Zoom H2 flash recorder
Kevin Van Sant
I started reading about this back in early spring or maybe sooner,
placed my order in April then Zoom delayed getting it out. Finally
they started shipping and I got mine today.
First impressions from messing around with it are very good. I just
recorded some solo guitar to experiment with the different mic
configurations. I'll take it to a couple of gigs over the next few
days and see how it does.
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916
I've been wanting something like this to replace my minidisc for a few
years. With one 2GB SD card I can record a full 3 hour gig in
uncompressed wav format. It's very small and has a handy little
stand. Got mine for $170 when I ordered back in April but I think
it's $200 everywhere now.
_________________________________________
Kevin Van Sant
http://www.kevinvansant.com
CDs, videos, mp3s, gigs, pics, lessons, info.
Gerry
> I started reading about this back in early spring or maybe sooner,
> placed my order in April then Zoom delayed getting it out. Finally
> they started shipping and I got mine today.
>
> First impressions from messing around with it are very good. I just
> recorded some solo guitar to experiment with the different mic
> configurations. I'll take it to a couple of gigs over the next few
> days and see how it does.
>
> http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916
>
> I've been wanting something like this to replace my minidisc for a few
> years. With one 2GB SD card I can record a full 3 hour gig in
> uncompressed wav format. It's very small and has a handy little
> stand. Got mine for $170 when I ordered back in April but I think
> it's $200 everywhere now.
Very interesting. I figure that it's overkill for this task alone, but
can you easily put it in a pocket to do periodic voice-memos, project
planning, and that sort of stuff?
--
///---
Kevin Van Sant
wrote in message <2007082313514175249-somewhere@sunnycalif> :
here's a picture of one in someone's well manicured hand to give you a
perspective of scale
http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/images/zoom-h2-hand.jpg
It's about the same size as a lot of pocket cameras.
Morey Richman
"Kevin Van Sant" <kvan...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:5aprc31q7l3fodb5f...@4ax.com...
>
> I started reading about this back in early spring or maybe sooner,
> placed my order in April then Zoom delayed getting it out. Finally
> they started shipping and I got mine today.
>
> First impressions from messing around with it are very good. I just
> recorded some solo guitar to experiment with the different mic
> configurations. I'll take it to a couple of gigs over the next few
> days and see how it does.
>
> http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916
>
> I've been wanting something like this to replace my minidisc for a few
> years. With one 2GB SD card I can record a full 3 hour gig in
> uncompressed wav format. It's very small and has a handy little
> stand. Got mine for $170 when I ordered back in April but I think
> it's $200 everywhere now.
>
Please let us know how it sounds, I've been very interested in this device
too - better yet, can you upload something that you find reprentative of its
quality when you get a chance? (I realize resolution won't be comparable).
Is there any way you can hook up external mics or are you stuck with the
internal ones?
Tone
> "Kevin Van Sant" <kvans...@pobox.com> wrote in messagenews:5aprc31q7l3fodb5f...@4ax.com...
I got tired of waiting and found its big brother H4 somewhere (same
day music?) 6 wks ago for $250 shipped. Bigger - more like the length
of a eyeglass case - and 4 track recording and a bunch of other stuff
I don't need, but for people who want to use external mics it does
have jacks. This may too though...
Paul
On 8/23/07 7:39 PM, in article
1187912355....@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com, "Tone"
<a.ko...@computer.org> wrote:
Me too. I'm very satisfed with the H4, although all its features are much
more than I need. I just push the button to start recording, and push again
to stop. USB to computer.
Not a problem until I lent it to a friend and had to find the manual so I
could "unchange" all the settings he had changed.
Assuming the H2 is similar when it comes to recoding in .wav (or mp3)
format, I recommend it. Kevin: is the memory integrated or did you buy an SD
memory card? One mistake I made when I bought the H4 was I got the 1GB which
will hold 90 miutes of wav at 44k. Enough for most gigs, provided you
remember to turn it off during the break. I wish I had gotten the 2GB card,
and will get one soon.
Paul K.
