Posts Tagged ‘mp3’
Zoom H2
My H2 Zoom arrived yesterday. I excitedly ripped open the packaging to find a box. So, I tore through that box to uncover…a box! This box wasn’t just the plain brown sort though. It had a big picture of the H2 in all its glowie, glorified, goodness.
I’d read some reviews claiming that the H2 felt very cheaply made, because it’s very light and plastic. They weren’t wrong. I did have some concerns about this before purchasing, but the praise about it’s audio quality and options for recording (for it’s price) out-shined any reservations. Let me tell you, the H2 did not disappoint. It’s pretty intuitive, even for someone who doesn’t know much about audio, per se. Some people really complained that the screen was barely readable. I must argue this point, because the screen was crystal clear. Small? Yes. Unreadable? Hardly.
The H2 Zoom has 4 microphones and 4 different mic configurations. Stereo Mode, 90 degree 2 channel mode (front-back mics), 120 degree stereo (using the back mic), and 4 channel mode let’s you record and then actually take the resultant files and convert to 5.1 surround sound. All four modes worked great. Overall, I’m very impressed with how quickly and easily you can setup and record with the H2.
While you can organize and pseudo-edit your files right on the H2, that stuff is really nothing fancy. Nice to have, but not required. The real benefits are that you can record in WAV or MP3 (including VBR giving you a whopping 8 hours recording time on the included 512MB card), a built in normalize function, the ability to add marks to your recordings on-the-fly, and being able to monitor your recording levels. Additionally, you can turn on the auto gain function, which will override the microphone gain switch and auto adjust your gain levels during recording. Nice for those times when your podcast co-host unexpectedly screams into the microphone (I think Dan would have liked this for me back in the day 
).
All in all, for about $160, this device is a really great deal and will serve well at the upcoming Gathering of Tribes where Dan and I will put it to the true test as we podcast interviews with some of the martial artists that will be coming from all over the country to pound us into the dirt.
I will admit, I’m still a tad nervous about the plasticynous (yes, it’s a word, I made it up) of the H2. We’ll see how it holds up in the dojo.
HAI YAAAAA!
P.S. – Here’s a completely unedited H2 Zoom, 320Kbps MP3 Test.
Haaaaiii Yaaaaaaa!
Bone crunching black belt discussion complete with free t-shirt! We made Episode 23 faster, stronger, and more geeky!
Episode 22
A boat load of comments from the peanut gallery and Dan and Sterling throw down over internet law. Now with boobies!
Episode 21
Recovering from holiday
But finally coming back on track with episode 20. Brought to you by martialarts-101.com.
