All user reviews of 4/5 for the Zoom H6

Having owned the Zoom H4n a few years ago, the H6 is like revisiting an old friend that had lost weight, got in shape and stopped cussing all the time.

The interface is really sleek, easy to get to, easy to adjust, and easy to see recording volumes. The volume knobs on the front are a very welcome improvement over the H4n. I liked the H4n but, always hated having to mess with the menus before recording. Never a good option at band practice as it took so long to go through the menu system and you could never be certain what kind of volumes you were recording.

I recorded with the H6 as a stand alone using the onboard MS microphone, as well as two DI outputs from my Fishman Artist amp, into the 1/4″ inputs of the H6. The MS mic for the Zoom H6 is very clean, full, and smooth on both vocals and guitar. I even experimented recording with an iPad, using the iPad as an instrument into one of the Zoom H6 tracks that sounded amazing. I use a little app called ThumbJam. Love the Cello on ThumbJam and I can’t believe how well it recorded. Used the headphone jack from the iPad into channel 2 of the H6, with a 1/4″ plugin. The H6 onboard M/S mic recordings of the guitar finger picking and vocals came out better than the plug in from the Fishman DI output. I was able to hear every note, clearly, ringing vibrantly with the onboard M/S Mic Capsule. The recorded tracks from the Fishman DI outputs weren't as clean but gave a nice mix to the finished Mp4.

Also used the zoom H6 interface with Logic Pro. It worked well as an interface but, got a bit muddy after several tracks. It was all usable though not the same sound quality of the direct MS mic.

Now for the bad.
With the H4n it was nice to be able to select which input to use for each track. With the H6 that isn't an option. When you record with the onboard mic capsules, you get a stereo L/R track that can't be overdubbed. Nor can you record with the onboard mic capsuled to another track/channel other than the L/R tracks, making overdubs using the onboard mic capsules impossible.
I did call Zoom about this and was told the mic capsules are "hardwired" into the unit which doesn't allow the overdub or re-assignment of tracks.
I've posted the email, with the suggested work around, from Zoom on my website https://www.deberney.com/zoom-h6-overdub-work-around/

Here are two recordings using the H6.
https://www.deberney.com/home-page/deb-erney-2/deb-cover-songs/
One version has the H6 recordings along with tracks using the H6 as an audio interface with Logic Pro X.
The second version is the clean version with just the H6 inputs, no effects, no processing.

I did a lot of research, reading countless reviews and watching many video tutorials before choosing the Zoom H6 as my portable recorder of choice. Within the price-range and portability, it seemed the Zoom H6 couldn't be rivalled in terms of features. So what happened when I finally got it? Well at first, I was quite shocked at its size! Honestly, I was expecting something 50-60% bigger and was pleasantly surprised at how small and light it was.

As I dove into using it right away, I found all of the features that sold me on it were easily accessible and equally useful. My primary use for the H6 will be for on-site sound recording for film. For my approach to sound design, having 4 independent, low-noise preamps with individual gain knobs on the outside of the device was a key feature. I like to set up the X/Y microphone as a general stereo distance mic centred on my subject. Then I can use preamps 1 and 2 to drive two shotgun mics forming a closer x/y field to my subject. Then I like to use mic preamps 3 and 4 to power two condenser mics further and to the sides of my subject, to capture the performance space. Being able to do all of this simultaneously while monitoring all of my levels on simple display screen without any thumbing through menus is a huge advantage to the H6.

As a musician, I was most excited to dive into the M/S microphone for recording acoustic demos. I travel often with my Martin LXK2 acoustic and have found the Zoom H6 to be a competent companion for recording demos on the go. The M/S mic is perfect for capturing a raw sound that I can upload into Pro Tools later and adjust the stereo image to taste. Below I walk through an acoustic demo with the H6.

Placing the M/S mic aligned between the direction of my voice and the guitar's 12th fret, I found I could vary the amount of vocal sound versus ambient guitar sound by adjust the side microphone's volume. This was really nice when monitoring my performance, because with the sides turned up I better heard my foot tapping to stay in time and also got the added resonance of the room to help my singing. What I discovered when I exported this file to my computer, was that I got a .wav file with the 'Mid' information on the left and the 'side' information on the right. This seemed pretty intuitive, so I loaded up a Pro Tools session with 2 mono tracks. On track one I put the left channel and track 2 I put the right channel. However, I left them both panned center, meaning my 'mid' and 'side' mics were now overlapping and by lowering the volume of one or the other I could adjust the stereo image and how prominent my vocal was in the mix. It's almost like multi-tracking but with one mic! See how it works in these examples