Paul
Ill add that one huge advantage the H4 has over the H2 is that the H4 looks
like a Taser: some dude gets too close to my archtop and I just grab the H4
and tell him to back away: well worth the extra 70$, IMHO
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1901
Paul
da...@redstoneaudio.com
wrote:
Kevin, please post some clips! And like where you mount it.
dave
Kevin Van Sant
message <C2F3AC1F.52525%pa...@none.edu> :
>Assuming the H2 is similar when it comes to recoding in .wav (or mp3)
>format, I recommend it. Kevin: is the memory integrated or did you buy an SD
>memory card? One mistake I made when I bought the H4 was I got the 1GB which
>will hold 90 miutes of wav at 44k. Enough for most gigs, provided you
>remember to turn it off during the break. I wish I had gotten the 2GB card,
>and will get one soon.
I think the H4 has more bells and whistles that most of us looking for
a gig/practice/field recorder probably don't have any use for. The H2
is just a straight forward 2 track recorder, though it does have a
more sophisticated mic array (I won't try to explain... just read
about the onboard mic options) It does still have an input for an
external mic. Tomorrow I'll experiment with comparing the onboard
mics to my Rode NT-4 stereo mic. The memory is SD card. My camera
and Treo both use SD cards too so I already have a few extra. But
they're so cheap now anyway, I bought a pair of 2GB cards a few months
ago for $30 each. What I don't know is if the H2 supports 4GB cards.
But 2 gigs will do three hours uncompressed so I can record most gigs
without swapping the card out.
I taped a little bit of a guitar/piano duo gig tonight... Very easy to
use... sounds better than my mini-disc.
I'm going to tape some more gigs over the weekend. I'll post some
samples later.
David J. Littleboy
"Kevin Van Sant" <kvan...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> I think the H4 has more bells and whistles that most of us looking for
> a gig/practice/field recorder probably don't have any use for. The H2
> is just a straight forward 2 track recorder, though it does have a
> more sophisticated mic array (I won't try to explain... just read
> about the onboard mic options) It does still have an input for an
> external mic.
I wonder, though, if the two mics on the H4 are better mics than the
multiple mics on the H2. If that were the case, it would make the H4 would
be more attractive here.
> Tomorrow I'll experiment with comparing the onboard
> mics to my Rode NT-4 stereo mic. The memory is SD card. My camera
> and Treo both use SD cards too so I already have a few extra. But
> they're so cheap now anyway, I bought a pair of 2GB cards a few months
> ago for $30 each.
As opposed to the over US$400 my 4GB card set me back two years ago...
> I'm going to tape some more gigs over the weekend. I'll post some
> samples later.
Looking forward to hearing them.
David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan
Kevin Van Sant
<dav...@gol.com> wrote in message
<VI6dndT7W9bDwFPb...@giganews.com> :
>I wonder, though, if the two mics on the H4 are better mics than the
>multiple mics on the H2. If that were the case, it would make the H4 would
>be more attractive here.
I have a couple of friends who have the H4, at some point I'll try to
put the H2 and H4 side by side and record something to compare. My
guess is they will sound the same. But I also expect my Rode mic
will sound better... but we'll see.
Kevin Van Sant
<moreyr...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
<9Hmzi.84872$rX4.40644@pd7urf2no> :
I just did some testing of the different sample rates and the internal
vs external (Rode NT-4) mics.
All I did was mic the L5 unplugged playing the same tune recoding at
44/16 44/24 and 96/24, and 256mp3.
Comparing the different sampling rates, the 96/24 is audibly cleaner
than 44/16 but probably in part because I'm listening for it. If I
was to set up a bunch of mics in my living room and use the H2 as the
recording device for a serious demo then sure, 96/24. May as well.
But for taping gigs with all the other flaws and noises you're going
to get, 44/16 is fine. Definitely the mp3 sounded worse, more
squashed. However I also converted the 44/16 wav to 256 mp3 on my
computer with the Lame encoder and it sounded much better than the H2
created mp3. Almost indistinguishable from the wav file. So I think
the mp3 encoder in the H2 just isn't as good.
The only reason to record to mp3 would be that you can get hours and
hours on one SD card. So maybe if you were at a weeklong music
festival and wanted to record many concerts. Otherwise, I see myself
just using 44/16 wav to tape gigs. I found out I can use a 4 GB card
(under $50 these days) so that will give me 6 hours. It's also so
easy to plug in USB and transfer the files over to the computer.
