Question: There are so many reviews spread around the web about the Zoom H4N, some of them praise this recorder, other say some things about bad preamps, hissy mics etc...

Who has had experiences with this device? Would you recommend it? How are the internal mics? I am thinking about going out into the woods to record ambient sounds. 
I also like the multi-track feature and would like to use external mics, too.

Answer: 
I'm not a huge fan of the built in mics on any of the smaller recorders but in a pinch they can do the job. My small discrete rig is the SONY PCM-M10 with a sounddevices MP2 mixer as a front end. The entire package fits into a tiny hip pack.
I did some comparisons (Zoom H1, H2, H4n, and Sony D-50) and really the Sony PCM D-50 is the best what You can get from a handheld recorder.

Just take a look at these samples:

<http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-sound-samples.html>