Mono (the side channel is muted and we hear only the 'Mid' mic): https://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recorder-multitrack/zoom/h6/medias/audio/a.play,m.473957.html

Mid 0 / Side -15 (I've brought up the sides just a bit to add some 'room' back into my take):https://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recorder-multitrack/zoom/h6/medias/audio/a.play,m.473958.html

Mid/Side at Unity (both with faders up): https://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recorder-multitrack/zoom/h6/medias/audio/a.play,m.473959.html

Mid -6/Side 0 (Here I've brought the Mid channel down just a hair so the vocal sits a little further back in the mix: https://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recorder-multitrack/zoom/h6/medias/audio/a.play,m.473960.html

PT Mix (I found I could play with the levels of each track and then add plugins and effects to achieve a fun, unique low-fi demo sound): https://en.audiofanzine.com/pocket-recorder-multitrack/zoom/h6/medias/audio/a.play,m.473961.html


There's many reviews and technical tutorials that go in depth with the professional applications for the H6 and I suggest checking them out! But if you're also a musician looking for a good multi-track recorder, then thrown the rule book out the window and play with the variety of different mic inserts and features. All in all, the H6 is an incredibly powerful, yet intuitive recording tool that after a little initial learning curve can be an audiophiles perfect travel buddy!

Product bought new H4 to replace a first generation who began to MALFUNCTION.
I have not considered other competing product because the H6 is unique in its price category.
Most notable is its versatility: Interchangeable internal mics, 6-track simultaneous recording, compact and cheap.
The increase compared to H4 and H4n is enormous, especially in terms of ergonomics. It is now well adapted to what must serve a portable recorder: record field. The sound is not perfect, but for the price it is acceptable to.

Highlights:

- Finish the plastic shell "rubber effect". It's not likely to take the time (this type of coating tends to "peel"), but it limits the handling noise. The micro blocks are fully interchangeable metal, and also the locking system. It inspires confidence.

- Analog Potentiometers level adjustment for each input. Simple and effective. Scalloped would have been better.

- The backup to -12 dB to avoid saturation. But only on the stereo input (built-in microphones or XLR / Jack optional module).

- The carrying case well designed and of good quality.

- The thread mic stand (1/8) robust and well placed.

- Power of 4 batteries R6, which is used to supply 48V external microphones without putting flat batteries in 2 minutes.

- The start-up super-fast.

The weak point

- Screen too small: the meters are virtually unreadable.

- Still too laborious manipulations in menus, for example to initiate the phantom power supply or adjusting the monitor mixer is frankly horrifying.

- No phantom power on the XLR / Jack optional module, which is the only one to have the backup to -12 dB!

As for audio performance is good but not perfect:

- The preamps are a good surprise: much higher than the H4n and especially H4. With a pair of external microphones Rode NT5, I get almost the same result as a Track Ultra M-Audio interface Fast in background noise, which is not bad at all. Headroom is still larger with the M-Audio. No noticeable difference in sound.

- The two micro modules provided sufficient sensitivity for recording near-field but insufficient as soon as we move away from the source. First test on an acoustic guitar folk 1m50: to wedge the crete-6dB FS, I had to put the gain to 10 (max) on the built-in mics (XY or MS), but only 7.5 in pair of NT5 XY couple connected to the XLR inputs (which are still that of the entry level). Result: the background goes so sensitive with the internal mics: + 10dB on my test. I have not tried yet, but it may become prohibitive on the "field recording". But it was even worse on the H4, which meant that I did not use that on the line inputs.

- The measured noise level (with Adobe Audition) on the MS cup is equivalent to the XY pair, but the audio is different: Subjectively, the module MS seems to blow over. Question spectral distribution without doubt.

- Asked sound, the record is much clearer than previous generations of Zoom. It has a significantly higher resolution printing, but I found the XY pair a bit garish, significantly more than Rode NT5 are bright enough yet. On a folk guitar, it can become unpleasant limit. MS torque is much rounder and seems much better suited to the voice or instruments.

Review: Not perfect, but for the price, could we ask for more? My only real regret is the built-in mics. Their sensitivity is too low to achieve good quality recording as soon as you move away a bit from the source. The XY pair is a bit garish. MS torque is much nicer, but breath a bit too. The internal mics are rather troubleshooting in my opinion. Provide good external microphones (if possible with built-in power to benefit from the backup copy to 12dB on the optional XLR module), and an expensive recording system is obtained is not good enough. If needed again, I do it again this choice without hesitation, because I do not have the means of a portable multi-track recorder professional that would cost (at least) 10x more expensive.