Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Im looking at maybe buying one of these from guitar center(aka musicians friend) tascam dr 1 portable digital recorder or a edirol r-09 24 bit wave/mp3 recorder if anybody has used one of these would like some feedback thx

This is going to sound ridiculous, but it's true. About nine months ago I bought a ZoomH2 (cheapest recorder of this type on the market). Okay, this is my claim: In forty-three years of playing guitar and owning tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, the ZoomH2 is the most worthwhile investment in equipment I ever made.
I've used it to record rehearsals to see where I could improve, to record "takes" that I've sequenced into whole songs to post on the internet, and as a writing tool - capturing ideas while improvising that can be arranged in different ways later to compose whole songs. It's so simple to use, you can be up and running in minutes, and all you need is a basic understanding of the concepts of record level and compression.
One important feature lacking on the Zoom (maybe on all recorders of this type) is a Normalize feature for MP3 files. You can Normalize WAV files, but they take up a lot of space. The H2 can record almost five hours' worth of music in MP3 format with a 512K SD card! With WAV files it's like twelve minutes or something.
The only regret you could possibly have in buying one of these recorders would be to buy an expensive one and then find out later that you could have bought one for half the price that does just as much.

r

is that what you used for your audio files here

Yes, it is. I set it up about twelve inches from my face at a height between my mouth and chin. If I want the guitar louder I lean back and raise the guitar a little bit; if I want the voice louder I lean forward.

In order to boost the level, I load it into Garage Band and copy the track so there's two or three of the same thing. I don't really know how to use Garage Band. There might be a better way.

r

thx for the input ,I have one last ?.the one im looking at has an input ,on my pa I have record out .I was thinking of hooking this unit to my pa have you tryed anything like that ,and thx again

I have not tried that. Connecting directly to the PA might (probably does) bypass the built-in mics, meaning you'll get no ambience. Using the built-in mics lets you hear how you sound to your audience, wherever it is you've positioned the recorder.

r

I have the H4, You have to select the input either mic or direct via 1/4 jacks. Works great.

who makes that one

Same company. Zoom Corporation (Intuit, I think). H4 is H2's big brother. The sooner you get one, the sooner you'll get better.

r

Correct It is Zoom. I got mine through Carvin. They can be had cheaper now through musiciansfriend. I installed a 2GB card and can easly record a two hour practice session without ever having to touch it after initial set up. And lots of room to spare. (have recorded two full sessions back to back) It has 4 track capapbility and lots of built in effects for vocals and amp modeling. Can plug your instrument or mic directly into the unit if you like. I may never use 90 % of the features. Have had it for about a year now indoors and out cold or hot. No problems at all.

I also have the zoom h4 have had it for about 6 mo. now have only used it so far to record live performance and practice but it is capable of so much more it is the best piece of equip. I own,,, but certainly not the most expensive. I found mine new on ebay for a best offer deal and also bought a bigger flash card. You won't be dissapointed. Bill

I've been wanting to get either H2 or H4 real bad.

Dont know much about the H2 but I love my H4. I also bought a bigger card. With it set on mp3 I can record and play back my whole 2+ hour rehersals. While we play. Pretty cool.

H2 is the cheaper version of H4.
Where did you get it, man?

Did you check musiciansfriend? Seems I saw the H2 on their site the other day.