Zoom H2n - A Budget Surround Sound Recorder!
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- čas přidán 30. 03. 2023
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The Zoom H2n is a capable recorder that provides excellent results with its built in microphones.
For the price, it does a lot more than just record voice or music, it captures surround sound in either four tracks or two. So if you have a surround system at home, you can actually record a soundtrack with this recorder.
Since I haven't got surround sound, I mix it down to stereo on the H2 itself. It gives you the option to mix down or keep as four tracks.
The quality of the microphones is good, as it normally is with Zoom recorders and self noise is pretty low, unless you use the compression on the recorder. Personally, I wouldn't do this, and would add compression if I want it at home in post, where I have more control over it.
Link to Zoom H2n:
USA - amzn.to/3TZ6srB
UK - amzn.to/40PkWwi
Equipment that I use:
Cameras
Canon M50 - amzn.to/3Lei0mx
Canon M6 - amzn.to/3DnVdTv
Sony ZV-1- amzn.to/3qHKBY6
Sony ZV-E10 - amzn.to/3eLkoF7
Osmo Action - amzn.to/3RNQ2R8
DJI Pocket 2 - amzn.to/3LfRUzr
DJI Action 2 -
GoPro -amzn.to/3DvHoCn
Sony ax53 - amzn.to/3RK0xVq
Lenses
Canon 22mm - amzn.to/3RPAQ66
Canon 11 - 22mm - amzn.to/3QExXDG
Canon 55 - 200mm - amzn.to/3eUUGxS
Sigma 16mm - amzn.to/3qD3NWL
Sigma 30mm - amzn.to/3xnjGVe
Sigma 56mm - amzn.to/3dhy7Do
Microphones
On Camera -
Deity D4 Mini - amzn.to/3LfsNwC
Sennheiser MKE400 - amzn.to/3Ub2Tya
Deity D3 Pro - amzn.to/3BfLM5H
Rode VideomicPro+ - amzn.to/3BiaCC3
Rode Stereo Videomic - amzn.to/3U72vB3
Joby Wavo Pro - amzn.to/3CGoRkQ
Lavalier -
Rode Lavalier II - amzn.to/3xq1GcG
Sony ECM LV1 - amzn.to/3LnC4mv
Shotgun -
Sennheiser MKE600 - amzn.to/3QEYv7K
Rode NTG5 - amzn.to/3DrWb15
Pencil Microphone -
SE Electronics SE8 - amzn.to/3xr0CFw
Avantone CK-1 - amzn.to/3qFp7Lf
(and many others!!)
Large Diaphragm Condenser -
Rode NT1 - Discontinued?!!!!
Rode NT1a - amzn.to/3Bk5ayq
Stellar X2 - amzn.to/3Bih2kB
Lewitt LCT440 Pure - amzn.to/3dd39ML
Lewitt LCT441 Flex - amzn.to/3dd39ML
(and many, many others .......) - Jak na to + styl
This is the best review with real life examples of the H2n on CZcams. Well done!
Thank you Taurai.
Very useful review, based on personal practical experience. Enough information for me to make my purchase decision. Thank's a lot!
I’ve never commented on a recorder before, but you, sir, really cover enough information in a short time. Thank you!
Thank YOU. Glad it was helpful.
This is by far the best review of the H2N on youtube. Fantastic job. Thank you.
Thank you. Really appreciated.
You answered questions I never knew I had! It's like you were reading my mind in real time!
I’m glad that it’s still useful to viewers. Thank you.
Most informative of the videos I watched on the H2N. Thanks!
Thanks David.
Really good review on the unit. The best one so far on CZcams on this
Thank you. Really appreciated.
Nice gentleman. Funny and neat.
Thank you for the effort, reviewing this unit!
Subbed.
Thank you for subbing. Had a few health issues recently so not made so many videos!
Thanks for the video and very useful information.
very informative, thanks!
Ok never hear of so wow thanks for this! Loved your funky track in the I tro (drew me in)
Thanks Sean. It produces nice recordings and surround sound at this price is pretty good.
Very good job. THX from Finland
I have one of these. Yours is the best review I've seen by far. Thank you. 🖖
Thank you. Love your name on here!
@@iancraig
Thanks for that. I was trying to think of a name that suited me so I dreamed it up.
I thought: what could I call an oldie who takes videos. 🤔
Take care my friend. 🍺
I’m up there myself at 70!
I really enjoyed this video. The H2n has never gotten enough love. I've had mine since they were first introduced and it's still working perfectly fine. I use it for capturing on the fly musical ideas with my guitar. Battery life is exceptionally long. My only problem (which still hounds me) is the small capacity 2MB card it came with. I have tried other larger capacity cards but the unit won't allow me to format them. Frustrating to say the least. After updating my laptop to Windows 10 I found out that the H2n is not supported there. With Windows 7 I was able to clear the 2MB card out with a transfer to my laptop ... (but no longer.) My current 2 MB card is now full and there's nowhere to store the data .... I guess I'll have to purchase a new recorder.
Thanks David. I enjoyed making this video and at the time, I was playing around with camera settings so it gave me the opportunity to have a play around.
