Zoom H2 - price drop / closeout?

Kind of a price alert, but this handy recorder came up in another forum thread, and someone mentioned the price was $115 (!). That is at B&H Photo-Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/480163-REG/Zoom_H2_H2_Ultra_Portable_Digital_Audio.html). Other sites seem to list it at the old price, though most say it's discontinued.

Anyway, if you've been on the fence about getting a digital recorder, this is a great little toy to have, and it comes with everything you need, save a bigger SD card.

Git 'em while you can! Mine has served me well.

Closeout - it is, as there is the newer H2n availlable.
many improvements were implemented in the last model.
compare the specs well if you think this is the one for you.

the same goes for the H4 vs. H4n.

The H2n battery life alone is enough of an improvement to make it worth the upgrade, then there's the improved interface and screen and lower self-noise as bonuses.

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2011/08/31/first-look-at-the-zoom-h2n/ and several others.

Fran

Ok, enough. I was only trying to share something, but it seems I've stirred up the crowd.

I, and most techno-geeks, understand the improvement, but the H2 closeout is $115 for cryin' out loud. And that's with stand and mike adapter, AC adpater, etc. The H2n accessory pack is another $39, on top of a street price of $199.

Self noise? I use this in live venues, not a studio, so it's not an issue. (The digital clock in my studio, aka office, makes more noise than the noise floor on the H2. If self noise in a handheld digital recorder is important to you, please buy the one that has the specs that meet your requirements!)

For something that you can keep in your case for jams, pull out just to try something, it's a great piece of equipment. If you want to spend twice that amount ($199+$39 accessory kit) for the latest, by all means do. If you have something else to do with your money, and only want a digital recorder for occasional use, i.e., don't need the upgraded specs *consider* the H2 - it's made a lot of folks happy.

I don't work for Zoom, B&H, or anyone else that stands to profit from this nonsense. Just a happy H2 owner/user.

Thanks for the head's up!

Tim

Great deal!

*I just got the discontinued H3 video recorder for $96.00 delivered via Amazon.
It's not the HD version and the video is a little sub par compared to any HD recorder (which I don't care about at all) but the mics are the same stereo condensers.

For something that you can keep in your case for jams, pull out just to try something, it's a great piece of equipment.

That's my take on it too — a "sketch pad" to capture the moment without having to set up the easel, stretch the canvas, mix the paints and all that jazz.

Classical music content warning!!! (And this is not Bach or Mozart, either...)

I grabbed this today at a recital of kids, young elementary to high-school seniors, using the H2. (These are the seniors, well, except for the stray plink from the audience around 3:25 :)) This was a small "practice recital hall" - sound is pretty good in that room, but it's essentially a classroom with about 100 seats. The H2 was on the fold out desk part of a chair in the last row, at least 20' back from the performers. I have a "koozie" cut off about 1" high that is the base (and "decoupler") that it sits in. I still end up setting the audio too low, since I turn it on and then ignore it, so this went through a "normalization" in Audacity.

Passacaglia on a theme by G.F.Handel (http://www.keithrogers.us/music/passacaglia.mp3)

In a place where I have no chance to set up close mics (the 2 playing in this piece were just one group of about a dozen), this kind of recorder is "the bees knees." So, short story long, all I'm saying is, if you don't have a packable digital recorder of the quality that is available these days, you are missing out.

Git 'em while you can! Mine has served me well.

+1
I used it all the time when I was teaching band, great for recording rehearsals, concerts etc.
I actually won a departmental award one semester for " best concert recoding" using nothing more than a H-2, and a budget boom stand.