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Re: Zoom H2 Line Inputs

Subject: Re: Zoom H2 Line Inputs
From: "Richard L. Hess" richardlhess
Date: Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:16 pm ((PDT))
At 08:54 AM 2009-04-10, Curt Olson wrote:
>Richard Hess wrote:
>
> > Has anyone determined where the preamp clips in the Zoom H2?
> >
>
>This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I've found that
>my H2's line input seems to be happiest with a -10 db unbalanced
>source. I feed mine from the "Tape Out" jack of a Sound Devices
>MixPre. Using the MixPre's 1khz reference tone, which shows "0 VU" on
>its LED meter bank, I set the H2's input control to 60. This shows a
>signal level of -18dbfs on the H2. Works great. Bumping up H2 input to
>81 or 82 brings it to -12dbfs -- also usable, but with reduced headroom.

Hi, Curt,

Interesting. With the gain set to 50, the preamp seems to clip at 
about -12 dBFS (rough estimate from memory)

I found this the hard way as the Mackie CR1604VLZ mixer in our church 
has RCA jacks that are hotter than I thought.

 From what I have seen so far, I think you might have preamp clipping 
in the H2 before you get to 0 dBFS with it set for 60 = -18 
dBFS...based on my having 12 dB or so of clipping at 50 input 
setting. You may remember this from the Sony D8.

What I guess we need to know is the lowest setting on the line input 
which allows us to reach 0 dBFS in the file without preamp clipping.

I solved the immediate problem with an approx 20 dB pad in a little 
Hammond diecast box. Set input to 100 and levels looked good.

More later when I get a chance to test. These are the subtleties that 
are solved better in the Sound Devices recorders and now with 
cost-effective 32 GB CF cards, the 702 is becoming more attractive 
compared with the 722 which I have. BUT, the H2 is an amazingly good 
device for <10% of the cost pf the 722 and the built-in mics sound as 
good as the Audio Technica AT822 stereo mic which may have a more 
ragged high end but might have a better low end.

Cheers,

Richard


Richard L. Hess                   
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       http://www.richardhess.com/
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm  










"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a 
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause


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