New...and has anyone used a Zoom H2 yet?

[hiatthead]

Not really all that new here,been lurking for a while , but this is my first post. A lot of good info and different perspectives on this site. Have recommended it to others I know that are just getting started.
As for me, I have been a weekend warrior for many (20+) years in the quad-state area of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, mostly playing drums and singing in cover bands. I've recently met some people that wanted to add real drums to their original demos. I quickly threw a few mics on my kit, and recorded thru a mixer onto a Sony MiniDisc recorder. I didn't expect much, and it wasn't great, but it was better than I thought it would be. I ran those tracks thru a buddie's COOL EDIT PRO program and the results weren't awful. OK they were pretty bad. Anyway, I got the bug to try and get into some recording. After some research (which led me to this site, BTW), I decided to pick up a PreSonus FirePod, as they were apparently changing the name and getting rid of the stock at a discount. Bummer Number One was that I couldn't get Cool Edit Pro to work with the firewire connection. Old software, so no new drivers. After much debate and research, I decided to try and use the free Cubase LE software that came with the FirePod. Now waiting on delivery of Mackie HR 824 studio monitors, purchased because 1) there's a blow out sale at MusiciansFriend due to a model upgrade, and 2) Brandon has had success in getting them to work well for him. Plus I didn't find one awful review on the net. So as you can see, I'm just getting started on all this stuff, and this site has been a real help so far.
The reason I am finally posting is I finally have a question that I haven't found answered elsewhere on this site. My question is: has anyone here used a Zoom H2 yet? Apparently they are still pretty new and I haven't found much unbiased info yet. I have been using my MiniDisc recorder for making raw recordings out of my band's soundboard. This works tolerably well, but it seems to have a compression factor that can't be eliminated (at least I can't figure out how to get around it). I saw an ad for the Zoom H2 which I believe will do uncompressed wav files, as well as mp3's. At less than $200 I'm considering upgrading. Has anyone here heard anything about the H2 yet?

[brandondrury]

Bummer Number One was that I couldn't get Cool Edit Pro to work with the firewire connection.

This seems odd to me. Cool Edit Pro shouldn't have to deal with Firewire Connections. That's something that Windows should take care of unless Cool Edit has a drastically different way of doing things that any recording software I've ever used.

has anyone here used a Zoom H2 yet?

Nope. Never used one.

Brandon

[Oldercodger]

Better late than never- I used one recently as a tryout recording a band live at a small bar gig and later an acoustic number, (one singer one guitar).
As always, mic type and placement is everything. I moved the unit all around the stage and through the middle of the band but couldn't find a spot where everything was tolerable. The snare was the biggest problem, that was everywhere and way too loud. The acoustic set was brilliant, I was well impressed with the separation and 'you could here the room', I would add this gadget to my collection for that reason alone.
However I would not use it for anything more than to capture a raw demo, or as a way to record the charactor of the piece.
For a quick, very easy to use gadget it is superb, but for any serious recording I think it is limited.

(How can I say that when I use Sure SM58s, Sennheiser E435s, Zoom 1608, Alesis M1 MK2 Active Monitors, and a PC with Cool Edit Pro cos the Zoom 1608 is limited and editing can be slow. Well, hey, I like what I can hear.)

[newkid]

Originally Posted by Oldercodger

Better late than never- I used one recently as a tryout recording a band live at a small bar gig and later an acoustic number, (one singer one guitar).
As always, mic type and placement is everything. I moved the unit all around the stage and through the middle of the band but couldn't find a spot where everything was tolerable. The snare was the biggest problem, that was everywhere and way too loud. The acoustic set was brilliant, I was well impressed with the separation and 'you could here the room', I would add this gadget to my collection for that reason alone.
However I would not use it for anything more than to capture a raw demo, or as a way to record the charactor of the piece.
For a quick, very easy to use gadget it is superb, but for any serious recording I think it is limited.

(How can I say that when I use Sure SM58s, Sennheiser E435s, Zoom 1608, Alesis M1 MK2 Active Monitors, and a PC with Cool Edit Pro cos the Zoom 1608 is limited and editing can be slow. Well, hey, I like what I can hear.)

+1
Totally agree.

Used one a friend has. Had the same results.

This thing works well for capturing ideas, but is not going to work well to produce anything useful.

The mikes need to be up close to the source, so you just cannot capture a group very well.

The plus side is it is affordable and portable.
The downsides are many.
Mike gain is inadequate.
Too many "features" taht add no value.
eg metronome - easier to use my outboard nome.
Records good from a cd player - but why? - easier better faster to do that on my pc.

And you have to keep creating new files that are a pain to erase. Else you have to record one huge file and then split it up later. No way to record over the original until you get what you want to use.
Superscope elevation with a pc works better for lessons and retakes.

Use it for backup to record an entire session so you don't lose any ideas if your main file gets trashed.

[rockerdude]

I have a H2 and use it all the time.If you pm me I will send you some samples of the recordings.
I use it to record bands at their rehearsal space before I record them in my studio.
Like a pre production note pad.
It's a great little gadget! Sterling Sound Studios