Zoom Recorder Any Good? Read The H2 Zoom Review

The H2 Zoom's front screen grill is very cool looking, reminding me of an old classic studio condenser microphone from the 40's or 50's. There are 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 enjoy the handy guitar tuner and metronome that are built-in.

The H2 Zoom Recorder isn't the best recorder on the market yet it's competing with pro models selling for three times as much. It's quite small (2.5 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches) but this Zoom Recorder is equipped with double the microphones as its competitors. Those are two reasons why they're selling a lot of them.

The Cost

It went for around 300 bucks when it first came out but now you can get it for well under 200.

Top reasons why I like it so much

Unique 360 degree 4 mic capsule feature - Best all-around bang for your buck-Nice on your wallet and also small in your hand!

Two things I didn't like about

• Screen is a little small.
• Built-in limiter is a little slow to react

An impressive feature though is the H2 Recorder's ability to take MP3 and WAV formats and record them in several different size resolutions. So, for those important events you can select the pro audio setting of 24-bit/96kHz. Use the low memory mp3 resolution for the not-so-important events and save that memory.

The H2 Zoom will be more suited for

• Songwriters
• Rehearsals
  
• Bands
• News Media
• Podcasters
• Concert goers
• Drama groups
• Anyone that wants to record seminars & conferences

Of course audio can be downloaded from it too. Sometimes in a tiny machine like this it can be difficult to do some of the editing tasks you eventually need to get done... no problem, just plug it into the USB port on your computer to work more comfortably with all the editing functions on your big screen.

Its distinctive microphone patterns are called W-XY, these four mics allow for front and rear cardioid patterns and a 360 degree polar pattern.

This is a brilliant and unique feature of the H2 Zoom… quadruple mic capsule, which actually gives you various types of surround recording, including a format that stores 360° information onto 4 tracks which you can extract later into 5.1 surround sound. Put the H2 Zoom in the middle of a 3 piece band for instance and you would get a nice surround sound mix, drums in the back and guitars all around. Just like the Apogee Duet, this product fit the needs for many musicians and the professionals in the recording studio.

• H2 Zoom Review

• Apogee Duet Review