That's what I hated about mini-disc, you had to transfer in real time
out the headphone jack and it had to go through D/A conversion twice
in the process.
As for the mics, the Rode does sound better, more open and natural.
In comparison the internal mics are a little plastic sounding (for
lack of a better way to say it) But that observation only came about
during comparison. When I listed to a little bit of the gig from last
night or to just the internal mic test tracks I thought it sounded
great. It's certainly not a big enough difference to warrant the
extra trouble of bringing and setting up an external mic.
None of my gigs until Sept 1 have drums, that's the one I'm most
curious to hear. But the early verdict is: highly recommended!
Gerry
> I think the H4 has more bells and whistles that most of us looking for
> a gig/practice/field recorder probably don't have any use for.
Would those bells and whistles include (for either) one of those
attenuater things that allow you to take loud music and still have some
lattitude in your recording volume?
I supposed I could hunt down a pdf of the manual and know all the
myriad options...
--
///---
Kevin Van Sant
wrote in message <200708240912168930-somewhere@sunnycalif> :
The link in my original post is to the main product page, probably get
all your answers there. But yes, there are 3 mic gain levels, plus
adjustable recording levels within each of the three. There is also
an onboard compressor/limiter and auto-gain control feature but I
doubt I'll ever use those. The regular level adjustments are all I
envision needing. You don't really want to use any of the processing
stuff on devices like this, it will always be weaker than what you can
do in a dedicated audio program on your PC.
paul
up. just to confirm, for the extra memory it's this kind of card:
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Secure-Digital-Memory-Card/dp/B000J47W12/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-9536452-1499923?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1188014955&sr=1-1
right?
Kevin Van Sant
in message <1188015048.1...@z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com> :
yes, SD cards like that one. But you might want to get one that is
labeled as "high speed". Also, you may as well get a 4GB card.
The other thing I recommend is getting a battery charger and NiMH
batteries. There is an AC adaptor included or it takes two AA's.
Battery life is about 4 hours of recording with regular alkalines.
Should be at about 2x that with the NiMH batteries.
paul
>
> yes, SD cards like that one. But you might want to get one that is
> labeled as "high speed". Also, you may as well get a 4GB card.
>
> The other thing I recommend is getting a battery charger and NiMH
> batteries. There is an AC adaptor included or it takes two AA's.
> Battery life is about 4 hours of recording with regular alkalines.
> Should be at about 2x that with the NiMH batteries.
>
cool, thanks for the tips. looking forward to hearing some clips. that
rode you recommended has been a great mic for me btw, I'm recording a
string quartet with it in a couple of weeks.
rayray
According to this blog, one of the guys got an 8GB SDHC card to work in
the H2:
http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2007/04/zoom_h2_digital_recorder_detai.html
And according to the following link, the SanDisk ULTRA II 2GB SD was
recommended for the previously released H4 product because of the 9ms
write time, but the newer SDHC cards supposedly didn't work:
http://www.sonicstudios.com/zoomh4rv.htm#spectrum
My local Costco has the Sandisk Ultra II SDHC 4GB (SDSDRH-4096-901) with
a USB reader included for $60. I'm thinking about calling Zoom's
customer service to check what cards are compatible with the H2. The H2
looks like a great product.
rayray
paul
>
> http://www.sonicstudios.com/zoomh4rv.htm#spectrum
>
great links, thanks ray
Paul
On 8/25/07 1:51 PM, in article
1188064306.3...@l22g2000prc.googlegroups.com, "paul"
<pcsa...@gmail.com> wrote:
That link is quite negative about the H4. Had I seen it before I bought my
H4, I might not have gotten it. Nevertheless, I am completely satisfied
with it, and don't hear the noise this guy says makes the unit unsusable. I
get no clipping (provided I remember to set the level appropriately).
I wonder if there was a problem with the firmware that zoom corrected later.
I'm not a real hi-fi freak, however, and maybe those with more sensitive
ears would be dissatisfied. I've never used the other functions (4 track
recorder, USB interface), maybe that's where the trouble is.
Paul K.