All user reviews for the Zoom H2

Used 5 days, retourn the merchant.

I tried a lot of multi:
- The best noise level remains low MAGICSTOMP yamaha but it is no longer manufactured or follow fairly complicated to use, and apparently remains fragile
- The practical use and especially the beefier is undoubtedly the line6 pod with optional crankset, but the sounds are boarf ultimately particulirement live, and "amp mulations "not great (they give, even fiddling death not really want to play is pretty simple as test).

The zoom is pretty beefy but has no guts, not the beginning of an ounce of grain beginning whatsoever for OD, effects, cuts, I do not even speak synths. The only somewhat usable stuff is reverbs and stock and lead, very loyal rights, but rather as the data sampling. It's a shame the format and construction are great, but it would need the MAGICSTOMP the inside and they would all good.

Buy them for lack of better obviously, but you really need to have great effects and not round.

I use it mainly rp, but I've also used as a main microphone miking an amp! I for 6 years and I use almost every day.
What I like most is the quality of microphones and rendering and overall versatility of uses that can be made.
Another strong point, you can use it as his / micro USB card and it works very well even under linux, usb sound card recognized as the first time! This is perfect if you want to route the sound directly into your DAW rather than using the recorder H2
The downside is the shell a little cheap plastic and is fragile, have to be careful with this kind of stuff anyway!
Another negative, for cons, autonomy, I even stop thinking to use it without its power supply (except with usb, then no need to power supply).

I think one day invest in new generation H2N model I tried with a friend, it's a great slaughter again !! XD

These units are great for live recording. They have a good solid sound. I like the clarity of this unit for live band recording. They have a really clean sound and they can take a great deal of input volume. We just used some recording a live band www.chrislieckstudios.com. I like the sound for the money. I like the layout. I don't like the small middle knob. Some of the design layouts are a bit weird. The output usb has to have the right operating system to use it on and so that is annoying as is the output headphone jack. I think that they should consider more options for a hand held recorder but as far as sound it is solid. I would rather this be a metal casing than plastic that feels like metal at least that what I call it. I think an that if your using it for live recordings then you want to have a great deal of flexibility when recording for a band or if you use if for video more options as well. Some external recorders for field recording have multiple inputs and allow 4 inputs for lavalier mics and additional mics. I also want easier exportation of audio files. My real problem with these small compact recording devices is the screen size is horrible. You need bifocals to read the screen on most of the Zooms. It becomes annoying when moving from one recording to another and especially if you have several tracks of recorded. But back to the sound, it is good and sounds solid overall. I used it three times and aside from the screen and other issues I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the sound of the unit. It is a great sounding piece for the money. I don't like that it does work importing from what I find on 10.4.1 on Mac and if you have an older computer you may have to update your operating system so that is an issue if you want to do a direct transfer but you have an older operating system you have to go through hoops to make it happen. I would rather that by a plug and play on any operating system or just a basic output feature to send the .wav file to your desktop.

I bought this pocket recorder based on a recommendation of a friend. I was looking for something easy to use to record our band's rehearsals for playback. This device could not be easier to use, and makes simple recordings which rival or are better than those I have been able to make in the past with a fully featured four channel recording desk. The multitude of settings make it possible to adjust for a variety of settings and requirements. The manual is fairly easy to read and understand.

Using this recorder during rehearsals has greatly improved the speed with which our band is able to learn new material. With a minimum of hassle we are easily able to download the recording, cut it into songs, and post it for all members to hear. This is usually done before the next morning. Being able to listen to what we are playing after rehearsal allows us to disect the various aspects of the songs and work on the details, and also allows us to record versions for new members very easily.

The only thing I don't like about it is that the placement of the recorder in the room is your only real ability to 'mix' instrument levels relative to one another. You get the hang of this fairly easily, but it is not as easy as moving a slider up and down.

I think the recorder is great value for the money. I have tried to do similar things with mixing consoles and multi-track recordings before, and the problem with that method is that it could take a very long time to get even a single rehearsal recording up. To get full benefit from this activity, the recording has to be available to all bandmates very quickly. This device provides that facility while also providing great, almost professional, sound quality. It also works well within a lot of different environments, and has a wide lattitude with regards to sound levels and mixes it is able to accomodate.

I have tried other similar recorders, and although there are also many competitor products which offer similar levels of performance and value, this is the one which seemed to be the best combination of sound quality, usability, and value. I would definitely buy another if this one breaks or is lost.

I use it for more than 2 years

I tried Zoom H4 but too expensive for my needs. There is little difference "to my ears between H2 and H4. Finish quality is considerable cons. The H4 is more complicated.

What I love: it can be used quickly without "taking head" with the manual. Even the bad computer to arrive. However, you can configure it easily if we take the trouble between several types of microphones (front or back or forward more surrond, wma or mp3, etc.
I find it very intuitive and most importantly, it offers recording quality unexpected for a small budget (for singles, not a model group with 4 or more instruments)
I used to accompany singing and listening to my faults and correct (when possible)
I make song recently and it helped me grow a lot (although I'm not terrible)
I continue to save regularly and for me, this is a must have accessory!!
If it breaks tomorrow I bought a pronto!
defects: cheap plastic, tiny screen, Trapes treated with caution, but given the quality!!

The Zoom H2 is a hand held recording device they every musician must own. It really comes in handy, no matter where you are you can pull this bad boy out and start singing or recording a melody or anything that you have in mind. I have to keep this one me no matter where I am. If its not in my gig bag or pocket than its in my car. I can say I used this about 8 times a week. I get inspired in some of the wackiest places and with this technology you can really record some good stuff on the spot.

