H6 Black : Simpler than a laptop with interface and decent mic pre-amps

I bought this to simplify recording set-up for small events and choirs.

For a spoken word event with slides, film clips, and music playback, I had the two radio mics for the presenters and a matched stereo pair for the room (no audience participation but we did need their reactions). The combination of operating position and required position for the room mics does not permit using the XY module in my situation. Having a compact recorder like this was much simpler than setting up a laptop with an audio interface, especially as there is only one laptop and it is already doing show control as well as video and audio playback in a very confined operating position.

For smaller choirs with no more than five singers per part, I like to have one mic each for bass/tenor/alto/soprano or maybe one for a solo and re-arrange the others. I didn't buy the XLR module (yet) so I have only four XLR inputs at present.

The set-up was pretty straightforward and the pre-amp quality suits me fine. I am a bit of a Focusrite fanboy but I also just want to be able to get the job done and I had no reason to complain about the quality of the inputs on the Zoom H6. With no laptop to set up or software to configure, I can travel a bit lighter and it's easier to find a comfortable operating position. At the venue, i can be recording pretty soon after arrival; with the recordings in the bag, I can pack down quickly and back to base to fettle the sound into shape. With just a little time in my DAW, I had the sound I wanted.

The machine feels solid to use. Arming tracks, enabling phantom power, and setting up stereo pairs or splitting back to independent mono is simple enough. I am quite used to the convention of having left on an odd channel and right on even. Zoom H6 follows this convention with no workaround, which does limit flexibility slightly but it's common enough that I personally don't find it a problem. Getting a recording underway is also very obvious, as it should be.

All-in-all, I am very happy with this device. It will seem limited for some uses but for the purposes I set out above, I would happily recommend Zoom H6 to other people.