Zoom H2n 5-stars Reviews

Best budget microphone

I was using Zoom H5. After sold H5, I bought this one and I LOVE IT. You don't need to buy extra zoom microphones. H2N has XY and MS microphone.

Unbeatable at this price.

If you need ample possibilities, spacial sound and ease of use - this thing is unbeatable. At 96kHz / 24 bits it sounds crisp and clear, relatively low noise, and gives a great sense of space. It doesn't provide the strongest, or widest stereo effect (though You can play around with the settings and effectively widen the soundstage both while recording or in post) but it does give a realistic sense of 3 dimensional space. Perfect for cityscapes, parking lots, noisy clanky environments, afterwards when you listen back to the recordings, it really feels as if you're transported back to that space, the simpler, stereo 2 channel handhelds don't qite deliver the same effect. It also does well in nature, though you will need a windscreen, as without it it's going to be unusable, unless there is nearly zero wind. Out of all modes, at this point I like the 2 channel surround the best, as you can adjust the stereo imaging, and it's a bit less cumbersome than having multiple files and a slightly odd format in the end. Tried recording guitar and drums with it as well, works great, though it really shone with wind instruments, namely alto sax. Also has an extremely handy limiter and compressor built in. I only wish you could manually adjust the compression and limiter levels, as there are only three options on each one, but the options at hand are good enough, especially the limiter. Oh and there's a low cut as well, very handy. Overall, very happy with this, stellar quality for the price, loads of options, do recommend.

Perfect for this price range

I will explain each sub-rating I have.

Total: 5 stars because it is fantastic at what it sets out to do; be a relatively inexpensive yet capable and feature-rich field recorder.

Features: 5 stars because of the impressive quantity and quality of features in such a small package. The various recording modes are useful in a variety of scenarios and I was particularly impressed by the spatial audio recording. I used it to record audio for a 360-video project.

I have knocked one star off the Sound and Quality ratings because these are not as good as the more expensive zoom recorders however they are still very good for this price range.

Sound Quality is Awesome

Best few pounds I’ve ever spent. Easy to use. Totally portable. Sound quality is superb! I would recommend and have recommended!

10/10

Great all-round device.

Does exactly what you need it to.

Nice design, and also robust good build quality

Really good

A really good recorder that I've been using for recordings inside and outside. The fact that can be used with batteries is such an useful thing. You can also use with via USB as an audio interface on your PC. Been using it for a few years for streaming.

Totally recomended

We record with this in our band rehearsal and it is amazing!!!

Great product quality/price

Perfect for recording ideas at home

I'm using the H2n mostly to record guitar and voice at my house and I'm very satisfied with the sound quality and the easy handling. I'm also using it as a microphone connected to my computer which allows me to record track over track directly in Pro tools or Adobe Audition. The 360º recording option is impressive and gives you immersive soundtracks.

Zoom H2n

It's 2020 and ZoomH2n is still on of the best Portable recorders around. It even has a built in metronome.

Great Recorder

Easy to use and understand, great quality, flexible recorder. I use it for my concerts but it can work pretty well if you need simple audio takes, like voices or ambient stuff

Great Value w/ multiple mics.

I buy this to mainly do real world sampling and field recordings. I used to record on an iPhone 6s and its noise level is high, it also clips. This recorder is totally different. Sounds are more crispier, the pre-amp is clean. Most importantly, my favorite part of this recorder is its 4 types of recording. I recently just went to a concert and I recorded live with 4 channels' mics, and it sounds really like real life. Comparing this recorder to the H4n Pro, I love its small form-factor, its portability and its available mic options. For the price, I don't see anywhere else on the market that offers portable recorder with such compact and thoughtful specs.

On the down side, its build quality does not feel sturdy enough. The bottom part of mic is made out of plastic. Buttons and dials are plastic too. Guess this is the divining line of Pro products and Consumer products. It would be perfect if they offer metal build on the whole thing.

Another thing, during recording, one cannot switch the mic type seamlessly. Doing so will automatically stop the recording.

All in all, I would recommend the H2n to anyone trying to get into recording. It has great function at a great price.

Unbelievably good

How can it be that such a cheap recorded is so darn amazing???

We use this to record our practice sessions and our live gigs. After listening the first recording out of this bad boy I was mindblown! The drums had such high fidelity that I'd much rather just use the Zoom than plug mics everywhere! The brass where also in very high fidelity and the guitars as well.

The only cons is that the vocals and bass were not really sounding amazingly, specifically the bass frequencies were drowning a bit. But there are a lot of options to change how you record and we were already so pleased that we didn't bother adjusting anything.

Great Mic

It is all that I expected. Very useful and easy to use.

Usefull in lots of situations

Perfect for people who want a simple portable recording device with lots of options and a variety of usable sitations.

I mainly use it for recording band stuff, but also very usefull for podcasts or other situations due to the variety of mic settings and options.

Even death metal (technical guitars and blastbeats, this can be hard to record properly) is very well captured with this single small device.

Also has a line in for recording from a soundboard.

Batteries last at least several hours.

No cons for me.

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.

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.

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.