Entered CNET Catalog: 12/18/2007
SKU: H2
Manufacturer: Zoom Telephonics
Product summary
The good: The Zoom H2 handheld audio recorder offers an exceptional array of features and resolution support at nearly half the price of its competitors. Its small size makes it one of the least obtrusive pro-audio recorders available.
The bad: The Zoom H2's plastic construction feels more like a children's toy than a high-end audio recorder; several practical features are difficult to access; the recording performance of the built-in microphones could be better; and the start-up time is unforgivably long.
The bottom line: The Zoom H2 is a fun, practical, and affordable tool for capturing interviews, lectures, and music rehearsals. Cheap construction and lackluster recording performance, however, make the H2 less than ideal for demanding professional recording applications.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
10/10
Lightweight, ultra-portable, quality sound.
Pros: Price is incredible for the results you get.
Cons: Feels a bit frail in the hand, although I always mount it via tripod or mic stand.
User Rating: 10/10
izoom h2 very good
Pros: very good product you can use
Cons: battery life is short
April 28, 2009
Rating: 10/10
i have been doing audi/video service last 10 years i come across
zoom h2 recorder realy its great product for recording eng/efp /documentaries for radio & tv.
some people they claim they having difficult syncronising zoom h2 audio to video.
here steps you can do;
first before you do anything just know that digital audio signal take either one or two possiple value, one positive one negative.
you must know sampling rate
you must know quatisation level.
also you must know digital band widht.
you must know procedures syncronising audio video, the smpte/ebu timecode/drobframe/ none drop frame
you must understand ltc/vitc/midi timecode/ filmtime code.
you must understand servo control transports/ master/ slave/ chase syncronzers/control syncronisers/tachometer control/film syncronisers.
any body can say zoom h2 cannot syncronize their video camera yes
thats true because either they are ill prepared or they dont understand
procedures of audio postproduction in video .
there are two procedures for shooting audio/ video;
1. single camera technique shooting video /film.
2. single camera recording with multitrack seperate sound.
a; either you use timecode to syncronise cemera and audio
or
b; slating when using video camera , the sound and picture are recorded seperately.
this technique is called double sytem shooting.
to match both of these together for edting later, its normal to provide a syncronous mark on the sound track and on the picture.
when ever i use my hand zoom h2 i u8e clapprer -board to use as reference between sound/video.
i recomend zoom h2 for film/video production anything as long you what you doing\\\'
great product .
om h2 easly you can sync audio video
User Rating: 10/10
Best sound recorder I ever owned, I've had many.
Pros: Very Versitile. Very reliable. Easy to use. No hastles. Very portable. Palm sized. Very long recording time in CD quality mp3 format. Handy recorder is an understatement.
Cons: Very small screen which is difficult to see important information. Battery life isn't real long. Somewhat delicate tripod mount.
User Rating: 10/10
As good as any microphone for voiceovers
Pros: I did a test on http://vomictest.blogspot.com/ for anyone who wants to hear the mic used as a voiceover. I've tested many mics over my career in the thousands of dollars and this does just as good a job. I have not tested it for music.
Cons: none really, best for the money
User Rating: 
8/10
Work-a-day pros use this
Pros: Perfect for photojournalists
Cons: Not pure enough for snooty audiophiles
User Rating: 
7/10
Good value but with some serious shortcomings
Pros: Good audio for low price. mp3 and wav format. SD media
Cons: Noisy hiss on external mic input. Flimsy battery door and construction
The construction is, as was noted in the CNET review, very flimsy. Especially the battery door. The hooks are, as others mentioned, extremely thin. Be very careful with them.
I purchased my H2 to record my students speaking and practicing English. I found some good online samples by another guy who podcasts here in Seoul. You can hear them at www.midnightrunner.mypodcast.com
User Rating: 
9/10
Great for the price.
Pros: Don't spend twice as much for very small differences in the sound quality
Cons: Slow fast forward and start-up time
User Rating: 9/10
Amazing Little Box
Pros: Cheap, high-quality recordings
Cons: Determining where 'Front' is
As to audio quality... the microphones are not going to replace your high quality studio mics, but they do a good job. Noise specs are decent and the frequency respo0nse is well above average for a small condenser. The internal A/D-D/A components are exceptionally good. Feeding the little box line signals (and thus circumventing the distortions of the microphones) demonstrates a very high degree of accuracy in the most important link in any digital recording chain.
The fact that this little device can produce discrete 4-channel surround recording, and that the user base has grown to an almost cult following which has produced several free programs that will convert the 4 .wav files produced by the box in its surround mode, far outweigh any of the elitist criticisms of the original review.
In fact, the only thing I can really find wrong with the unit is the fact that the 'front' and 'rear' microphones are image-centric not user-centric. This means that in a close icing situation, the operator has to get between the recorder and the recordee to set up the box.
User Rating: 9/10
Very effective recording device at a very reasonable price
Pros: Very easy to use, sounds great
Cons: Only comes with a 512MB SD card
User Rating: 9/10
An astonishing value
Pros: High quality recording up to 24bit 96Kbps PCM, 4-track recording with 4 built-in mics, packed with accessories
Cons: Doesn't seem too rugged, a bit of a battery vampire.
I'm using a 4GB SDHC card, and I've heard - but not tried - that higher capacity cards work fine too. The unit is mostly plastic & the switches seem fragile, but for the ridiculously low cost, gentle handling is not too much to ask. The Zoom H-2 has exceeded all my expectations, and is the best value of any gadget I can recall owning.
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent for the price, extremely versatile
Pros: Uses cheap SD cards, quality is great
Cons: Interface is fine, but somewhat basic
Can't fault it really. User interface is somewhat basic, but is completely functional. Slightly plasticky, but what do you expect for the price? Some say it seems to resemble a man's electric razor, but that's kind of cool too. If you're going to record large files, think about getting a high-speed card reader connected to your computer: the USB cable will transfer, but it's slow. Apparently the Zoom will also function as an audio-digital interface, but I haven't tried that yet. And, of course, it's incredibly portable.
I think this device is destined to be a long-lived classic of the ilk of the 80's-era Akai sampler. Great value for the money, and hugely empowering. Better than devices 2-3 times the price.
