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An inexpensive sound recorder for birders

Subject: An inexpensive sound recorder for birders
From: "Robin Carter" graykingbird
Date: Thu Nov 1, 2007 1:32 pm ((PDT))
I just got a new toy, a Zoom H2 recorder. I took it out to Congaree National
Park today to try it out. My initial impression is that it is a good value
for $200. With the Zoom H2 a birder is all ready to record bird songs and
calls in the field. The only additional things that you need are two AA
batteries. (I would suggest getting several rechargeable AA batteries and a
battery charger, if you do not already have these in your kit.)

The H2 records to an SD (secure digital) card, like many digital cameras. It
comes with a 512 megabyte SD card, but you might want to pick up one or more
1 or 2 gigabyte cards. The 512 megabyte card can hold about 45 minutes of
recording at 41k bits per second, 16 bit encoding. You have a choice of many
bit rates and encoding schemes. You can even record MP3 if you really want
to. There is a USB cable provided to help you download your recordings to
your computer, or use the SD card reader that you got for your digital
camera.

The H2 has four internal cardoid mics, 2 facing forward (at a 90 degree
angle to each other) and 2 facing backward (at a 120 degree angle to each
other). This means you can record narrow-field stereo, wide-field stereo,
2-track surround sound, and 4-track surround sound. You will probably use
the 2-track surround sound to record a complete soundscape (like a dawn
chorus) or a 90-degree stereo field for a portrait of one singing bird.

The mics are not great, but they could be worse. Consider the fact that you
are getting four mics AND a recorder for $200. That's not a lot of money
considering the best mics for bird song recording run from $600 to $2000
just for the mic. You can use an external mic, but, unless you already have
one, that would defeat the purpose of getting a good, cheap recorder with
built-in mics.

If you are going to do serious nature sound recordings you should bite the
bullet and get a better recorder than the Zoom H2. But if you want to have
one small recorder/mic combination (a little bit larger than a typical cell
phone) that you could carry in a big pocket and pull out to record birdsong
while you are birding then the H2 might be just what you need.

The worst things about the H2 are that the preamps are noisy, the mics are
noisy, and there is not much gain (which means you can't turn the recording
volume way up). But there is enough gain, especially if you normalize the
recording on your computer using a sound editor program. You can download a
fairly good free sound editor from the Internet, Audacity. Audacity will
easily let you increase the volume of any recording. The recording quality
is not professional quality, but it will document the bird song or frog
call.

The Zoom H2 is my new point-and-shoot recorder. Last year I got a Zoom H4
recorder (which costs a lot more). The H2 is much better in just about every
way. I do not recommend the Zoom H4 for use by birders.

On the H2 you can set the date and time, which means that your recordings
will have a date and time stamp. No more wondering, "Gee, when did I record
this?" The H4 does not provide a date and time stamp.

The H2 does not have a speaker. If you really must use playback in the field
you will have to get a portable speaker to plug into the H2. There are a lot
of these on the market for less than $100 or so.

The best thing that the Zoom H2 does is record soundscapes. I really like
the 2-track surround sound recordings you can make using all 4 internal mics
at once. It is easy to switch from 90-degree stereo to 2- or even 4-track
surround sound recording. I don't use the 4-track surround sound mode
because I don't have anything to play it back on.

The H2 is small and has a good human interface (unlike the H4). The menu
system is easy to use. The recorder powers up and is ready to record in
about 5 seconds. It takes the Zoom H4 about 20 seconds to power up. Two
fresh batteries should last you about 4 hours. Since you can turn the
recorder off and then turn it back on so quickly you can stretch out the
batteries to cover an entire day in the field. I would have several
rechargable batteries as backup. Make sure you recharge all of your
batteries before you go into the field, since rechargables loose their punch
quickly even if not in use.

 Robin Carter
Columbia, SC USA






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