Zoom H2.......share your settings.....

[mantal]

Share your settings with those of us who hate to read directions.....PLEASE!!! I experiemented for the first time yesterday and we tried half the session on the Med. Gain, the Limiter (Concert) and the recording level almost maxed. Second half we tried the High Gain, same Limiter, and recording level down to about 100. We were playing through a PA in a HUGE room, and this is typically the way we practice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[mantal]

Nobody has anything to share??

[dberch]

What settings? Turn it on and record. Do test recording and listen to it. If the result is too loud, turn it down (gain and or volume). If it's not loud enough, turn it up. That's all I've ever done and it's worked great.

That's all you need to know if you don't want to take the time to read the manual or explore the menus and learn what all the features do. 

Good luck!
David

[Larrivee4me]

Share your settings with those of us who hate to read directions.....PLEASE!!! I experiemented for the first time yesterday and we tried half the session on the Med. Gain, the Limiter (Concert) and the recording level almost maxed. Second half we tried the High Gain, same Limiter, and recording level down to about 100. We were playing through a PA in a HUGE room, and this is typically the way we practice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ok, I'll bite....   As far as the gain setting goes, it depends on what you're recording.  Have you tried using the earbuds to montior before you record?  As you know, you have to push the record button twice to record.  Push it once to activate the meter and listen with the earbuds to check your levels.  I tend to record at too low a level as I'm leery about getting too hot. 
Lately I've been recording in mp3  mode.  I have to admit I'm not too savvy about moving music files around.  My intent was to simply get more music on the chip while I was recording classes at a week long music workshop.   
I really like the mic array built into the H2.  The stereo image is very accurate.  When I record myself playing with the local hammer dulcimer player,  you can clearly tell where the instruments were located in the room.  BTW, since I play with bare fingers and the dulcimer can be overpowering, I position the H2 about 4 feet in front of the guitar and a good 12 feet from the dulcimer.
Loading to the computer is easy.  With the H2 turned off, plug in the USB and select "storage" from the menu on the H2 screen.  Your computer will then recognize the H2.  Open the folder and you'll find a file for each recording segment.  Then you can open them with whatever program you're using, iTunes etc. 
It's not that hard to figure out.  Just spend some time scrolling thru the various menus and get familiar with it.  If all else fails  RFB!!!!!

[JBaer]

A good place to start is at the Zoom Forum, especially the "How to get the best from the Zoom H2" thread. You can find it here.
http://www.2090.org/zoom/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=9745
I started with the settings that were suggested in this thread and have not had to change anything since. I've recorded my guitars, bass and vocals in a quiet environment and some very loud acoustic bluegrass jam sessions.  I've used Audacity for a few years to mix and multitrack and have had great results with the H2 and Audacity (and the software is free).  There is an Audacity Forum, lots of help tutorials and even an Audacity Wiki.  I have read in the Zoom forum that if recording loud rock concerts you may have to play with the recording levels a bit.  I love my H2!

[mantal]

Thanks for the helpful responses... I was hoping to shorten the learning curve a little and some of you have helped....BUT....well I'll just leave it at that...

[Burnsie]

I've been looking at getting on of these...the opinions sound pretty good!

[tuffythepug]

The Zoom H2 is the easiest-to-use electronic device I've ever used.   
The adjustments are simple and I've found them to be more than adequate for my uses.  I've used it in solo acoustic/vocal situations as well as with a partner using 2 guitars and a drum machine with no problems.    Uploading to my computer takes just a few seconds per track.

[shawl]

I love the Zoom2 as well, though I don't do hardly anything with the settings. I record in a fairly high wav format, the gain is set to "M", and the recording level is 90. This seems to work for everything I record (acoustic guitar, mandoline, singing, washboard, kazoo, etc.).

Compression (if any), normalization, reverb (if any), etc., I like to do on the computer.

[kartri]

I have one of these and having read the comments I would add the below inportant step:
Once you have recorded (I set the gain in the middle) find "normalize" in the menu and do so.  You need to do that before you transfer your piece to the computer to get the max volume without clipping out of your H2.  I have done a lot of recording of our
group(Folk harp, autoharp, recorder and guitar) practices just by setting it in the middle and recording front and back with the front facing the quieter instruments and the back the louder instruments.  I've  had a blast with it and we all drive to our real jobs every day listening to the latest practice sessions (including our victories and mistakes) on our car CD players.  Really helps imprinting and thinking through ways to improve our playing.  The H2 has been one goodie I have bought that I actually use quite a bit.  Hope this helps.
Karl

[shawl]

I have one of these and having read the comments I would add the below inportant step:
Once you have recorded (I set the gain in the middle) find "normalize" in the menu and do so.  You need to do that before you transfer your piece to the computer to get the max volume without clipping out of your H2.

I've tried to normalize it on the Zoom itself, but like to do it better on the computer (but I'm sure doing it on the Zoom is fine, too, of course).

I just notice that if you turn it on or off - or put it down on a table for example while it's on - you'll get a huge peak before and/or after the recording. Then normalizing it won't give you the max volume you can get if you cut out the begin and end noise. So I always cut off the beginning and end before I normalzie the song itself.

Also, when plugged in (to the ancient wiring here in my flat), I sometimes get huge, clipping peaks from the electricity (someone turning the lights on or off downstairs or whatever). So it's sometimes good to take a look at the peaks before you normalize it, I've found (and try to get rid of them, if possible).