Don’t get this confused with just a basic hand held recorder that you can get at your local electronic store. This provides great quality, you could probably even record something and take it home put it in pro tools and actually keep the track, not just for a demo either. That’s how good it really is, I couldn’t imagine not having this on me at all times. I would probably panic if an idea came up and I wanted to record something really fast and I didn’t have it on me. That means I would have to use my phone to record and that just would be too much clicking just to record a quick clip and the quality wouldn’t be good either.

With the Zoom H2 you get high quality recordings no matter where you are at and they are all at the push of a button. It fits right into your hand and its very handy, trust me you have to get one of these. I am so glad they have made these because I use to use the old ones with the little tape in it that was made by sony. This one is way better than those old ones. Also, no pesky menu’s to navigate through to get to the record function. Its all right there in front of you just push and you are good to go. Great price and a great product.

This is the H2 hand held recording put out by Zoom and Samson Technologies. It offers all sorts of recording options in one unit. I believe their are 4 microphones inside of it. You can even record in 5.1 Surround Sound.

I needed a recorder quickly so that I could do an interview for a blog that I write. I had an MP3 player that could record by wanted something better. Every search hand held recorders around $100? Yes, TONS of them out there.

I was looking for easy to use and good sound quality. The Zoom looked like it offered the best recording quality at a fair price. I paid $199 which included a bundle pack of the much appreciated wall plug, a 2 gig memory card (plenty of recording time) and a gig bag (protects decently)

It sounds great! I a/b'd it with my MP3 player's recorder. I knew it would crush it but I was impressed by how much better the sound was. I was using it to interview someone and the audio was crystal clear. I recorded it as an MP3 file.

I was impressed with the stereo spread. Listening back through headphones it feels like I'm actually there. I can't wait to record a band with this.

It takes a bit of a learning curve to use it. This can be frustrating and could lead you to losing valuable information.

They could have made it a bit more user-friendly.

Fits nicely into my hand as well is into my pocket. It feels adequate construction. I could easily break this (not that I want to throw away $200!) but it does not feel flimsy or cheap.

Make great sounding recordings with this budget-friendly, handy recorder.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

It's a complete kit, with the recorder, stand, microphone stand, A/C adapter, pop filter, carrying case, headphones, USB cable, and a 1 GB SD card to store your songs. Also, the headphones that come with it are decent.

I use it to record samples of myself, shows that I play or attend, or to record scratch demos.

I got it because I wanted to not have to lug my computer and DAI setup to wherever I was recording. I wanted an easy way to record whatever was going on around me, especially shows I was performing in to keep for potential CDs, demos, or just to send out as part of my resume for future gigs. I got it from Best Buy at $169.99, which isn't the cheapest for one of these, but I had $50 in gift cards. If you don't, I recommend going somewhere else.

<a href="http://www.bestbuy.com">http://www.bestbuy.com</a>

It's metal and heavy duty, not plastic, unlike some of ZOOM's other products. The kit literally contains everything that I could possibly need to do some solid recording, other than a PC. I also like that there is absolutely no software to move the files from recorder to PC. It just turns into a USB drive, and you move them to your own directory. No clutter, no mess. The microphone selection options are pretty sweet too, and being able to have a surround sound option really surprised me. Also, there's a port for an external microphone. Sound quality is solid.

The external microphone jack is only an 1/8' jack, not an XLR. Sure it'd be hard to put an XLR on something this small, but I hoped at least for a 1/4'. Now I need another attachment. Note that this doesn't hurt the quality of the sound or the unit, but it's something I would have liked to have spelled out for me, as this requires an attachment and would likely come as a surprise to many.

Like I said, it's heavy duty and solid. I'd like to see the stand that comes with it not made out of plastic, though. I think it's odd to make everything heavy duty and then make a dinky stand without felt pads or anything, especially when the goal is to minimize vibrations from outside sources, such as through the table it's sitting on. Bad call, ZOOM. That alone loses you one star. And I'm going to make myself a new stand for this. Out of metal and felt.

Fantastic unit. great sound quality. Surround sound is a really cool and unexpected option on it that makes the unit well worth the money. The learning time is less than 10 minutes; ZOOM is well known for easy to use products. The stand and the unexpected 1/8' microphone jack cut it back from a perfect score, though. I'd give it a 4.5 if I could, but I don't have that option, so it rounds down to a 4.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased in 2007! There was no real equivalent to the price at that time. (MicroTrack was more expensive).
Still going strong in 2012!
The +: small, practical travel
The -: mic preamps

Be careful not to confuse the H2 and H 2 N (new model)!

I use the H2 to record atmospheres (choose 90 ° or 120 ° is handy but beware the doc made a mistake on the stereo as 90 ° angle stereo recording is actually larger than 120 ° !).
I also use it for music lessons, recordings in a hurry etc.
The problem of the red record button mentioned in the previous novel is painful. But can be set using the "automatic trigger" for registration. No need then to press it twice!
Do not rely directly use the Zoom H2 mic inputs as they blow too. on the other hand, one can use a preamp to use an external microphone as the input line of H2 is not blowing too. I tested and the first dual USB (ART preamp cheap) and the result is correct.

Given the current competition, I think 150 euros is the maximum price of H2. Beyond that, it's abuse.