The Hand-held H2 Zoom Recorder - A Review

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While the Zoom Recorder isn't the very best handheld stereo recorder you can get I've seen a few professional models selling for 2 to 3 times as much. And even though its smaller in size (2.5 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches) the H2 Zoom has twice the number of onboard microphones as the others. Those are two reasons why they're selling a lot of them.

Pricetag:

It's list price was a little over $300 when it came out and places have been selling it for well under $200 lately and sometimes even cheaper.

These are a few of my favorite things:

Best all-around bang for your buck

Unique 360 degree 4 mic capsule feature

Small in-your-hand size - small in-your-wallet price

Two features not worth bragging about:

Screen is a little small.

It's audio limiter reacts on the slow side.

One of the most useful features for me with this Zoom Recorder is that it records both MP3 and WAV formats and in several different resolutions. Pro quality sound is available at 24-bit/96kHz when you need it. For a rehearsal you can use an mp3 setting so it's nice to have the option and save some memory if you want to.

This H2 Recorder works well for:

1. Seminars and conference goers.

2.Media at electronic news gatherings

3.Podcasters

4. Any music event

5. Songwriters

6. Rehearsals for bands

7. Rehearsals for theatre groups

The front grill on the Zoom Recorder is retro looking and very reminiscent of the classic 40's microphone look. There's plenty of the expected features most people are looking for and a few that are unexpected and even not very useful... unless you're a musician like me, in which case you'll also love the handy guitar tuner and metronome that are built-in.

You can download audio from it as well. It can be hard to edit on the small screen... just plug it into your usb and you can access it's editing functions on your computer.

The unique W-XY microphone pick-up patterns work like this: a front 90 degree cardioid, a rear 120 cardioid and a360 degree polar pattern.

Now that's the Zoom Recorder's unique multi microphone feature we're talking about, the 4 mics that can produce various kinds of surround sound recordings. A good example of how you could use the Zoom Recorder to record a 3 piece band rehearsal would be to simply put the recorder in the middle facing the drums and behind it to either side would be the guitar amp and the bass amp, giving you a surround sound recording.

Other related products from Zoom are the H4 Zoom Hand Held Digital recorder with even more features and a bigger price tag and the H1 Zoom, which is the smallest of the "H" line with even less features and a much lower price tag as well.

For the price range this little hand held digital recorder will do the trick!

About the Author:
Learn more about the H2 Zoom Recorder and other digital recording devices at Your Home Recording Studio.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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