Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder

 The Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder is an excellent unit manufactured by a company that has a strong name when it comes to Portable Digital Recorders. The H2 is the little sister to the Zoom H4n and while it is not as rich in features it definitely gives you big bang for the buck in the home recording arena.

My friend recently purchased a Zoom H2 so we decided to compare it against my Zoom H4n and quite frankly in terms of pure audio quality I was quite suprised! While I think my H4n does produce overall a slightly crisper and more defined sound it was very hard to tell the difference in blind tests where we recorded the same piece of music simultaneously.

Where the H2 obviously falls behind the H4n is in it's features, but for most people just looking to make some nice sounding recordings this may not even be an issue. While the H2 does act as an audio interface it is is lacking the ability to plug quarter inch cables or XLR (both of which are possible on the H4n), the screen is not as easy to read and navigation of the menu can be a little cumbersome (but nothing to get overwhelmed about). No 4 track recording either although the two microphones will allow 4 channel recording which can be translated into 5.1 sound with the proper software.

All in all if you don't have the money to drop on an H4n I would highly recommend the H2 as a second choice, especially if the on-board guitar effects and extra gismos included on the H4n aren't of particular interest to you.

 Some of the best features of the H2 recorder are:

• Excellent crisp clear recording quality (isn't that what we're all after anyways)
• Multi-directional microphones (great for recording in different environments/ensemble settings)
• Easy to use
• SDHC Card Reader
• Three-way gain switch is great depending on what you are recording

Some of the not so good:

• No XLR/quarter-inch jacks (this was a deal breaker for me)
• The buttons work well but the plastic design looks like it could cause trouble (think old microwave buttons)
• Slow transfer speeds via USB

Hope this can be of some help in your descision in purchasing a new recorder please check out Portable Digital Recorders Site for more information, pricing, reviews, and help with home recording and digital recorders in general!