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 bought the recorder and only have one major grievance with it: each different mode is limited with a different bit/sample rate as opposed to them all being able to record up to 24bit 96kHz broadcast wav. It goes like this:

Stereo: max 24bit 96kHz wav
4 Channel: max 24bit 48Khz wav
multitrack: 16bit 44.1kHz wav

As I bought it to get into field recording I was slightly disappointed with the multitrack option being on 16/44.1 as I had hoped this would have allowed me to record in mono using my NTG-2 at 24/96. HOWEVER I improvised a work around: If you want to record 1 or 2 mono tracks using the XLR inputs, record in 'Stereo' mode with inputs 1/2 selected to get your 24/96 and then separate the stereo file into left and right tracks later (I use Snapper to quickly do this) which will produce your two mono tracks e.g. input 1 = left track, 2 = right. Not ideal but good for those of us with lower budgets or whom are just getting started.

Also the software updates now allow for individual adjustment of the record levels of the mics (e.g. can set mic 1 at rec. lvl 70 and mic 2 at rec. lvl 50) as opposed to this being fixed as the same for both XLR inputs which it previously was making my previous work around even more viable. When using the inputs press the rec. lvl button on the side and then input 1 or 2 to select which input level you wish to change before going back to the rec. lvl button on the side to then adjust.

Here's the link for the updates:

<http://www.zoom.co.jp/downloads/h4n/software/>

From the other reviews it would also appear that I ran into the 1/4 -10dB problem when trying to use a hydrophone with it. I found the levels very quiet and in some cases it was necessary to turn the rec. level up to 100 (when recording stiller water generally).

Despite all that I do find it to be a generally good recorder and all I'd say was just compare it to what you will be using it for before diving in. All in all though, for what it is, thumbs up!
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>