Help with buying a digital recorder

Poststructural Pub
1

I have a little Christmas money and have long been thinking about purchasing a digital recorder. I know next to nothing about sound recording, but I have been reading reviews of the Zoom H2 and am impressed. It is selling in the $180 range and is just within my budget.

The complication is that I have two somewhat inconsistent requirements. I want to be able to record sessions and music workshops – a task I am sure the H2 will do well. But I also need to document some conversations and meetings on the fly. These situations will sometimes require holding the recorder or even stuffing it in an open pocket for a few moments to have both hands free.

I strongly suspect that a device designed for voice recording will be more rugged and easier to use. I am willing to compromise the quality of the business sound recordings to get the best music recordings, but I have to be able to at least understand the conversations well enough to transcribe the details later.

I bet there are some folks here that have some experience with these recorders or similar hardware. Am I trying to do the impossible? Are there better alternatives?

2

A friend of mine at work who frequents local bluegrass/ITM sessions has an H2 and I’m jealous as hell. They’re nifty little buggers!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_H2
I would rather have the $400 one, but hey, it’s $400… 400 vs. 180? no contest there.

3

I have the Zoom H4, the larger one that can record multiple tracks. It’s amazing for it’s size but it wouldn’t fit in a pocket.

I imagine the H2 would suit your purposes better, by fitting in both your pocket and your budget. And I’m confident you’d be happy with the quality, too!

4

You’re right about the size factor. It would be fun to play with multiple tracks, but I doubt I would ever have a real need for that.

I know I want the H2 for music, but I need something to do voice recording that can take rough handling. I can’t really justify two purchases – the ideal solution.

As I think about this, I wonder if some cheap clip-on external mic would let me do what I want at work and still let me get my fun purchase?

5

Tyler, thanks for that link. I didn’t think to look on Wikipedia for a product review.