, the PS-04 is always ready.

4-Track Recorder
The PS-04 is more than just a 4-track recorder
Record 2 tracks simultaneously, and using the virtual tracks record up to 40 tracks. Choose your best 4 takes for mixing. Recording time with the supplied 32 MB SmartMedia card is 32 minutes. But you can use a 128MB card for up to 134 minutes (Long mode). Plug in guitars, mics, any instruments. Or use the built-in condenser mic to record your tracks.

Digital track editing and lossless bouncing for unsurpassed flexibility
Use the convenient digital functions such as copy & paste, move, or erase to touch up details or rearrange the entire song. The marker function lets you specify up to 100 points for instant navigation in a song. Automatic and manual punch-in/out lets you smoothly re-record parts of a track. Bounce multiple takes onto a target track. This lets you record the sound from all tracks including the rhythm accompaniment on a stereo pair of virtual takes. Use the trimming function to snip off mute parts at the beginning and end of a track and complete final-mix.

Multi Effects
87 insert effects including amp modeling
The PS-04 boasts a palette of 87 amazing ZOOM effects. Effects are configured in five modules: Dynamics/Compressor, Distortion, ZNR (ZOOM Noise Reduction), 3-band Equalizer, and Modulation/Ambience. 20 types of amp modeling sounds are also provided. 170 effect patches are categorized by input types into guitar/bass, mic and line. The DUAL effect patch with fully separate channels is ideal for recording guitar and vocals at the same time, because you can use the mic preamp in one channel and a compressor in the other. The innovative ARRM (Auto-Repeat Real-time Modulation) feature synchronized to the built-in rhythm produces truly unique sounds and also functions as automatic pedal-wah or pedal-pitch.

Send / Return ambient effects
In addition to the insert effect, the PS-04 has a Send/Return effect that can be used for the entire song, while controlling send level for each track. Four types of Reverb (Hall, Room, Spring, Plate) as well as Chorus and Delay are available. 30 immediately useful preprogrammed effect patches can be selected, to simulate a concert hall or live venues, to add chorus optimized for vocals or guitar, or to introduce analog delay.

Mastering effects for final mixdown
Multi-band compressor, Normalizer, stereo-enhancing Dimension and other dedicated effects provide you with the tools that are essential for effective mastering work. 14 preset patches encompassing the know-how of seasoned sound engineers let you polish your final mix to a quality level rivaling commercial CDs.

Highly Versitile Tuner
In addition to the integrated auto-chromatic tuner which detects notes in semitone steps, a versatile guitar/bass tuner that lets you specify the string for precise tuning can also be selected. 7-string guitar, open chord, and other unusual tuning functions are readily available. You can even use the built-in mic to tune acoustic instruments.

Mixer
7 tracks simultaneous playback, 2-band semi-parametric EQ for each track
The built-in mixer handles a total of seven tracks simultaneously: 4 audio tracks + stereo drum track + mono bass track. Input channels include a Hi-Z input with gain control, stereo line inputs, and the built-in mic. Freely combine any two signals, and optimize each instrument sound by individually adjusting a 2-band parametric equalizer, effect send level and panning for each channel. For stereo sources, track parameters can be linked. All mixer settings are automatically saved when you complete a project, for instant recall at any time.

Rhythm Machine
346 preset patterns, seven drum kits and five bass sounds
The PS-04 features the same high-quality PCM drum sounds made famous by the ZOOM RhythmTrak drum machines series. Seven drum kits and five bass sounds are built-in. The drum kits range from rock/jazz drums with an acoustic feel to vintage rhythm machine type sounds. Bass sound sources are finger, pick, and slap. The 346 preset patterns run the gamut from Rock and Pop, Jazz, Blues to Dance with a groove, world music and more. Choose phrase variations such as intro, fill and ending to create incredibly professional sounding songs.

Create your original patterns
The PS-04 lets you program up to 511 custom rhythm patterns. Using the status keys on the faders as a drum pad, you can record patterns in real time or use step input for complex programming tasks. To create your original bass lines, the bass sound sources can be assigned in a major or minor scale or in other popular patterns such as Root / 3rd / 5th / 6th or Root / 3rd / 5th / Oct. Fader controlled velocity input is also supported, resulting in a rhythm song that is entirely your own creation.

FAST + STEP input for efficient song programming
Making rhythm song building even easier, the PS-04 features FAST (Formula Assisted Song Translator) programming. It lets you build rhythm patterns by entering simple numeric formulas. The result is then written out as a song in one operation. For example, to create a rhythm song that plays pattern 010 8 times and then repeats pattern 020 16 times, simply enter 10 x 8 + 20 x 16 and you're done. Once the patterns for a song have been lined up, you can further polish and improve your creation by programming bass chord information with STEP input, entering tempo changes, inserting fill-in or swapping certain patterns.

Interface
High-sensitivity electric condenser mic built-in
The on-mic gain setting of the microphone is great for recording vocals or acoustic guitar, while the off-mic setting lets you capture a band live, or in a rehearsal. By using the optional mic stand adapter to mount the unit to a mic stand, precise mic placement is possible.

