[George Wirth]

I understand not to expect much from the mic preamps with a unit like
this but I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to experiment with
its line inputs using an external preamp. Some posts on the web
suggest that it's very easy to overdrive the line-in. Apparently the
level controls on the Zoom are only for the mic pres.

I'd be interested in knowing if it's possible to make high quality 24
bit recordings using the H2 line inputs with a good preamp and mic.

Thanks.

G.

[Mike Rivers]

On Sep 16, 11:42 am, George Wirth wrote:

I'd be interested in knowing if it's possible to make high quality 24
bit recordings using the H2 line inputs with a good preamp and mic.

Sure, as long as you can control the output level of the preamp to the
recorder and understand how the recorder's record gain switch and
adjustment works (and doesn't work) and pay attention to the meters on
the H2 (which are actually reasonably easy to read for small meters).

Here's the secret:

1. Set the "software" record level to 100 (it goes from 0 to 127)
using the up/down buttons.

2. Set up the mics, hook up your preamp, and get some sound
happening.

3. Put the H2 into Record/pause and adjust the preamp gain so that the
meters move up scale. Anticipate how much headroom you need for the
situation and use the preamp's gain control to set the level so you
get a good reading on the meters.

3a. If your preamp has both a gain and an output level control, first
adjust the gain using the preamp's meters as a guide, then adjust the
output level to get a good reading on the recorder's meters.

3b. If your preamp has only one gain control, use that to adjust the
record level and don't worry about optimizing the gain struction. It's
the best you can do, and it's not the end of the world.

[George Wirth]

On Sun, 16 Sep 2007 10:34:32 -0700, Mike Rivers
wrote:

On Sep 16, 11:42 am, George Wirth wrote:

I'd be interested in knowing if it's possible to make high quality 24
bit recordings using the H2 line inputs with a good preamp and mic.

Sure, as long as you can control the output level of the preamp to the
recorder and understand how the recorder's record gain switch and
adjustment works (and doesn't work) and pay attention to the meters on
the H2 (which are actually reasonably easy to read for small meters).

Here's the secret:

1. Set the "software" record level to 100 (it goes from 0 to 127)
using the up/down buttons.

2. Set up the mics, hook up your preamp, and get some sound
happening.

3. Put the H2 into Record/pause and adjust the preamp gain so that the
meters move up scale. Anticipate how much headroom you need for the
situation and use the preamp's gain control to set the level so you
get a good reading on the meters.

3a. If your preamp has both a gain and an output level control, first
adjust the gain using the preamp's meters as a guide, then adjust the
output level to get a good reading on the recorder's meters.

3b. If your preamp has only one gain control, use that to adjust the
record level and don't worry about optimizing the gain struction. It's
the best you can do, and it's not the end of the world.

Thank you, Mike.

G.

[[email protected]]

Any comments on the quality of the mic/line inputs, Mike?

I've been pleasantly surprised by the Edirol R09. It is based on a single
chip (preamp, adc, dac, etc), but it sounds very clean, at least at higher
levels of mic input.

I'm considering the Zoom H2, in particular, trying some kludge to get it to
record from four mics at one (eg., tapping into the internal condenser wires).

Richard