H1 vs H2 Zoom Digital Recorder?

[OliverH]

I'm trying to decide between the H1 and H2 recorders. Initially I'll be using this to record lessons and upcoming workshops. Any advise or experience with either?

[chip]

I considered both of those recorders but opted to pay a little more for a lot more recorder. You might want to look at the Sony PCM-D50. I bought mine through Sweetwater.

[OliverH]

What about ease of use? And what did you find to be the deciding factor of the Sony vs the Zoom recorders?

[sachmo63]

The zoom H2 is great, it can be had for about $200 bucks and is very versatile for just about everything you want to do. Voice, lessons, practice, writing new stuff. Its just great. Get a 4Gig card and you'll never run out of memory.

Good luck

[chip]

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q01UE...eature=related
There's more about comparisons on youtube.
I find it very easy to use and the sound quality is unbelievable. I recorded some acts at a recent venue and sounded as good as a cd..

[OliverH]

The Sony looks like an awesome machine, but its really more than what I need at this time, especially when you throw in the additional cost. I'm interested in finding out the experience has been with the H-1 recorder since its only been out on the market for 6-7 months. I've read the pros and cons for both the H1 and the H2, so now its time to hear what folks have found out thru their experiences. Thanks again .....

[Rob Gerety]

Do you have an iPod or an iPhone? If not, this might be the time to take the leap. They make excellent informal recorders with gobs of battery life and disc space. The iPhone also does quite will as a multi track recorder if you want to do some quick multi-track stuff.

[yoods]

The zoom H2 is great, it can be had for about $200 bucks and is very versatile for just about everything you want to do. Voice, lessons, practice, writing new stuff. Its just great. Get a 4Gig card and you'll never run out of memory.

Good luck

FYI, an H-2 can be had for around $141.08 on Amazon including shipping. It comes with a .5 gig card (I think) so there is the additional expense of getting a larger card ($12-13. for 8G at Amazon).

Also, while at a recent mando workshop I saw a lot of these devices being used (saw an I-phone being used as well). I asked an H-2 user about it and she said she loved it, and she does not consider herself much of a tech type person. She said it was very easy to transfer music files to her computer.

[OliverH]

I have both an iPod and an iPhone, but found that the iPhone recorder delivers pretty poor quality recordings. I spoke with the folks at Sweetwater, who indicated that the H1 has a greater storage capacity and can hold larger capacity cards. I'll need to have capacity to record an entire week without opportunity to download. However, durability of the H1 is a concern.

[Mike Bunting]

The IPad has a free 8 track recorder app too, it makes a good quick notebook type recording for working out ideas.

[foldedpath]

I have both an iPod and an iPhone, but found that the iPhone recorder delivers pretty poor quality recordings. I spoke with the folks at Sweetwater, who indicated that the H1 has a greater storage capacity and can hold larger capacity cards. I'll need to have capacity to record an entire week without opportunity to download. However, durability of the H1 is a concern.

I wouldn't let storage capacity be a deciding factor, since you can just carry extra cards for either recorder, and the H2 can use up to a 16gb SD card. Both the H1 and H2 come with smaller cards than you'd want for a week away from a computer to download, so you'll be buying one or more higher capacity cards anyway. Just get two 16gb cards instead of a single 32gb, if you need to.

We've had an H2 for a couple of years, and it's proven very reliable, in spite of the somewhat cheap feel of the case and controls (typical for all models at this price point). What I like about the H2 over the H1 design is the way the mics are arranged. Compared to the H1, it's easier to stand upright on a table, and it fits nicely on a music stand as an ad-hoc stand. The H1 seems designed more as a "hold it in your hand" recorder, which isn't the way most of us will end up using it. You also have a choice of wider vs. narrower stereo recording angles with the dual front/back stereo mic arrays, which is handy sometimes. It can work as a sort of surround recorder in 4-mic mode, placing it in the middle of a group of players surrounding the recorder. I haven't used it that way, but it's there as an option.

Regarding sound quality, the H2 is better than the little accessory mics you can get for an iPod/iPhone (at least the ones we've tried). The analog/digital conversion is better too. You're paying ONLY for audio quality with the Zoom, instead of audio as one of a hundred other features in an iPhone. I have recording gear that sounds much better than the H2, but not in this small and convenient a package. So our H2 gets a lot of use here for recording lessons, workshops, band rehearsals, etc.

[Bernie Daniel]

OOPs --well foldedpath just posted better info that I have here...........

Since the OP had asked about comparing the Zoom H1 vs. Zoom H2 I will mention this about the Zoom H1 handy recorder.

I don't own one but I have used an H1 for recording bird song (I survery birds for the US every spring and we have to recognize up 200 - 300 different songs to properly ID in the field so its good to collect your own field data as birds have variation is their song like people do). I digress.

I used the H1 with an external Sennheiser directional mic and the H1 recorder was wonderful and easy to use in even as we were in the field, miles from "civilization".

It runs on a single AAA battery and it is as small as your TV remote control. The literature claims 10 hours of audio recording on a fresh batt but I think that might be optimistic -- we put in fresh batts every day so I don't really know.

The one I used supposedly had 32GB of ROM -- at least that is the size of the microSD card that was in it and I don't think I came close to filling the card. I tried recording a bit without the Sennheiser mic and the two built in mics (they are stereo) did a great job of collecting sounds in the outdoors so I'm sure they would work great inside. The external mic plugs in via a standard 1/8" female port. We saved down our files in Mp3 format -- not sure if you can do WAV also. I don't know how much more you get with the H2 but the H1 was a really nice, easy-to-use unit for about $100 or so. FYI.

