Zoom H2 5.1 surround sound field recorder
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
Zoom H2 5.1 surround sound field recorder
No SMPTE but it does 5.1, 24 Bit 96 khz surround sound with 4 built in microphone capsules. I ordered one from eBay, should be here next week. Here is a link,
http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1916
and a reiview,
http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/ ... detai.html
Regards,
Paul Cotto
http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1916
and a reiview,
http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/ ... detai.html
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Don't worry about equipment so much and make your movie!
- Rick Palidwor
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- Scotness
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The qualityof the mics will be the issue here. It looks like it only has one external input too.
My question is what are you going to use it for? Just shooting off the bat here - but it doesn't look like the mics would be good enough quality for location dialogue for a dramatic film - in which you'd get clean mono takes of the dialogue (and pan them around stereo or surround as needed in post) - perhaps it would be useful for the location atmos.
Probably good for a doco too - where you just want to capture what's there.
I think it's a good idea, but there will probably be better implementation of it further down the line (4 XLR inputs ??) -- how do you aim to use it Paul?
Scot
My question is what are you going to use it for? Just shooting off the bat here - but it doesn't look like the mics would be good enough quality for location dialogue for a dramatic film - in which you'd get clean mono takes of the dialogue (and pan them around stereo or surround as needed in post) - perhaps it would be useful for the location atmos.
Probably good for a doco too - where you just want to capture what's there.
I think it's a good idea, but there will probably be better implementation of it further down the line (4 XLR inputs ??) -- how do you aim to use it Paul?
Scot
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
I was thinking about recording room noise or location ambient background sound separately from the dialog. Or when no dialog is required like in an action sequence. Typically the 5.1 surround sound effects and Foley work are not done during the film shoot anyway.
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Scotness wrote:The qualityof the mics will be the issue here. It looks like it only has one external input too.
My question is what are you going to use it for? Just shooting off the bat here - but it doesn't look like the mics would be good enough quality for location dialogue for a dramatic film - in which you'd get clean mono takes of the dialogue (and pan them around stereo or surround as needed in post) - perhaps it would be useful for the location atmos.
Probably good for a doco too - where you just want to capture what's there.
I think it's a good idea, but there will probably be better implementation of it further down the line (4 XLR inputs ??) -- how do you aim to use it Paul?
Scot
Don't worry about equipment so much and make your movie!
I left my airline job recently and now I work for NASA quality assurance here in Houston. I have been really busy lately and my new job causes me to work longer hours. I do still lurk here occasionally, I just don't post much as I did before.
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Rick Palidwor wrote:Hey Paul. Sounds cool. We haven't seen you here for a while.
Rick
Don't worry about equipment so much and make your movie!
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Paul, please keep us posted on your adventures and general satisfaction with this unit. What a great price for all it does! But great surround sound is usually done with spaced (not X-Y, etc) arrangements so that the rear channels are not too well correllated and are more phase-random. So it will be interesting to find out what you think of the results. Or maybe I'll have to get one and find out for myself? Two months to Santa-time!
I received it today. My first impression is that it's easy to use, compact, light weight. It should prove to be useful for sound reinforcement. I have no formal sound training so any comments I give should be viewed as such. It looks like an electric razor or old time ribbon microphone at first glance. I have not tested it much so far so I will post more in a few days.
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Regards,
Paul Cotto
MusicConductor wrote:Paul, please keep us posted on your adventures and general satisfaction with this unit. What a great price for all it does! But great surround sound is usually done with spaced (not X-Y, etc) arrangements so that the rear channels are not too well correllated and are more phase-random. So it will be interesting to find out what you think of the results. Or maybe I'll have to get one and find out for myself? Two months to Santa-time!
Don't worry about equipment so much and make your movie!
That H2 seems cool; however, I gotta have xlr. So, I'd rather have this:
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs ... r2le.shtml
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs ... r2le.shtml
Nice, zoom also makes an XLR capable recorder >>>
http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1901
My brother sells Zoom products on his web site http://cottosystems.com so I get the family discount
Regards,
Paul Cotto
http://www.samsontech.com/products/prod ... rodID=1901
My brother sells Zoom products on his web site http://cottosystems.com so I get the family discount
yolia wrote:That H2 seems cool; however, I gotta have xlr. So, I'd rather have this:
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs ... r2le.shtml
Regards,
Paul Cotto
Don't worry about equipment so much and make your movie!
