Jump to content

Zoom H2, $159


LiveMusic

Recommended Posts

  • Moderators

The H2 completely changed the way I work preproduction. It sounds great recording in a small cheesy rehearsal space or a big industrial space. It's cake to load into a computer for editing ideas together and burn CDs.

 

I know all this has been available for a while now but not at this price. Get one!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I ordered one yesterday...I have never had anything like this since my ADAT years ago, but the more I thought about the 'getting things done' aspect of it, I can toss it in my case, take it out, get a good recording...I figured it is worth it because I definitely suffer from gear it-us when I try to write ( write, start messing with software, night is gone, nothing done)..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

One of these would make a pretty good adjunct for those of us with non-pro video cams that don't have a proper line in or mic in. The fact that it captures 4 channel surround could open up even more possibilities for documentary type vid work at the low, low end. (I guess. Me, I took down my surround rig off my TV because I found I hate surround sound on TV and movies. It totally takes me out of the movie.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The H2 is a great unit, unbelievable for the price. I'm taking mine to record the job tonight; it's always good to be able to listen and see what I need to work on! Just set it up in front of the bandstand, turn it on and let it go. Great quality with no distortion, even when being set up close to the stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • CMS Author

 

I just lost my H4 !!!!

About a week ago, I left it in a taxi cab along with a digital camera in Italy !!!!!

 

Well, at least you were the one who lost it. A friend of mine had his camera (back in the days of film cameras) stolen when he was stopped at a crosswalk. A thief slit the shoulder strap of his camera bag and ran with it before he realized what had happened.

 

Now you have an opportunity to replace it with an H4N. Or a second chance to choose an H2 if you want something smaller and don't need all the features of the H4. Or wait a few months for the two new TASCAM models to arrive, one downscale from their original DR-1 (competitive in price with the Zoom H2) and the other upscale a bit.

 

How was the food?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Awesome question, Mike..:)

 

Food in Italy...Sigh...

 

I just got my H2 on Friday...initially, pretty cool, thought the flash card is DOA. Menu's are complicated, but Zoom has a history of this..the audio quality thus far is pretty damn impressive given what it is and what it costs...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • CMS Author

 

I just got my H2 on Friday...initially, pretty cool, thought the flash card is DOA. Menu's are complicated

 

There's a lot that you can ignore in the menus once you decide what you're going to do with it and what you aren't. When you get the hang of it, you'll find that there are really only a few things you'll need to use the menus for, but if you're like me, you'll use then infrequently enough so that you'll forget just which menu item to look under. I rarely use more than Record Mode and File. I record everything in the same folder to avoid having to remember which folder to use, and I never use the AGC (though it's not really all that bad.

 

What you should experiment with pretty quickly and learn is how to set the record level properly. Leave the Record Volume at 100. If the level is too high, then use the attenuator switch to drop it. Unless you plan to use the H2 for playback, there's no need to boost the level after attenuating, you can do that on a computer, and probably do it better.

 

But if you find that you have to lower the record level with the volume control in order to keep the meters below full scale, there's a very good chance that, even though you won't clip the A/D converter, the analog input stage will clip, meaning that your record meters will look right but your recording will still be distorted. Plug in a set of headphones and listen to what happens when you don't have sufficient attenuation between the input and A/D converter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My problem with the menu is the postage stamp sized screen.

Very hard to read.

 

I found myself the other day trying to remember where the

menu to switch the backlight on was.

This was at night in a dimly lit home studio.

 

I was delving through the menus with a pair of magnifying

glasses on when the "Flat Battery" warning came up,

so I gave up for that evening... forgot to bring spare batteries..

 

I'm still very impressed with the unit though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • CMS Author

 

My problem with the menu is the postage stamp sized screen.

Very hard to read.

 

When you get old like me, you learn to take off your glasses and put it a couple of inches from your eye . . and carry a flashlight.

 

This is a problem with tiny, complicated things. There's just no getting around it. The new H4N has a screen that's larger and easier to read, but it costs $200 more (and does more too).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...