I was in the market for a portable recorder. After some investigation I quickly decided on the Zoom H2 recorder and couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

I was looking for a flexible recording option that would work in a number of situations.

• Second mic for video camera
• field recording of rehearsals
• concert recordings
• quickly create clips of gear for YouTube

Some of the features I was looking for included

• recording time of at least 3+ hours on battery
• good sound quality
• records onto SD memory cards
• meters to monitor input levels

The Zoom H2 recorder is made by Samson and is available for $180-$200. The recorder comes with a bunch of cool extras like:

• carrying case
• mini tripod stand
• an adapter to use the recorder in a mic stand
• earphones
• USB cable
• audio cables

The H2 is about the size of a small digital camera and weighs 4 ounces. It is powered by 2 AA batteries which are supposed to last 4 hours.

The H2 is extremely easy to use. I was able to get going without reading the manual. If you can work an IPod you can work the H2.

The H2 is equipped with 4 microphones. The two on the front are angled for a 90 degree cardioids pattern. The two on the rear are angled for a 120 degree cardioids pattern. You can record with the front, rear or both together. This allows for real flexibility depending on the sound source. For example if I’m recording a guitar amp I might use the 90 degree cardioid pattern. For a chorus or live concert recording I may use the 120 degree pattern. To record a band you may find it best to place it into 360 degree mode and place the mic in the middle of the band.

Another pleasant surprise was the onboard automatic gain control (AGC). Zoom provides a number presets which include compression and limiting settings. You also have the option to turn off the AGC. There is also a low cut filter that can be turned on/off.

The Zoom H2 includes a 512MB card and can use up to 16GB card which would allow for crazy recording times. I set mine to record at 320Kbs mp3 and I can record well over three hours .

Recording of guitar amp
This is the H2 with recording close micing a guitar amp.
electric-guitar

Acoustic Guitar
I placed the H2 about 2 feet away from an acoustic guitar.
acoustic guitar 1
acoustic guitar 2

Concert Recording
I brought to Zoom H2 to a concert of Kellie Pickler and Trace Adkins. The Zoom fits nicely in the front pockets of my jeans with the mics poking out the top. The H2 has a switch for high/med/low levels. For Trace Adkins I used the AGC preset for concerts. I was 7th row on the floor. It should be noted it was very easy to use the H2 in the dark.
Trace Adkins
Kellie Pickler

I know this review is pretty much irrelevant since it looks like is phasing out this generation of the V series amps. Online retailers have slashed the price of this amp to $149.

I was in a Sam Ash and decided to plugin. In a nutshell this amp is a bargain at $149. The only reason I didn’t buy it is because I already have a small tube amp.

I’ll admit that in the past I was a Crate basher. Partly because I remember the total crap they were putting out in the 80’s. However since the Palomino series Crate seems to be gaining some fans.

The V18 is a stripped down meat and potatoes rocker. The amp breaks up rather early so there’s not a whole lot of clean headroom. Crank the gain a bit and the amp starts to growl. I would consider this amp to be voiced more like a british amp than a fender. Kind of Marshally, kind of Voxxy. It actually reminded me of the Peavey Classic 30.

The Crate V18 doesn’t have face melting distortion like a Recto or 5150. However users have reported this amp takes pedals well so you’d be able to throw a Metal Muff or something similar on front to get your grind on.

If you have the chance buy this amp. For a little more than the price of a pedal you get a Class A 18w tube amp. This price point is just silly for a tube amp and a few years back an amp with these specs would have been $750+. If you don’t dig it I can almost guarantee you could sell it for what you bought it for.

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