Zoom H2n Reviews

An absolutely fantastic recorder for quick everyday use

I use this thing to record band practice sessions. It has a gazillion features which I try to ignore since I'm not a soundman, and it works quite well with default values. For the price, it is an amazing value.

Pros:

- TONS OF FEATURES

- Works out-of-box for band recording

- Comfortable design

- Amazing value

Cons:

- Eats batteries like a cyborg whale

- Need to read manual very carefully to understand the advanced features. Like all Zoom products basically.

Highly recommended.

Fantastic little recorder

The zoom h2n is a fantastic recorder. Recording in M/S really gets a great recording of the room and the sources. It also works great as a recorder for individual instruments. Its very light, easy to handle and a great sound. A really great product. I highly recommend the zoom h2n.

No complaints

Good sound quality

Front side mic good for spacial.

Never had an issue in the 3+ years I've had it.

Would buy another.

Recommend you get the accessory pack.

Amazing mic

This mic is such a great buy, Just for the fact that you can use 4 different settings on one mic!!! from the standard XY to MS, 2ch surround and 4ch surround. The only thing i don't like is that they run on pencil batteries rather then rechargeable packs. Feels like they sort of overlooked it, and i say this because its the only fault i can find on this mic.

If you've got no problem with that its definitely the mic for you

Recorder, MIc, Preamp, live or Studio ...

This recorder is a outstanding piece of art. I have all that high end mics and preamps apogees focusrites, neumann tlm103 mics, rode nt2a etc etc etc but... this recorder does almost every single jobs that related to audio recording in the planed and does that amazingly simply... There is combos os built in mics... phantom power for external mics a lovely preamp, use this device as a USB mic interface for you DAW clutter free, direct monitoring latency free, you can see the meters on the big screen as you adjust the levels. One set of batterry lasts for life. There is nothing is even closer to this babies versatility. If you are a kid looking for a all in all package and quickly start doing music... look no further. Shut up and buy this one.

Great Pocket Recorder. Ideal for portable Surround Recording

I use the H2n as an "always on me" recorder.

It is light and small and it can stand on its own without a tripod (it has small rubber feet on the bottom) that make it easy to use without too much handling noise.

It is not the best in sound quality (compared to much pricier offers, it lacks a bit in low frequency sounds) but it is great for capturing ambient sounds when you least expect it.

The best feature for me is the 4-channel surround recording.

Not only can be used for surround but also for recording multiple sources at the same time, par example a discussion of multiple speakers in a round table by placing it on the middle or two musicians standing opposite each other ina rehearsal.

Or by plugging-in a lavalier mic on the 3.5mm input (that bypasses the XY mic) you can still record the MS mic channel along with the Lav and have a synchronised ambient sound track or a backup.

The best budget pocket recorder

Zoom H2n has 5 built-in microphones. 2 for XY and 3 for the MS recording (you can adjust the side level). That already sets it apart from the competition. The fact that I can use it for 4 channel recording, sound card for my pc, tuner, metronome and the list goes on and on makes it in my opinion the best budget pocket recorder in the market right now.

I highly recommend it for semi-professionals who want to start recording sounds (like sound designers etc.)

An excellent package!

I got the Zoom H2N for a portable recorder that I can always carry around and it does that very well. I have recorded everything from shopping mall audience and meetings to thunder strikes and impulse responses with great results. I even sampled an old piano I have found in a house rented for vacation and that worked out brilliantly as well.

The preamp does became noisy when turned up, but with today's state-of-the-art digital noise reduction algorithms this has not been a hindrance at all.

The unit is packed with features, it even works as an audio interface / SD card reader (when connected to the PC via an USB cable).

The only con is the somewhat strange menu selector switch, which does require a bit of a practice.

Zoom H2n

It's portable, it's an XY microphone, and it records wav/mp3... but it's more than that too. I bought this to record band rehearsals and to get songwriting ideas down. But now my mates want live recordings done with it. It won't give you that studio quality but for reference recording, it's good enough. I'm pleased I ordered this and also got the accessories as a bundle. Get one!

Awesome recorder

Blown away with this recorder over all. Very versatile with a very sensitive mic. Amazing for recording band practices and even small gigs right down to the slightest sound. Can't recommend it enough.

Zoom

Great small thing with incredible deep sound and 3d stage .for that money best buy

Incredible range and versatility

Having been doing some home recording with the entry level Zoom handy recorder, I realised I was in need of an upgrade. Having done some background research and having had experience of Zoom products, I opted for the H2N based on the variety of mic configurations and recording capacity along with the other features. I am really pleased with this one :-)

Super Sonic

Cant fault this recorder. I have had it now for at least twelve months and had forgotten to review it. So this becomes an extended review if you like.

As a guitarist I use my zoom to record my practice. This allows me to be critical by listening to the playback for my mistakes so that I can try to remove flaws. For this purpose it is excellent as its fidelity is quite remarkable picking up the slightest error in my play.

Fantastic product and well worth every penny.

