Zoom has come out with their newest little portable digital recorder that is great, in my opinion. It is only 2 channel, no multitracking, very few effects, but gives a good clean, fine sounding recording. I think they have simplified the user interface as well, over previous models.
It also has a built-in metronome and chromatic tuner. It records to .WAV files and then lets you convert them to MP3 files of various qualities right there on the machine, and then simply move them to your computer using the USB cable. My only gripe is that it works with an SD card (ok) but they supply you with a 256 meg card, so it will only hold about 20 minutes or so of high quality recording, so you end up paying some more money for a 2 or 4 gig card.
Most importantly, the machine is only 200 bucks. Great tool for showing what instruments sound like and recording workshops.
have you bought it yet? I was considering buying an iTalk for my iPod and see if it worked. Can’t be any worse than trying to do a realtime download off my minidisk. Failing that I was hoping someone bought a zoom and could write up a review.
Yes, I should have said that I actually bought it. To me it is very very easy to use, really portable (image two cassette boxes lashed together) and I am very happy with the sound quality. I looked at the H4 but I have played with multitracking before and in my case, it was just playing around, so 2 channel is all I really need. I am real happy with it after spending 30 minutes recording my various Northumbrian smallpipes with it. It captures them spot on I think.
And yes, I am giving my old mini disc to a charity - this thing is SO much more computer friendly!!!
I agree, for the size of the device, the sound quality of the recordings the device produces are amazing. This is a recording I made of myself. I recorded the track in the bathroom to get a natural reverb on the recording.
Gosh, sounds interesting. In the past, I was under the impression that the Zoom records had a bit of background noise when compared to something like an Edirol. Is this now, not the case?
I read those reports too - I have yet to hear any electronic particulates. The reports had also mentioned that the problem was solved when the AC adaptor was used.
I ususally use my H4 for voice recording fund managers’ quarterly updates. It sure beats going in with MacBook/mAudio LUNA/Tascam US122 and all the necessary cables. What was about 25lbs is now 1 lb.
I have a Zoom H2 and it does not allow you to slow down. But you can certainly dump either the .wav or .mp3 file to your computer and then have at with software made for that purpose (The Amazing SlowDowner I believe is one package).
I did not detect any machine noise on the recording but was using it with AC power. There is really nothing moving so I am not sure what the noise would come from. I had that problem with my old minidisc and solved it by using a separate mic and a short mic cable to more or less insulate the mic from the moving parts of the recorder. But again, on the H2 I can not detect any such noise just using it straight from the box.
No, think of it as an old time stereo tape recorder. You can not record on one channel and then record on the other. A lot of the other little digital recorders will do “multitracking” but this is just “one time stereo”, so you have to play what you are going to record all at once - no cheating!
to get a natural reverb on the recording.