analogholic Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Our guitarplayer made a recording the other day with his "cheapo" Zoom H1. Was very surpised about the soundquality! Didn´t feel that solid though. Do you have any experience or recommendation on these? Bang for the buck etc.. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 A couple guys in my Floyd project have them, I haven't looked at them real close but the recordings from them come out good, even in a loud rehearsal. Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAD Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have the Zoom H6. I love it. It's great for portable multi-tracking, live recordings, field recordings, etc. "Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time." Ornette Coleman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorayM Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I've got an H2N. As I think I've said before, it's my favourite bit of music kit bar none. Practice sessions, live performances, field/foley recording, it does them all, and in great quality. Pretty solidly built too, mine's had 2-3 years of being slung in and out of cable trunks and rucsacs and only has a slight dent on one corner of the mic cage. Cephid - Progressive Electro Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brenner13 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I've been using the el cheap-o H1 for several years. Love it. Placement is crucial for the best results. I generally set it near the the sound guy, or suspend it from the ceiling parallel to the dance floor of smaller clubs. It surprisingly picks up the "sound of the room" and reflections of walls and ceilings so best results have been with a small tripod from a suspended light booth in a converted barn-bar with lots of wood. I also use the H1 for field recordings of ambient nature and urban noise. It picks up any little movement of the hand when holding the thing so best to use a tripod or simply set it down and leave it alone while recording. A top contender for the best $100 I've spent on sound gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I use an H1 to record rehearsals, placed on a mic stand, there is screw in adaptor available that slips into a mic holder. I haven't had any issues in 2 years. Adjustable record level so it can handle high SPL's without any distortion in the recording. Best $100 have spent also. Has a headphone stereo jack so you plug into the desk for instant playback. A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Graul Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I use an H1 to record rehearsals, placed on a mic stand, there is screw in adaptor available that slips into a mic holder. I haven't had any issues in 2 years. Adjustable record level so it can handle high SPL's without any distortion in the recording. Best $100 have spent also. Has a headphone stereo jack so you plug into the desk for instant playback. It's funny this topic came up. I was just watching YouTube reviews of the H1 and was about to make the purchase. Do you rehearse in a circle? Where do you place the H1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I've got the H5 for recording nature sounds. Rain, water flowing in creeks, traffic, etc... Found a Roland R-05 on closeout and bought it for backup. Both are great. Twice I have loaned them to friends so they could record their bands when playing live. Both times the band bought a unit after hearing the recordings. I like the H5 best because of the separate XLR mic inputs. One of the bands went with the Boss instead because of some of the other features. This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Harrison Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I use a H1, and it works fine ... handy for a quick room recording of a gig or rehearsal through its inbuilt mics, and quite passable for a rough demo with a direct line in from a mixer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dongna Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 If you have an iDevice, you could consider the Tascam iM2 add-on mic. I got one, and it works well. http://tascam.com/content/images/universal/misc/im2_with_iphone_grey.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pale Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have H4n, it works great. Rehearsals, gigs, practice...I record a lot of stuff with it. I usually record 2 built-in mics to catch the audience and room sound and 2 channels from mixer to get clear audio. It works great, you can blend those 2x2 channels to get a clear recording while still getting the "live sound" feeling. And then you get to argue with bandmates about who F!*&ed up where. Custom handmade clocks: www.etsy.com/shop/ClockLight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 It's funny this topic came up. I was just watching YouTube reviews of the H1 and was about to make the purchase. Do you rehearse in a circle? Where do you place the H1? We rehearse in a smallish long, thin oblong room. PA monitors mounted high against one short wall, drummer down the other end. H1 about 5' from floor on a mic stand about one third distance from PA monitors. Everyone else plays at a volume roughly equal to drums. Here Link is a sample of a song from a rehearsal recorded on the Zoom, the only processing is mild compression. A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 H4n here. I can place it in the center of our rehearsal circle and go, or run a small mixer into it for extra drum mics, or plug it into a FOH board, and it has done a remarkable job. