Zoom H2n for recording rehearsals?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I have owned a Zoom H1 for many years and it has never let me down. I am still frequently surprised by the high quality gig recordings I can capture with it, however in the rehearsal studio it is difficult to get a balanced recording as the vocal PA speakers are positioned as monitors pointing into the room - ie in the opposite direction to how they'd point for a gig, so the vocals aren't picked up as well as everything else if the H1 is at the front of the room. I can compensate for this by setting up the H1 to one side of the room rather than the front, which picks up more of the vocals but results in the stereo field being less balanced.

A workaround might be to set up a additional monitor for the PA and set it up to point towards the H1, however it is not my rehearsal room so I'd prefer not to rearrange the gear, and there would probably need to be some trial & error in setting levels and/or distance for best results.

I've been looking into the spec of the Zoom H2n as a possible replacement for the H1. It has five mics which can be set for four different recording modes and has inbuilt fx including compression, limiting & low cut filtering which sounds handy. I'm wondering whether using one of the recording modes with the H2n in the centre of the room would enable me to capture a more balanced stereo recording of rehearsals.

Does anyone have any experience of the H2n or a similar 'surround-capable' recorder for recording like this? if so any insights would be useful.

[ambient]

It's very good at that. I was recorded by a local radio station last year, he used one and it sounded great when played back over the radio.

It's got a combination of mics, mid-sides and X/Y I believe.

I use a Zoom H4n Pro for recording gigs and for general field-recording, I'm really happy with it.

[pete.young]

I have a H4. it works well for this situation in double stereo mode: I use the built-in mikes to get the main mix and a feed off the vocal PA to boost the vocals. Then dump both channels into Audacity and export a single audio file.

I don't think the built-in effects are as good as something you'd get in a DAW.

Edited June 17, 2018 by pete.young

[dave_bass5]

I only use a Tascam DR5, which isn't a 4 mic recorder, but it picks up the whole band fine. Our rehearsal studio is a rectangular room, with the PA in two corners facing us. I place the recorder on a tall stand (camera light stand) between them, and in line with the backs of them (so all against the same wall) and i find i can fine tune how much of the vocals gets picked up by how high its placed. Low down and they get drowned out, too high and its all vocals.

[Dood]

H2n is great! - Just a quick post to say that it only has four microphones in. Two arranged in MS format the other in XT format. You can set the H2n to either record the pairs down to stereo as a single file or you can have files for both the front facing and rear facing microphones. The latter would allow you to mix to taste in your DAW of choice.

Interestingly though, I seem to get more headroom in the latter setting on the dial rather that the 'mix down to stereo' settings, meaning that in a loud situation I have to go with separate files. In a small rehearsal room with the amps cranked, you will peak the inputs even with the gain all the way down on the stereo setting.

That said, the H2n is a little blinder and I find it fairly useful. - Especially, as in a video I recorded ages ago (long since gone now) I demonstrated using the H2n's live microphone output feed as an IEM or 'active hearing protection'. Very cool. 

H4n Pro looks amazing as it has a much higher SPL capacity, which I believe is up to 140dB? Not that I will need THAT much, but I could do with a little more on the H2n. Tough choice: small compact and awesome little dude that has it's limits or it's big brother with lots of additional functionality, but is much larger for the gig bag. 

 

 

[dave_bass5]

On 21/06/2018 at 12:09, dood said:

H2n is great! - Just a quick post to say that it only has four microphones in. Two arranged in MS format the other in XT format. You can set the H2n to either record the pairs down to stereo as a single file or you can have files for both the front facing and rear facing microphones. The latter would allow you to mix to taste in your DAW of choice.

Interestingly though, I seem to get more headroom in the latter setting on the dial rather that the 'mix down to stereo' settings, meaning that in a loud situation I have to go with separate files. In a small rehearsal room with the amps cranked, you will peak the inputs even with the gain all the way down on the stereo setting.

That said, the H2n is a little blinder and I find it fairly useful. - Especially, as in a video I recorded ages ago (long since gone now) I demonstrated using the H2n's live microphone output feed as an IEM or 'active hearing protection'. Very cool. 

H4n Pro looks amazing as it has a much higher SPL capacity, which I believe is up to 140dB? Not that I will need THAT much, but I could do with a little more on the H2n. Tough choice: small compact and awesome little dude that has it's limits or it's big brother with lots of additional functionality, but is much larger for the gig bag. 

 

 

Interesting about the SPL factor on the Zoom units. While my Tascam does really well I have the input level set at 3/100 and even then I use the limiter function to stop it overloading. This is just a 4 piece in a med sized room. 

My old Edirol RH recorder has a mic atanuation button that really helps  keep things under control as far as level input goes. That’s the one and only feature I miss from it. I’m not sure if using the input level so low effects quality, it doesn’t seem to, but it shows that this thing isn’t great for the exact thing they advertise it for.

[Dood]

29 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Interesting about the SPL factor on the Zoom units. While my Tascam does really well I have the input level set at 3/100 and even then I use the limiter function to stop it overloading. This is just a 4 piece in a med sized room. 

My old Edirol RH recorder has a mic atanuation button that really helps  keep things under control as far as level input goes. That’s the one and only feature I miss from it. I’m not sure if using the input level so low effects quality, it doesn’t seem to, but it shows that this thing isn’t great for the exact thing they advertise it for.

I have to admit I have never tried the on board limiter and I feel a bit daft now for having posting then to be reminded there's one on board. Hold that thought whilst I a.) Try it b.) slap myself with a large kipper...

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, dood said:

I have to admit I have never tried the on board limiter and I feel a bit daft now for having posting then to be reminded there's one on board. Hold that thought whilst I a.) Try it b.) slap myself with a large kipper...

I just find it a safety net when recording my band. I try and set the levels low enough so that the limiter doesn’t kick in, but as I’m down to 3 out off 100 and still there is a lot of level it’s nice to have. When I get the files in to Audition they don’t seem clippped or maxed out, so I guess its all good. 

[jposega]

The H2n is a great little stereo recorder. Set properly (I always have pre-record, a limiter, and the lower db backup settings turned on), setup to get a balanced stereo image (this may not be dead center in front of the band, you'll want to experiment with location and angle). I also have a Zoom H6 for when I might want DI signals of the band, or to use multiple mics on stage.