From dsalley@pacbell.net Sat Jan 12 10:24:08 2008
Subject:Re: Winter NAMM

I got the Zoom H2 digital handy recorder. It seemed to spec. out
better than the H-4 for my needs. It has 4 microphone capsules in it
and can make surround-sound .wav files which you can easily convert to
regular MP-3 files if you want a file in both formats. The H4 has a
little bit better quality mic. capsules, even if there are only 2 of
them, this may be what you're after.

In a room the size for my parlor, the H2 can record the effects of my
Leslie 3300 perfectly by capturing the sound source from in front of
the Leslie and the sounds that reflect off the walls behind the
microphone when it's rotating. The H4 can't do this. The only caveat
is that surround is not very usable for playback if you don't have a
surround sound system in place in your listening room/area.

I bought it a cheap $20 heavy cast-iron based mic. stand and the
results are more than adequate for what it cost. At about 2-3 feet
away from the front of the Leslie, you won't need the foam wind sock.
If you place the H2 closer than that, you pick up the rotor wind
sounds without the foam thingy.

It's not ever going to give you studio quality, but it does what it
does very well and at $100 cheaper than the ZOOM H4.

It is also a player and you can make your own backing tracks, plug the
H2 into another small amplifier (I have a CRATE 50 for this and my
drum machine) and have great virtual-combo practice sessions.

Combine the H2 with ZOOM's MRS-4B - Digital 4-Track
Recorder/Controller and you have a very nice and credible entry-level
4 track recording studio ensemble. I plan to pick up the ZOOM MRS-4
after they replace it with the next generation. As it is now it's kind
of dated and uses Smart Media cards (very low-capacity now days),
which I think are no longer in production. Things ought to change with
that after Winter NAMM '08.

My only bitch is that all ZOOM products are rather cheaply built (thin
plastic cases) and the parameter controls are small and mostly only
accessible if I'm wearing my reading glasses. The screen and it's
printing are extremely small on both the H4 and H2. Also,a neoprene
skin like you can get for Mp3 players and cell phones would sure be a
good investment, but I haven't found any available yet.

I got their drum machine too, the MRT-3B - Micro Rhythm-Trak. It's
very nice and has a wonderfully small footprint. It sits on top of my
XK-3 System easily for extreme easy access.

I like the ZOOM/Samson products, but you have to be gentle with them.
They aren't built to take hard and/or clumsy use in my opinion, so I
try to just be careful. No problems so far except that the learning
curve on their drum machine is awfully steep for my skill level. I
always just figured what drummers did was easy magic. Now that I have
to think like a drummer, in order to program my drum machine, I've
changed my opinion. I won't be cracking "Drummer" jokes anymore. :o)

XK-3cDave

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