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I used a H4 to record some XK3c overdubs when my main studio gear was packed up. Most of those tracks made it on an album. FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WesG Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Tip: for the H2 and similar, you can put them on a camera tripod... Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3 Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9 Roland: VR-09, RD-800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pale Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Tip: for the H2 and similar, you can put them on a camera tripod... Oh yeah, I use my H4n with camera tripod 90% of the time. Custom handmade clocks: www.etsy.com/shop/ClockLight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I've got a Zoom Q3 HD and love it (video and sound together). Does an awesome job on the sound as long as it's out of the wind , where the auto mike level pulls the volume right down on the 2 mikes. I think a wind sock might sort it outside - need to get one. It's got a super user friendly touch screen on the back of it for simple operation. Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have an H2, and like others mount it on a camera tripod. I use it for band rehearsals and it's also been my way to record acoustic instruments/voice as I didn't have a mixer with preamps. I set up the zoom as an interface in Logic (on Mac) and sing/play into it. It works way better than I would have expected. For band practices, I typically record higher-quality mp3 as it sounds good enough and keeps the file sizes down. It picks up everything no matter where you are pointing even with 2-channel (it has a 4-channel mode)...the main problem will be keeping the drums from overpowering everything, so I typically would point it away from drums and perhaps have a bit of a shield between it and the kit. I take the recordings into Logic and toss some mastering plugins on it (EQ, compression mostly) to level everything a bit and it's not a bad recording...not demo-worthy (mic-in-a-room will never be IMO) but certainly good enough to pick out goods and bads from practice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I have a Zoom Q3 (not HD) that I won through EQ Magazine, and the sound quality is excellent. Although they seem like cheap little things, I've made lots of recordings and videos, and it's always held up. Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Look at the excellent job my Q3 made at Australia Zoo about 15 months ago , pulling in a very nice tune that happened to be playing on their intercom system in the background - If anyone knows the name of that song - please chime in. Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRK Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 some examples, with VERY DIFFERENT ambient situations, just for your fun: ZOOM Q4 - example 3 ciao Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyman27 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Q3HD is nice but it eats batteries to the point that it's really not usable without the power adapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 It eats batteries like there's no tomorrow (I think they last about 1/2 hr) so I bought a plug in power supply to go with it - Excellent!. Outdoors I've always carried lots of batteries , so no real problem. (to say it's unusable is completely wrong) Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 There was an issue with the first batch of H1's where they would eat batteries while switched off. Zoom had a retification programme in place at no cost, return to point of purchase for the repair. The H1 will record for about 6 hours before the battery is flat. A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Yep , I'm glad I bought one of the corrected units . You mean 6 hours of SOUND only , I think my Q3 HD exceeds that on sound only mode - which I have used many times - you don't have to have the video part going (it's the video that chews the power). Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillplaying Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I've used the Zoom H2 (great) and bought and currently use the Tascam DR-07 Mk2. Both sound great. The batteries in the Tascam last for ages, it fits a cheap camera tripod and you can leave it down the room (pointed at the stage) set to mp3 mode and get hours on there. The headphone output on both is slightly hissy but the recording is clean as you'll discover when it's passed to a PC for editing/trimming. The speaker on the Tascam (there isn't one on the H2)is rubbish. If you've an iPhone already - the quality is good enough for capturing a rehearsal or some song ideas without a specialist mic. I'm the piano player "off of" Borrowed Books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franz Schiller Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I got a like new Sony PCM M10 off the ebay, and its sweet. Built in memory, solid metal, level meter on the side, built in little speaker, sounds really really great. Doesn't have XLR inputs but it cant to be that small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobP2 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Ive been using a Zoom H2 for about 6 years now, rehearsals, gigs, even for a live demo recording. Never had problems, great bit of kit Remember - you can make a record without an organ on it, but it won't be as good www.robpoyton.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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