Zoom H2 vs Zoom H4

[Low Note]

Does anyone have either of these? Any thoughts on these compared to other brands?

Some questions I have... reading the specs the H2 bases its recording times on a 4gb SD card, but the H4 bases it on a 2gb. Is there any reason that the H4 could only support a 2gb card?

The only negative reaction I've read about either is that the screen is a little tiny. Is it readable in the dark?

Do the batteries REALLY last for four hours?

How often do you find yourself using the external mic input? Are there many situations where you find it overly beneficial.

I'm planning on using this to record rehearsals of classical groups and getting sounds out in the real world for musique concrete/samples and stuff. If the H4's features (XLR inputs what looks like a nicer mic onboard) is really worth the extra hundred, i'll probably splurge on it.

[seraph]

[softfin]

I haven't used the Zoom recorders, but I have a sony pcm-d50, which uses 4 AA batteries to allow about 12hours of use (with 2700ma batteries). The sony has very good preamps considering it's a portable recorder and it works great with external mics too.

It doesn't have phantom power, but I know the zoom h4 does have some kind of a phantom power for condensers, although I've heard it doesn't give enough current for two mikes and the preamps aren't too good. But from what I've heard, I can tell you that the zoom recorders work best with their internal mics.

Many new portable recorders have been released lately, I think Tascam has also a new portable recorder that seems pretty interesting as well, but the sony unit has clearly better specs and interface...
The sony costs twice the price of zoom h2, for example, but still, I'd recommend you to at least try out the sony recorder, it's a quality unit.
I don't want to advertise here, so I'd say, try several different recorders before deciding which one to buy. There are many good recorders avalaible now

[elektro80]

The H2 comes with a power supply as well. battery time.. I dunno. I just put new batteries when it tells me to. I haven´t had it running for hours yet.

As for recording quality, I´d say it is far better than the old reel to reel field recorders I own. The mic setup, whch allows it to work in omni mode etc. is cool. You will capture a lot of ambience but in my case that is a good thing.
Considering the price, if an H2 is what you need, then spending 2-5 times more is not called for. If you something better then you need something better. If you plan on using external mics on stands and whatnot, then you will probably already budget wise be closing in on a cheap laptop with a DAW, an external audio interface and some good mics.

The H2 mics aren´t even close to high end stuff, but they are surprisingly good. The menus are a bit messy though. That doesn´t bother me much.

[Low Note]

I have my laptop for heavy duty stuff. I would only be using external mics if the internal ones wouldn't get the job done. But if the pre-amps aren't worth it then why bother.

I am going to take a look at these (including the Sony/Tascams) at a store if I can. Do Sam Ash/Guitar Center type places have these on display?

[softfin]

[Adam-V]

I have an H4 which I bought before the H2 was released. The only thing I really dislike about it is the joystick/button arrangement, it is very flimsy and I find it hard to use with any accuracy. I probably would have opted for the H2 purely for that reason if I had had the choice at the time.

That being said, I'm very happy with the quality of the recordings from both the internal mics and the external inputs. I've even used it to store sequences from my old MC-4s tape save facility

Cheers,
Adam-V

[Low Note]

I by chance ran into a sale on the H2 and went for that. I'll up some audio samples of something this weekend.