I have a 32gB card in my recorder and it works fine. I use a Sandisk card that is inside an adapter and there is no problem at all with it. I use mine to capture ambience and sound effects for my videos. It’s a really good recorder.
The only thing I don’t like about it is it’s glossy finish. It’s too pretty and easily damaged!!
I still use Zoom H2N most of all my recorders, actually connecting my DJI Mic receiver into the input and Zoom F2 into the line out gives me the most versatile sound recording combo ever.
It’s a nice little recorder. My only complaint so far is it’s shiny face. Fingerprint magnet!
@@iancraig I understand, have it on a rig myself, so I only touch the buttons 😉
Ich produziere 360 Grad Panorama-Videos mit einer INSTA360 NANO und 3D- Kunstkopf-Micros von Sennheiser (AMBEO-Headset) und oft auch mit meinem ZOOM H2N. Danke für deine gute und transparentenErklärungen!
Thanks for the demonstration! When it comes to the compressor, the auto gain like behavior isn’t even the worst part IMO. The long-ish attack time with a low threshold and high ratio makes the start of every syllable sound really awful. Good to know. I probably wouldn’t ever bake in compression anyway, but rather do that in post when I have time to get it right. But good to know nonetheless. :)
All in all it seems to me that the H2n is fantastic. It offers legit audio quality and is still really flexible. The same can’t be said about Sony’s ECM mics, which have really clever features, but the audio quality is just appalling.
It’s a nice recorder but personally, I don’t particularly like the shiny plastic build either. Sometimes, I plonk the recorder in shot, hidden in plain site. Doesn’t help if it’s shiny in lighting! I think I prefer the H4n really, but then you pay more for it. I’ve also had a couple of people mention the card mounting. Apparently, it’s a bit delicate and both suggested not taking the card out!
I agree that compression on the fly is a bit dodgy. The generated noise did surprise me. Either the gain had to be lifted too much or the compression is set up poorly, resulting in those weird attacks on beginnings of words….
Dunno why this recorder caught my interest now It's been on the market for at least a decade now and I have a number of other recorders... I look at the H2n as a portable studio microphone. Pretty interesting.
It’s a good enough recorder but I feel as though it’s delicate. Better in studio than in the field. Quality of recordings is good.
plastic is better than rubber! I'll take the finger print magnet over sticky degrading rubber! (H5)
Matt plastic would be nice.
Hi Ian. I bought a H2n a few years ago and loved it, the only trouble is the SD card slot is very fragile and mine broke after about a year and a half of light use, the internal clip that holds the card in, broke, meaning the SD card would not stay in the slot. A real shame as it is a very handy mic/recorder. Just beware of the fragile SD card slot!
Oh blimey. Thanks for the heads up.
It’s an awkward beggar to put in and take out if you want to try and avoid getting fingerprints all over that shiny surface as well!
I dont think I've actually taken the sdcard out mine since I first powered it up several years back. I always just use the USB lead to pull the files from the card using the recorder as a card reader. But I can see how this may be an issue if you're doing really long recordings where you may need to swap cards in the field.
Thanks Steve. I take the card out more by habit really. I should stop it!
@@iancraig Indeed. Best leave the card in and use usb to remove files👍
Just to echo the above, with the fragility of the cover. Once the card's in, never ever, ever take it out. Ever. Transfer via cable.
Low pass that hisss, I like the Tilt.
Oh yessssssssss
Tote that barge. Lift that that bail. Ya gets a little drunk and yo lands in jail ………
Hello Ian: I wonder if you could help me w/a problem. I'm trying to record guitar. In Auto Rec I have Start set @ -21 and it correctly waits for the signal. But I've set the Stop @ anything from -21 to -9 and it won't stop recording. You hear me approaching the unit and shutting it off. Any advice from you or your viewers? Cheers!
Hi Ian! Sorry for the silly question but I just bought one of these for my son to record videos of his guitar playing with good audio. Do you record the video and add the sound afterwards? Or should I try and connect the zoom straight to my iPhone? I hope that makes sense. Thanks!
Just incase, I mean should I record the video on my phone and the sound to the SD card using the zoom - and then layer the sound over the video in iMovie or similar afterwards? Maybe there’s an easier way but I can’t figure it out. Thank you
Record as normal on whatever camera that you use with sound. At the same time, record the audio with the recorder and whatever mics you want to use. Start with a clap that gives a very high, short wave shape for later.
In software on your computer load both video file with sound and sound file (after you have edited the sound file if you want to)
Look for the sharp wave made by the clap on both the video sound track and in your audio file. The audio file needs to be placed under the video, with the clap lined up on the video and audio file. Mute the audio file on the video and you now have the audio file only and it is lined up with the video.
It sounds complex but actually, it’s easy. Basically, you are watching the camera video wi5h the recorder audio. The video audio is no longer doing anything, so it is indeed, layered.
If you want to, you can connect the recorder to the camera mic in socket and put the sound from the recorder directly onto the video, but this might introduce more noise.
There is only three actual capsules inside . The rest is digital processing
Oh, I see. Thanks.
Is it just me, or is this entire video in mono?
01:55 02:38 03:10 is definitely stereo. It’s just you! For normal speech I would usually record on mono.