Great value portable recorder

This is a versatile little device with good sound quality given its price. I bought it to record band practices, but I've actually found a ton of other uses for it, using it to record gigs, as a field recorder, and even to record a drum kit for demo tracks.

Build quality is decent. It's all plastic apart from the grill, but it's acceptable. The important controls are available as buttons or dials, so it's very easy to use. Lights on the top indicate when its clipping, so you don't have to be constantly looking at the screen.

There is the option of Mid-Side(MS) on one side or XY on the other. MS lets you set the stereo width while recording, or even better, set it to RAW mode and fine tune the width later on your computer using a MS VST plugin. You can also choose 4-channel mode which records both MS and XY simultaneously to two separate stereo tracks (albeit with a shared preamp gain). When recording band practice I set it to 4-ch mode and place it in the middle of the room. Then when I get home I can balance the four channels on my computer.

There's a line in (it takes the place of the XY mics), you can monitor the recording with headphones, there are some basic compressor/limiter/filters, it has a tripod mount - the list goes on. This thing is amazingly good value.

The only downsides I've found are that it could do with an input pad as it's too sensitive for loud environments; I'd prefer the record light on the top; and the internal clock is poor, so you may have to spend a bit of time stretching and syncing if you are using it to record audio for a video or to be used in a multitrack mix with other audio.

Zoom H2N

I was very excited to receive the Zoom H2N. I was looking to buy an audio recorder for recording live sessions of local bands, solo sets and even just recording sounds that I found interesting and being a musician and a music lover, this recorder was perfect!

The Zoom H2N has a sleek, black design. The front screen is a perfect size with the audio recorder being handheld. It has a built in speaker for playback. The buttons are near flush with the design so it looks nice and feels good. The quality of sound is beyond great!

Definitely a must buy for any recording purposes!

Great digital recorder

this recorder with high quality, easy to use very intuitive

various types of pickup microphone with various patterns. It is possible to connect directly to the output of the mixer. Worth recording in wav format and use presets for compression and limiter for improving the recordings.

the gain adjustment option is very good for us to write to unbalanced environment

Zoom H2N

Superb quality sound recordings and multiple applications. This is a serious piece of kit for the money. There is a bit of learning curve and also a bit of trial and error when it comes to finding the best settings for each situation but it's all worth it in the end. Being able to set the H2N in the corner of a venue and record 7 different acts of different styles and volume, not having to go near it for over 5 hours with no worries, then picking it up with almost full battery and being able to split the recording into tracks of the different acts and/or songs is awesome. And that's before getting into any of the post production possible with the included software. Excellent stuff. Some of the controls are a little bit fiddly when navigating the menus but its a minor thing.

Very good sound quality, easy handling

I use the Zoom for 2 purposes:

- recording guitar and bass at home directly from my amp

- recording our band

Warning: I did not have any experience concerning recording music before, so this review might be helpful for you if you are a beginner too and are looking for equipment with easy and beginner friendly handling. I am someone who does not like too Play around with technical devices and many Options, I just want the thing to work and to record my stuff in the most convenient way.

Home recording works really good. Recording guitar seems to be easier than recording bass. Perfect for saving your song ideas for later. Sounds great and works much better for me than recording with a PC. Turn on your amp, press recording button, play your riffs, that's how I like it!

Band recordings sound very good as well, especially at lower volumes. Had some problems recording a very loud and muddy sounding stoner band, no problems at all recording a rock/pop cover band playing at lower volumes. I had some problems with muddy recordings, but i think that was because the band sound was quite muddy too. Hi Hat tends too be too loud, but we still need to experience with the perfect recording Position. Sound quality of bass guitar and bass drum could be better, but both are audible. Overall perfect for holding on to your song ideas, but of course not good enough for professional recordings.

Handling: Deleting data directly from the H2n can be annoying, because you have to open some menues. Some sort of erase button would be good. I did not use a lot of the functions like bass cut/boost etc., I just used Stereo and Surround and the Gain buttun to regulate the Signal strength. So the H2n has a lot of functions, but if you don't want to use them you don't have to and get a good Sound anyway. Some buttons seem to be a bit shaky, but no problems up to now. Recommended!

Invaluable

I cannot say how much this little device has changed the way I work. I leave it recording on the arm of the chair when I am noodling after a hard days work. I never worry about forgetting a good idea, I just record it. I often take recordings direct from my zoom, add a little reverb and upload to sound cloud. Too easy! The interface is fairly intuitive though using the metronome is a little fiddly. Essentially, if you go out with only this and your instrument and a pair of headphones, you are set. You can jack directly into it if you wish but the quality from the microphones is great. I have played will all the field settings, as I use it not only for music but for recording stand-up comedy. I would not be without it. Do I wish I'd bought the 4n? Sometimes when I want to multi track but then I remember my iPad will do that.

I really think this is worth it!

Nothing better

This machine is fantastic and since others have been seing me using this machine, and thus demonstrating its possibilities, I've had to order 2 more for friends. THIS IS GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY especially the H2N bundle

Since it's rather compact, switches and buttons are small, best not to have thick fingers