Note for Paul: I've found my better recordings happened when setting the mic gain at medium.
I bought the Zoom H2 when it first came out, but I haven't had enough time on it yet to say much yet. So far, I've been pleased with the time I have put into the recorder. There are Transcend 8GB sd cards that fit the H2 recorder, but the larger the sd card, the longer the boot up time. Almost half a minute for a fresh 4GB sd card. I bought the H2 to check it out for whole room voice recording, interviews, some ambience recording for a possible audio documentary project, and for some nature recording with my yet to be finished dish microphone. As for the other recorder they make, the Zoom H4, not my first choice of recorders. The zoom H4 has an annoying and inconvenient menu system which will make you want to pull your hair out at times when you get in a pinch to get it booted up and recording or if you need to change recording channel settings quickly. Rather than the Zoom H4, look at recorders like the Marantz PMD660, Fostex FR2-LE or maybe the new Sony PCM-D50. There is also an XLR wide-bandwidth adapter that mates to the PCM-D50, it's another $500 plus the $600 for the recorder, so it's not exactly a cheap package. If you need XLR, this might not be a bad way to deal with it, as it would save the recorders power for recording. I bought the H2 since I was not looking for this one to use XLR, but wanted a cheap quick recorder with some good recording features. Paid $200 with a 512MB sd card that comes in the box, plus the 8GB sd runs about $90 if you want the larger recording space. The other nice thing about the H2 is it uses standard batteries, so there is no waiting to charge it back up. A pair of AA batteries lasts about 6 hours in the zoom H2. Just swap the batteries and go back to recording. Some of the other recorders use proprietary power that can't be swapped out, so you either need external power or hope you never use up the battery power in the middle of a session. The FR2-LE addresses most of the common issues with flash recorders, and that ones a good bet for phantom power. An optional battery pack for the FR2-LE is a must have for long recording times. The sound level LEDs on the fostex are a dim view in the daylight and hard to see. Later this fall, the Microtrack II is supposed to come out hopefuly for around $300 with 48v phantom power and using compact flash cards.
I bought the Zoom H2 when it first came out, but I haven't had enough time on it yet to say much yet. So far, I've been pleased with the time I have put into the recorder. There are Transcend 8GB sd cards that fit the H2 recorder, but the larger the sd card, the longer the boot up time. Almost half a minute for a fresh 4GB sd card. I bought the H2 to check it out for whole room voice recording, interviews, some ambience recording for a possible audio documentary project, and for some nature recording with my yet to be finished dish microphone. As for the other recorder they make, the Zoom H4, not my first choice of recorders. The zoom H4 has an annoying and inconvenient menu system which will make you want to pull your hair out at times when you get in a pinch to get it booted up and recording or if you need to change recording channel settings quickly. Rather than the Zoom H4, look at recorders like the Marantz PMD660, Fostex FR2-LE or maybe the new Sony PCM-D50. There is also an XLR wide-bandwidth adapter that mates to the PCM-D50, it's another $500 plus the $600 for the recorder, so it's not exactly a cheap package. If you need XLR, this might not be a bad way to deal with it, as it would save the recorders power for recording. I bought the H2 since I was not looking for this one to use XLR, but wanted a cheap quick recorder with some good recording features. Paid $200 with a 512MB sd card that comes in the box, plus the 8GB sd runs about $90 if you want the larger recording space. The other nice thing about the H2 is it uses standard batteries, so there is no waiting to charge it back up. A pair of AA batteries lasts about 6 hours in the zoom H2. Just swap the batteries and go back to recording. Some of the other recorders use proprietary power that can't be swapped out, so you either need external power or hope you never use up the battery power in the middle of a session. The FR2-LE addresses most of the common issues with flash recorders, and that ones a good bet for phantom power. An optional battery pack for the FR2-LE is a must have for long recording times. The sound level LEDs on the fostex are a dim view in the daylight and hard to see. Later this fall, the Microtrack II is supposed to come out hopefuly for around $300 with 48v phantom power and using compact flash cards.