Results for Zoom H2

Some interesting things I found recently:

# First look at the Zoom H4N digital audio recorder

Brad Linder takes a look at the Zoom H4N, a digital pocket recorder.

I got a chance to stop by the Samson booth at CES yesterday and check out the new Zoom H4N digital audio recorder. This flash recorder is an upgraded version of the Zoom H4, but Zoom and Samson don't plan to phase out the older model. Rather, they'll now offer flash recorders in three price ranges, $199 for the Zoom H2, $249 to $299 for the Zoom H4, and $349 for the zoom H4N, which is a bit closer to being a pro audio device. The new recorder should begin shipping in February.

# Stanwood craftsman puts human touch on factory-made pianos – Darrell Fandrich is a micromaker of pianos, importing instruments from China and parts from Europe and the U.S. and rebuilding them as Fandrich & Sons pianos. A craftsman in an assembly-line world, Fandrich hopes that human touch can turn back the clock on pianos built by conveyor belt.

# Interview With Smule’s Dr. Ge Wang (Maker of iPhone Ocarina)

Mark Mosher interviews Dr. Ge Wang, CTO and Co-founder of Smule.com.

Smule are the makers of extremely popular and innovative iPhone applications such as Sonic Lighter and Ocarina. Dr. Wang is also an assistant professor at Stanford University, at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University and a BS in Computer Science from Duke University. Ge is the creator and chief architect of the ChucK audio programming language, and the founding director of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk).

I asked a wide variety of questions in this interview – so – whether you are a musician, a developer, an iPhone user, or an entrepreneur, I hope you find this interview interesting and enlightening.

The interview is available in YouTube and mp3 formats.

# Music Thing: The end of Music Thing, for now. – I’m sure you’ve heard the news… Thanks Music Thing for all the great posts over the years.

I recently recorded some everyday sounds with a little pocket recorder.

For the recording I used the Zoom H2, a lovely compact digital recorder (review by Echo Voodoo here).

After editing the recording I ended up with 85 files, in 24bit 44kHz, stereo .wav format. The samples includes sounds me tapping on various objects (glass, lamp, vase etc.), wiggling some keys, playing with some bicycle parts and more.

Download the archive (19.1 MB) below.

rekkerd sound recordings vol 1 Downloads: 5343 times

Let me know if these are useful to you and I’ll go out again and record some more sounds.

As some of you might know I regularly enter contests at the KVR Music Cafe. Another regular there is a guy called Echo Voodoo.

I noticed how he was using a Zoom H2 to record vocals and since I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these recordings, I asked him how he liked this little device…

Zoom H2 Handy Recorder – my impressions (by Echo Voodoo)

As a musical hobbiest and home recordist, I had been looking for a portable, easy-to-use, high-quality recorder for quite a while. I had been using a Sony Hi-MD minidisc recorder with an external microphone for about a year, but wasn’t entirely happy with either the sound quality or the portability.

Then, in September 2007, Zoom released their H2 Handy Recorder, and all of my personal portable recording needs were answered.

The Zoom H2 is a compact digital recorder with 4 built-in microphones. It runs on 2 AA batteries, and it’s small enough that it actually fits into my pocket comfortably. It’s fast and easy to use – from the time you flick the power switch until you’re recording audio is under 10 seconds.

You can plug an external microphone into the unit through the 1/8″ jack, but I’ve never done that. The internal mics are excellent. As soon as I started using the H2 for recording vocals, I received compliments on the improved sound quality compared to my previous songs. It can record in 24 bit/96 kHz WAV if you want, or to MP3, though I only use it to record 16bit/44.1kHz WAV myself.

The 4 microphones are arranged with 2 facing front and 2 facing back. The front mics are fixed in a 90 degree directivity angle, and the back mics are fixed at 120 degrees. You can record either front, back, or both at the same time. If recording with both front and back, you can either record to stereo, or have it record seperate stereo tracks for both front and back at the same time so that you have a 360 degree recording.

… read more

Some interesting things I bookmarked on del.icio.us on March 25th, 2008:

• Zoom H2, Marantz PMD 620 And Sony PCM D50: Shootout Down By The River – In part one, Owen O'Malley takes the Zoom H2, Marantz PMD 620, and Sony PCM D50 out on the town to see how they hold up to Chicago's wind.

Zoom H2, Marantz PMD 620 and Sony PCM D50

• SlapYak’s LED Bass Guitar – DIY LED color-changing Bass.
• DIY Cheap-o Looper Effect – Arduino + keychain digital recorder.
• Altoids Tin Guitar – DIY guitar made with an Altoids Tin, banister rail spacers, guitar strings, an old BIC pen, some plastic, bolts & washers, piezo and a 1/8 mono jack.
• AVR based TDA7313 Audio processor control – The idea of this project was to construct independent audio processor which can be embedded in any audio system with ability to control settings with simple button interface with menu preview in LCD.
• Robert Crumb on Collecting – from the book, “Vinyl Junkies: Adventures in Record Collecting” by Brett Milano.

Some interesting things I bookmarked on del.icio.us on March 19th, 2008:

• The Sound of Touch – Instrument for real-time capture and sensitive physical stimulation of sound samples using digital convolution. Our hand-held wand can be used to record sound and then playback the recording by brushing, scraping, striking or otherwise physically manipulating the wand against physical objects. During playback, the recorded sound is continuously filtered by the acoustic interaction of the wand and the material being touched.

A texture kit allows for convenient acoustic exploration of a range of materials.

• the music of sound » FX Recording in Bali with a Zoom H2 Recorder – Sounds of a Gamelan workshop, a traditional fire dance, a New Year’s eve procession and more.
• Key Chain Studio – The man was wrong. You can take it with you and you don't even need to lug a laptop with you.
• Korg’s DS-10 Nintendo DS Instrument is Getting International Release – Tomi from AQI Inc. says they will release DS-10 worldwide.
• Mediamatic.net – Hybrid Toys Workshop – Participants developed prototypes for playful hybrid world applications, focusing on designing physical toys with digital and/or networked components.
• Wii Guitarduino – Jason Leyrer gets his Wii Guitar Hero guitar to talk to an Arduino prototyping board.

If you’re into field recording you probably already know Zoom’s next model, the H2 Handy Recorder, was supposed to be available already.

But… it’s not shipping yet. Apparently there has been a slight delay because of a last minute improvement to the microphone design. So I am patiently awaiting the arrival of H4’s kid brother.

When comparing the H4 with the H2 it’s actually not so obvious one is better than the other. The H4 has phantom powered XLR inputs and 4 track recording, but the H2 has 4 mics (allowing 5.1 recording) and costs considerable less (plus it looks much better to me).

Here are some of H2’s features:

• W-XY mic patterns with 4 mic capsules and signal processing allows Front 90° cardioid, Rear 120° cardioid and 360° polar patterns
• Built-in USB 2.0 interface for data storage and audio interface
• Records in WAV 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit, MP3 to 320kbps and Variable Bit Rate (VBR) data formats
• Time Stamp and Track Marker functions in Broadcast WAV Format (BWF)
• 512MB SD memory card included
• Accommodates up to 4GB SD memory cards
• Auto Gain Control (AGC) for pristine recordings
• Auto Start function means you’re always ready to record
• Low-cut filter eliminates wind noise
• On-board chromatic Guitar/Bass tuner

It’s going to retail for $199 which seems very reasonable for this handsome looking recorder. Unfortunately we’ll probably see a price of over 200 euros in Europe, but that’s not going to stop me from getting one.

Link via CDM