[Mark Hudson]

I have an H2, but haven't recorded enough to give a detailed review... just wanted to note that yes - I got it from Amazon for about $140 - and that if you spring for the 8gb card it will have 12 hours of recording time in CD quality mode. You can go to a lower quality and have a longer recording time, but I always figure that while you have the option to switch to a lower quality/smaller amount of memory later, you can't get the quality back if you didn't record it to start with :-)

[Bernie Daniel]

Since this string is already going. Is anyone using the Zoom H4n Handy Recorder?

This one lists for around $650 but can be purchased at many sites for not a whole lot more than the Zoom H2 -- I seen price around $240 for it new or refurbished.

I have heard from one user of the device that it does an excellent job recording -- of course it should at that price. But I was thinking if it was significantly better that the Zoom H2 I might spring for one -- I do need a decent digital recorder.

[mritter]

Bernie,
I'm using an H4. It's a good one. Has a lot more capability than I use ie. multitrack recording. Somewhat of a learning curve to it. It's survived a drop as well. I use it to record lessons.

[Rob Gerety]

Surprised you did not like the iPhone recordings. I think they are excellent. I once owned a Zoom H4 but sold it. I honestly saw no point in owning a small hand held recorder once I had an iPhone.

[Mumii]

RE Hi vs H2 Zoom

Get the accessory package with the H1 for about $23 because it's well worth it. It includes a nice little wind screen that works, a table sized tripod, a small fitted padded case for the H1, and a handle that screws into the tripod threads and is for (i think) a mic "cradle" that one would use on a mic stand. The padded case and wind screen alone are worth it. I tested the H1 and wind screen at the beach recording the waves and the sounds of my foot steps and it was awesome. Hope to record myself playing soon.

[Trip]

I went throught the same thing h2 vs h1 and decided on the H1, supercompact, really goes long on a batt, no menus(one touch record) and just darned cheap to buy.......if these are important issues the h1 is it......that being said yes you can get a better quality recorder for a lot more dough, and the h2 does have the cool surround record function for just a few bucks extra, but the menu is not great, and the quality of the recording is the exact same.........and the accessory pack is excellent.......

I use this for recording live performances(just dont use the auto-volume), and songwriting tool for capture of ideas........just simple to push one button and cature, and then I can plug into my car stero and play back just like a CD.....or drop it and burn, or edit......simple.........that is the reason to choose the h1

[jasona]

Surprised you did not like the iPhone recordings. I think they are excellent. I once owned a Zoom H4 but sold it. I honestly saw no point in owning a small hand held recorder once I had an iPhone.

I too am unfortunately underwhelmed with the recording fidelity of the iPhone. It sounds like a mandolin recorded on a telephone to me after having worked with 4 Tracks for a while. Its a really narrow dynamic range, and totally misses the woodiness of the mandolin. Its fine for sketching out ideas or for situations when high quality isn't called for.

But, I'm no sound engineer--whereas I have a good ear I have no knowledge of mixing techniques. I suppose its possible to get a more lifelike quality out of it in Audacity, or by different placement of the iPhone.

[parttimepicker]

My $0.02: I got an H1 for the holidays and have used it at jams and for my own practice and it's been great. I'm still on my original battery and have plenty of memory left. My only complaint is that the built-in speaker is really weak - you can hear what you just recorded if you hold it up to your ear, but it's best to use ear buds. Recording quality is great and you can't beat the price.

[almeriastrings]

The iPhone is a handy little recorder if nothing else is available. You cannot, however, compare it to a dedicated 24-bit uncompressed WAV/PCM recorder (or even high bit-rate MP3) with decent mics and low noise preamps.... fantastic device (I even check and post on here via the app!) but as a serious recorder, no.... not even close. For a portable recorder I'm still using my old Roland/Edirol R-1 that I got when these things first came out. I think the Zoom's are pretty good and absolutely fantastic value. You have to get this in context... a complete Zoom H1 costs around 6X less than just one Neumann KM-184 and an equally tiny fraction of what a really good stereo preamp costs (e.g., DAV Broadhurst Gardens No.1). It is not 100% "as good", of course, but given the vast price difference between an H1 and a stereo rig comprised of a couple of good mics + pre it is disturbingly not that far away. It is kind of like comparing a high end Kentucky/Eastman/The Loar to a Gibson Fern... not exactly the same thing, but less in it than you'd think.

[adizz]

I have an H2 just got it last week. I recorded a practice last night in the suround mode, and with no effort towards setting distances it sounds great. I just made sure it wasnt facing the banjo on either side and it was a decent mix. I would say with just a little effort in figuring out exactly where to stand, it would make a solid demo cd. Mine came with cubase LE, wich I havent used, but I assume you could use that for some EQ and mastering. I'm really tickled with it for $150.
The H1 seems cool but you would have to buy the extra kit, and at that point for $20 or so the H2 has more usable functions built in

[yoods]

... The H1 seems cool but you would have to buy the extra kit, and at that point for $20 or so the H2 has more usable functions built in

Good point. I was debating this for myself. I think for my situation it would be better to get the H2 instead of the H1. With the extra $$ to get the H1 accessories package (which I think would be a good idea if you were buying this model) they would be pretty close in price, roughly $130 vs. $155 or so. ($130 - H1 plus accessories, $155 - H2 plus 8G card)

I think some good points have been made here, that both recorders are good value and easy to use for what they do. The decision for one might be size of the recorder for use and transport.