Zoom H2

MP3 players and cell phones are fine for recording the occasional voice memo, but recording a music recital or broadcast-quality interview requires a product with more muscle. The Zoom H2 is not the smallest or best-sounding mobile audio recorder we've come across, but with an unbeatable street price of around $200 and a dizzying list of features, it is an attractive compromise.

Design
Measuring 4.2x2.5x1.25 inches, the Zoom H2 is one of the smallest high-quality mobile recorders available. In spite of its pocketable design, however, the H2's flimsy plastic construction feels too fragile for heavy professional use and abuse. While we wouldn't want to depend on the Zoom H2 to document our Mt. Everest travel tales, its construction quality is adequate for more domestic tasks, such as recording piano recitals.

Despite its budget build-quality, small touches, such as a retro-styled microphone grille, threaded tripod mount, and easy-access battery compartment endear us to the Zoom H2. The sides of the Zoom H2 offer the expected assortment of features, such as headphone output, volume control, separate microphone and line-input jacks, microphone gain control, a mini-type USB jack, a power adapter port, and a wimpy plastic power switch that offers no safeguards against being accidentally turned on or off.

The main navigation pad found on the front of the Zoom H2 is straightforward, offering buttons for menu, play/pause, track skip, and record. Above the navigation pad you'll find two buttons for changing the settings on the built-in microphone, and a 1-inch, backlit LCD which we found barely adequate for all the menu diving we had to do.

The Zoom H2 shares the same pocket-size design as the more expensive Edirol R-09 (right), but its construction and recording quality is not as polished.

Features
In spite of the Zoom H2's low price and cheap construction quality, its list of features outstrips many of its high-priced competitors. The Zoom H2 includes settings for low-cut filter, automatic microphone gain control, compression presets, sound-activated recording, track splitting, a two-second prerecording buffer, metronome, an instrument tuner, and A-B audio looping. Unfortunately, accessing any of the aforementioned features requires you to fuss with the teensy onscreen menu, which can be difficult to read in direct sunlight.

The Zoom H2's biggest claim to fame is the inclusion of four built-in microphone capsules instead of the stereo pair found in most recorders. The integration of four microphones allows the H2 to pull off some neat recording tricks, such as the ability to selectively record from the front or rear of the recorder, to record a stereo mix using all four mics, or to record a four-channel mix using all the mics (recorded as two separate stereo WAV files). The four-channel recording option, which is unique to the H2, is useful for capturing surround sound recordings or making live recordings that allow for some mixing flexibility in post-production. A handful of H2 owners have even created their own Mac and PC software for converting the H2's four-channel recordings into 5.1 files, which can be played back on most consumer surround-sound receivers.