Zoom H2 Handy Recorder with 4GB Card
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Reviewer
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I'd been after one of these for a long time and finally succumbed. It does exactly what it says on the tin and mine came with a pile of accessories which I wasn't expecting (silicon shell, various stands and wind shield).
Buttons are very fiddly and a not quite intuitive user interface has led me to lose more than one recording. However it records well and has been a god send.
I should note that it seems to guzzle batteries with a single set of Duracells lasting a couple of hours only.
The casing is quite surprisingly flimsy. It looks like metal in the photo but is cheap plastic in reality making the device quite light and more than a little fragile. I was glad of the silicon shell.
The on-board MP3 conversion is quite handy if you don't have software to do it yourself or just want to save on memory.
Overall though I have to say for recording folk sessions, I just stick it in the middle of the room in 360 degree recording mode and it does a fine job. So I'm very happy. Memory cards are cheap. This is the end of disks and tapes. I pull the card out(*) and pop it in my laptop and just edit everything in Audacity. Result!
(*) Memory car door is very flimsy but even if it fell off the thing is spring loaded and would be ok.
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An acute anti climax! Having painstakingly followed all the initiating instructions, the "Handy Recorder" is obviously defective.
This experience demolishes my faith in the product, and I am now faced with the chore of returning it to the supplier (unfortunately not Amazon direct!) and soliciting a refund.
Object lesson - don't buy electronics on line!
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The Zoom H2 is a really useful and practical machine. It will convert recordings into Wav or MP3. The sound quality is almost studio quality. The only faults are that the window and operational functions are awkward and one keeps having to refer back to the manual. Also it is made of plastic and therefore rather fragile. For something as usefully functional as a portable recorder for recording rehearsals etc., it would be better if it had a metal casing.There is a camera type tripod which comes with it which is probably unnecessary. The service from Amazon and postal arrival time excellent. This is a very useful device if you are a musician.
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I was looking for something to use while making a short film that would give it a more professional look while trying to stick to a tight budget. This works really well, its also proven to work amazingly when making podcasts. Its a great all rounder and if that wasnt enough it comes with 2 SD cards!
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Having used it for a month now I can say that I am really pleased with the results so far. I have recorded everything from my son singing Twinkle Twinkle, to samba group rehearsals to full on amped up live gigs, and with a little compression and tinkering afterwards, the results are really good.
On first listen with the headphones provided I was a little disappointed, a single acoustic guitar sounded muffled and lacking in top end, once transfered onto computer however it was really quite bright and dynamic, so I would say do not take the playback on the machine itself through headphones as the definitive recording. It takes a little getting used to positioning the mics to achieve the results you want but with a little perseverance it can be figured out quite easily. Playing with the various configurations of mic set up (one, two or four channel) yields different results, I tried two acoustic guitar players with the two mic set up and it was hit and miss dependent on where they sat in relation to the mics with little scope to change anything afterwards. The most impressive recordings have been the four channel ones, particularly live or rehearsal settings with sound coming from various sources and directions, the results seemed compact and perfectly balanced (you can stipulate if you want a lo cut pass or compression on as you record, this worked for me) although these do take up more space (i have a 4gb card and it got used up quite quickly) and you have to make them into two channel tracks before you can put them on your computer, a process which took a relatively long time achieve.
Negative aspects are the size of the screen and also the limited amount of screen light (15 seconds tops) making it difficult to see what your doing at times resulting in a few instances of not recording when I thought I was. I've also had more then a few instances of the card not being recognized when switched on, a scary proposition if you have important recordings, but this could just be an SD card branding issue? Only time will tell if the recorder is durable enough to withstand being lugged to various locations and taking the odd knock, it has coped so far.
Overall, if you are looking for an affordable, versatile digital recorder, which with patience gives great results, then this is the recorder for you.
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