Import/Export WAV/AIFF files
If you have a personal computer with a SmartMedia card reader/writer, you can use the free PS-04 Card Manager Software* to import and export audio data of each track using the WAV or AIFF file formats. This opens up a wealth of possibilities such as editing with DAW software or distributing music on the Internet. By backing up project data on the computer, you can re-use existing SmartMedia cards.

Data exchange capability with PS-02
Audio data that have been saved on a SmartMedia card with the PS-02 can be loaded into the PS-04. This is a great way to utilize your PS-02 audio collections.

Intuitive interface for truly smart operation
Using the controls of the PS-04 feels like editing on a console with sliders. Selecting menus and changing parameter values is a snap thanks to the intuitive cursor key and dial knob arrangement. The backlit LCD panel is extremely easy to read. All aspects of the user interface are designed to enhance ease of operation.

Bring this palm sized unit everywhere
The battery-saving circuitry helps the unit operate more than ten hours on a set of four size AA batteries. Its handy size lets you take the PS-04 anywhere you please. Use the optional belt clip to attach the unit to your belt or guitar strap, and presto--you have a wearable recording tool.

Technical Info

Recorder
Projects: Maximum 100

Physical Tracks: 4

Virtual Tracks: 40 (10 Virtual takes / track)

Simultaneous Recording Tracks: 2

Data Card: Smart Media (3.3V, 16~128MB)

Max. Recording Time (32MB SmartMedia, converted to monaural track): 16minutes (HI-FI) / 32minutes (LONG)

Marker: 100 points

A-B Repeat: 1block section

Location Display: Min / Sec / m-Sec, Measure / Beat

Track Edit: Copy, Move, Erase, Trim, Exchange, Bounce

Punch In/Out: Manual and Automatic

Mixer
Input Channel: 9 channels (7tracks + 2inputs)

Simultaneous Playback Tracks: 7 (4audio + stereo drum + bass)

Track Parameters: Equalizer, Effect Send, Pan (Balance)

Equalizer: High (f: 500-8000Hz, Gain: +/-12dB), Low(f: 63-2000Hz, Gain: +/-12dB)

Stereo Link: Track 1&2 or Track 3&4

Effect
Algorithms: 5 (Guitar / Bass, Mic, Dual, Line, Mastering)

Effect Modules: 5 for Insert, 1 for Send/Return

Effect Types: 87 for Insert, 6 for Send/Return

Effect Patches: 170 for Insert, 40 for Send/Return

Tuner Mode: Auto chromatic, Guitar, Bass, Open A/D/E/G, D modal

Rhythm
Data Format: 16-bit linear PCM

Drum Kits: 7

Bass Programs: 5

Voices: Drum 5, Bass 1

Resolution: 48PPQN

Odd Meter: 1/4-8/4

Rhythm Song: 1 / project, 999 measures / song

Rhythm Patterns: 511 / project, 99 measures / pattern

Maximum Note: Approx.10000 / song

Tempo: 40.0-250.0BPM

General
Hi-Z Input: 1/4 in. phone jack (Rated input level: -50dBm < Variable < +4dBm, Input impedance: 16k ohms < Variable < 1M ohms)

Line Input: 1/8 in. stereo jack (Rated input level: -20dBm, Input impedance: 10k ohms)

Built-in Mic: Omni-directional condenser electrostatic microphone

Line Output: 1/4 in. stereo phone jack (Rated output level: +3dBm, Output load impedance: 10k ohms or higher)

Headphone Output: 1/8 in. stereo phone jack (50mW into 32 ohms load)

A/D Conversion: 20-bit, 64times oversampling

D/A Conversion: 20-bit, 8times oversampling

Sampling Frequency: 31.25kHz

Display: 42 x 26mm original LCD, with backlight

Power Requirements: AA size (LR6) battery x 4 (optional), or AC adaptor DC9V/300mA / Center minus type (optional, AD-0006 recommended)

Battery Life: approx. 10 hours (display backlight off)

Dimensions: 85(W) x 133(D) x 36(H)mm

Weight: 160g (without batteries)

Supplied Accessories: 32MB SmartMedia

Optional Accessories: MA-01 (Mic stand adaptor), BC-01 (Belt clip), AD-0006 (AC adaptor), AA size battery

* 0 dB = 0.775 Vrms
Index card-sized 4-track with 87 effects, 20 amp models, plus an internal drum and bass machine! Plug your guitar, bass, or dynamic mic into its 1/4" input, or leave your mic at home and use its built-in condenser mic to record with zero setup. Connect stereo sources to its minijack input. Record 2 tracks simultaneously. With up to 10 virtual takes per track, you're free to try out new ideas without committing. Edit easily with copy, move, erase, and trim functions. Store your music on a SmartMedia card (32 MB card included). Take the PS04 wherever you go--just pop in 4 AA batteries for 10 hours of power. Roughly the size of a 3 x 5" index card and only 1-1/2" thick, you gotta get one!

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