Zoom H2

[David Ennis]

oops, you're right, I forgot to allow for left and right.

[Curt Talbot]

Any thoughts on whether the the Zoom H2 would be better for recording pipe organ music, or a choir or other similar concert than a Rode Stereo Video mic with a Vx2000? Syncing won't be an issue

Thanks

Curt

[David Ennis]

The Zoom H2 would be the easy choice for a pipe organ or a choir if they were to be placed reasonably close to the source. The spatial texture of those sources really matters, and a stereo mic will capture that better. As the distance increases to (and beyond) the point where the left and right qualities of the source are lost, then the stereo pickup will accentuate echoes and side noise. Then I'd tend to favor the VideoMic. Outdoors in the distant situation I'd go straight to the VideoMic and leave the H2 in the bag. Indoors, I'd listen to both before choosing because the acoustics would color both.

[Andrew Plumb]

Nice little review of the Zoom H2 at O'Reilly: Zoom H2 Handheld Surround Recorder

[Roger Shealy]

I've thoroughly enjoyed using my new H2. I use it mainly as a portable voice mic for voice overs. The internal mics sound quite good and the USB link keeps noise to near zero, even on my laptop. Very impressive sound, especially when hooked directly to USB and run straight into project software. The sound is only slightly less crisp than with my much more expensive diaphram mic. Given the USB hookup, it may have less noise than the traditional mic with a preamp going into a sound card. I can use my laptop in the field or hotel room, put the H2 on its stand in front of the keyboard (using the 90 degree front mic) and make a lot of hay on the fly.

I also use the H2 with AT35 lavalier mics for interviews and am experimenting with using one channel with an AT88W wireless while the other channel using the lavalier. Nothing a few adapters can't fix!

Very light, simple to use, and cheap. I'm very pleased with my $200 investment.

[Steven Davis]

Question for all of the owners. Is this a device that you couple place, let's say 4 to 5 feet from vows and such and expect decent recording, or for vows, would you always have to do a mic/line in? The reason I ask is, I could see a situation where I wouldn't be able to get a mic on a speaker, a minister etc. Thanks for any information.

[David Ennis]

I would say no, that you wouldn't get what most of us would call decent vows audio from the H2's internal mics at 4-5 feet in most wedding ceremony venues. Too much airiness and room sound. In a small room with lots of upholstery, carpeting and drapes it would probably be okay. Otherwise, a stand mounted hypercardioid or even a shotgun at that distance would be better.

[Michael Liebergot]

Actually if I was to use teh H2 for vows at a wedding, then I would use a lav mic (plugged into mic port, with mic power on in menu) and just place the H2 on a grooms or officiants hp (like wireless transmitter) or in the pocket.

At a wedding the H2 would work very well for recording musicians or readings if needed at a ceremony with the built in mics.

[David Ennis]

I considered that, but dismissed it as too bulky for a dressed-to-kill situation. Doable, though, and yes, some venues would object to setting up a mic on a stand.

[Michael Liebergot]

Originally Posted by David Ennis

I considered that, but dismissed it as too bulky for a dressed-to-kill situation. Doable, though, and yes, some venues would object to setting up a mic on a stand.

Actually it's not much bigger than the Edirol R09. I have used both on a groom or officant.
I have placed in a coat pocket, or even better attached it to the waistband, just like a wireless transmitter.

[Andre Theelen]

Originally Posted by David Ennis

It does have exactly the same synch issues, i.e., it the clock runs about 0.01% fast, yielding an audio track that lags the cam's video track by 10-12 frames per hour.

But that is only an issue if you do a continuous recording. If I should use it to record the audio of scenes in a movie (with a duration of a couple of minutes max) than this would not be a problem, right?

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Andre Theelen

But that is only an issue if you do a continuous recording. If I should use it to record the audio of scenes in a movie (with a duration of a couple of minutes max) than this would not be a problem, right?

Maybe yes, maybe no. I can't say about the H2 because I don't have one but one of the problems with clocks in inexpensive consumer devices is they're inconsistent and can vary with temperature etc. It would probably be fine but it's impossible to say for certain.

[Dan Bridges]

The sync offset on my Zoom H4 is 300ms slower after 1 hr. That's 30ms after 6 mins or 10ms after 2 mins. I don't know what the perceptibility sync offsets on speech are (they're different for leading & trailing situations) but I know 20 ms should be fine. And it would be difficult for thermal drift to cause a problem over such a short timeframe.

Besides, syncing is straight-forward to fix in an audio editor or NLE. I've used Sharp & Sony MDs for 5 years, and now a H4 as well, and it's a minor consideration. Most of my stuff is long-duration: sermons & conference sessions. A few months ago I produced 10 session DVDs. 9 of the 10 were over an hour. All were using a PA feed to Hi-MD as the primary sound source with a Rode SVM on one of the cameras providing ambiance and audience response. The only time I've had to work harder with it was correcting non-linear sync offsets caused by some random miss-tracking on a MD over a 75 min take.

[David Ennis]

30 ms would be about one frame of video. That wouldn't be perceptible, certainly not to me, except maybe in a side by side comparing situation.

[David Ennis]

Dan, do you get anywhere near the offset after an hour with the HiMD as you do with the H4? I don't with my Sony HiMD.