Zoom H2 Essential - Field Recording Test - Various Locations

[@VOByRobbins]

Great video Ryan, shows off this recorder's capabilities quite nicely! well done!

[@EQAVOX]

@@VOByRobbins thanks mate. There’s a lot to love about it I think 🤔.

[@ericaerts2158]

Another great video, I love the H2 essential, cheers from Berlin

[@EQAVOX]

@@ericaerts2158 thanks mate. Totally agree 👍 there’s a lot to love with it. Prost from the UK 🇬🇧

[@Goat.Herder]

Ace video mate, whenever a new piece of gear is released I always feel it's a good idea to show it in different settings in order to see how it sounds and performs 👍

[@EQAVOX]

@@Goat.Herder thanks mate. That was the goal here to show off different things it’s capable of. I’m toying with the idea of doing more videos too - something along the lines of instruments and music specifically could be good I think.

[@Ozpeter]

I tested mine against 7 other field recorders and as I suspected from youtube videos, it's noticeably bass light compared to them all, including the H2n and even the H1n. Noise is fine. Stereo image is best in class. Gives good results with external mics. But it's just thin sounding on its own. Now it can be fixed when editing - the low frequencies are not totally absent - but why did Zoom not fix the bottom end with suitable preamp tweaking? However, your excellent video does show that it's no disaster - until you compare it side by side with others. By the way, those snow scenes were quite a jolt to see, here in heatwave Australia!

[@EQAVOX]

@ I have noticed it’s thinner on the ground with low end when compared to other recorders too. My voice for example has quite a lot of bass but sounds pretty “thin” when recorded with this, even if I was close up to it. Still a great recorder, but I definitely agree with the low end comment.

[@Ozpeter]

@@EQAVOX It may be a consequence of Zoom using a hypercardioid centre mic (or rather a pair thereof) - I think I am right in saying that such mics tend to lack bottom end, compared with omni mics which have lots of low frequencies but of course wouldn't work for the overall stereo imaging concept of the device. Cardioid mics lie somewhere between.

[@32bitSounds]

Perfectly done, Ryan 👍 To be fair i dont think the self noise is too intrusive either. I reckon you should do some guided meditation with that handpan type instrument while sitting by the river 👍

[@EQAVOX]

@@32bitSounds cheers mate. I was surprised actually - didn’t sound too bad at all when boosted. It’s there, but it’s not overly offensive by any means. I am toying with the idea of doing that with the tongue drum out in nature sometime.

[@LookingForSounds]

Nice vid. I enjoyed that. Thanks man. Still not pulled the trigger on the H2e yet, but may do soon. Undecided as to the X6 versus the H2e as my next purchase.

[@EQAVOX]

@@LookingForSoundscheers mate. It’s definitely a tricky one between the two I think. I’d probably opt for the x6 personally of the two due to the quieter preamps and XLR inputs. I love my X6 - it’s the one recorder I have that has a bit of everything I need in one unit. Having said that, the H2E has far many more recording modes to play around with and you can also decode the MS Raw signal in post to change the stereo width to your liking after the recording which is great fun and really useful too. I love them both, but if I had to choose I think it would be the X6 - but that’s only just taking the prize really.

[@LookingForSounds]

@@EQAVOX Cheers Ryan. That's pretty much what I've been thinking myself The X6 edges it overall but the H2e is a nice bit of fun to mess around in post. I'll likely end up with both recorders in 2025, but I reckon the X6 will be first. The XLR inputs are of great use for my USI Pro's and Geofon/Hydrophone etc .... Thanks mate. Appreciate it as always.

[@Kellysnorthshore]

Happy New Year! Fantastic video, really appreciate you sharing! The segment when you were following the ducks, I was not hearing foot steps, does the H2E reject sounds from below that well when upright? I would love it if it does. What is the name of the instrument you were playing? I noticed a hiss when you were playing it but I am assuming you were still by the creek.

[@EQAVOX]

@@Kellysnorthshore hi Kelly. Happy new year. The shot where I was chasing them was just a b-roll shot. The audio was still from them honking and eating in the original shot but the audio from the shot where I was following them was muted. I just thought it was a bit more interesting than just a static shot where they weren’t doing much haha. I’m not sure if it rejects sound from below to be honest - I may have to do just a short walking video with it some time as a test of that. The instrument is a tongue drum. I got it off Amazon a while back. I’m hoping to get a hand pan one day but they are very expensive haha. The hiss in the background was a nearby small waterfall and river. Sounds similar to self noise, but it’s definitely not the noise in that clip.

[@DavidBondeDanmark]

Another nice video! Now I need your opinion and comparison up against the Tascam X6 ;) I did get the Tascam but I still have the opportunity to send it back and get this one instead. I like the form factor of the H2 better than the Tascam. But I did get some pretty nice recordings of very quiet places with the X6 and like the stereo seperation. But… ;) So how much noisier do you find the H2 and how do you like the stereo seperation?

[@EQAVOX]

@@DavidBondeDanmark now that would make for an interesting comparison. I suspect that the X6 would be better in terms of self noise - but the Zoom H2E isn’t particularly bad either. I agree, the form factor is really nice and different to other handy recorders. If I can find the time, I’ll see if I can get a quick video together comparing them shortlyz

[@EQAVOX]

@@DavidBondeDanmark on the stereo separation I haven’t really compared them both side by side - but that would be interesting to see how they differ too.

[@SecretLevel]

I would like to hear how it can record sound of objects instead of field recordings. I want to buy my first recorder to record sounds for my game and I don't know if this kind of recorder is good for that. I borrow for some time h4n, and it's very good but it's booting up time is crazy long.

[@StruwenPetra]

Why are you whispering in church? And were you able to receive the Holy Spirit? Something strange in the neighborhood... 🫣😉

[@32bitSounds]

I thought everyone does that 😂