Zoom H8

I've only had this for a couple of weeks so cant testify for its durability but so far, I couldnt be happier with this unit. It does everything I want accept have a DSLR camera option (which would have been nice). So far havent noticed any loss in the all-round abilities of the recorder, tried it with both Field recordings and with music and its done the job very well, though it also depends on the mics one uses too. I love the multitrack feature. Navigation is pretty straight forward too, which is a big plus for instruction-phobes like me.

Coming back to this after some more usage, the only issue I've struck with the unit is the touch screen control. Its small and sometimes takes a few attempts before it picks up the touch of my fingers. Maybe that's the fault of the hard worn calluses on the ends of my fingers after years of playing guitars but it can be annoying when you just want to set things up and get to work!

Now several months in after first buying this unit and still very happy with it, in general. However, the touchscreen is a real pain to make fine adjustments to volume, etc. So dont expect to do much on that. Also, strange thing seems to happen when I have it plugged in via usb to the mains supply and I connect a phantom large diaphram mic as well as any other phantom 48v mic - seems that the large diaphram drains a little too much power sometimes and the H8 just shuts down unexpectedly. Lost some work that way.

Another con is the USB power connection. Like all these damned usb connections, the one on the H8 is quite easy to damage. Fortunately, I can still power it and connect it to my computer but I do have to angle the cable now as the connection has been worn through usage over the months since I got this unit. While I am still discovering just what the H8 can do, it is disappointing that the people who design these things insist on putting stupid ports that are susceptible to breakage or wear.

I bought this tool for recording our band's studio sessions, but also for taking it outdoors to our busking missions. This little thing does everything I ever wanted from a recording device.

I am not the type of guy who likes to spend too much time in tweaking knobs. I prefer having a recording tool/gear that is reliable enough and easy to set up in a matter of minutes. Over the years, I have found out that the most important thing of a recording session is to be able to capture the vibe of the moment and not to get lost in the endless parameters that recording gear usually offers these days. I apply the same KISS principle (Keep-It-Simple-Stupid) with my guitar gear. Just a good cranked-up amp (Princeton) that I can control with my volume knob. This way I can focus on my music and not my sound.

My vocal/lyrics buddy loves this tool because it is very small and unnoticeable, so it doesn't affect the chill vibe that we like to replicate during our recording sessions. He uses a vocal monitor which we send via XLR to the ZOOM H-8.

I usually go with the standard recording settings for every channel unless there's something that really bothers me. I want to have a crystal clear sound coming out of the amps with no effects. As with food, having great quality ingredients is the most important thing. The only thing I usually do during editing is chopping and level mastering. Only in special occasions I add some after effect. The results are very impressive, I didn't expect such a high quality sound captured by the H8. I also use a lot the Zoom XYH-6 microphone capsule for mixing room sound (just a tiny 10% maybe) and it does pretty good too.

Bottom line is that it has been almost 2 years since I bought the ZOOM and I am not just happy with it, I love it. If I had to choose again I would definitely go for the same item. I would recommend this item to anybody who cares about simplicity and being spontaneous. I don't want to talk about the podcast or film making capabilities of the ZOOM H8 because I haven't been using it too much but for sure it will not disappoint you. This little buddy ROCKS!

it is a great multitrack recording machine that you can carry in the pocket... as musician composer and music producer i am recording music and working with musicians all over the world... at some point it became inevitable to complete an air travel friendly studio equipment and ZOOM H8 became a core of it...

with 6 XLR channels and 2 channels through a stereo override of a capsule microphone you can record 8 tracks without modifying the machine... it works well as a recorder and as a sound card... when running on batteries you can literally do recordings anywhere... as a soundcard with computer it becomes a powerful production tool... i was using it some times even as an improvised mixer for the small music performances... the A/D conversion and preamps on channels are working well and create a sharp but warm sound... maybe there could be more options for outputs and better way how to store tracks as a recorder but all in all it is unbelievable what you can do with this pocket monster studio...

there are also other features on ZOOM H8 but i was using it only to record music so i can not say nothing about other features

here are some examples of music that was recorded and produced with ZOOM H8

I mostly use this with two condenser mics for field recordings, but got the H-8 so that if need be, I would never be short of inputs. Whether it is for recording a live band, capturing interviews, or doing a multi-channel field recording, this thing delivers. The preamps aren't the quietest on the market, of course, but you have to keep in mind how much it costs and what it delivers - 6 independent inputs + a capsule, that can be interchanged for an additional 4 inputs, for a total of 10 (well, 12, but the two last tracks is just the entire mix in stereo)! That's impressive multitracking for such a compact and inexpensive recorder! Now, to get quiet ambiences with this thing, it is advisable to use external mics rather than the capsule, as it gets noisy pretty fast. With proper external mics, you can get very quiet ambiences that are definitely useable. I've compared this with the F6 and yes, the F6 is quieter, but it's also costs twice as much and has less inputs. It really comes down to what You need. If you're looking for the cleanest possible sound on a relative budget and don't need extensive multitracking, get the F3, it's tiny, sturdy as hell and sounds fantastic. If You need more tracks and need top tier sound, then it's the F6, otherwise, if You're on a budget, need a very very decent sound + multitracking, the H8 is unbeatable. The interface is quite clear, I like that you can adjust the levels in a couple of different ways, as the knobs aren't the most precise things, you can do it digitally, bypassing the knob altogether. Also, being able to see levels for all tracks at once is absolutely great, and you can customize how the screen behaves, how long it stays on, how bright and so on and so forth. Couple of things that I don't enjoy - the build quality. As of so far, it has held up fine, but I wouldn't want to drop it whatsoever. The plastic doesn't inspire confidence, to say the least. It feels fragile, thin, incomparable with, say the older H5, which feels like a tank. Also, when used in the open, it's very prone to catching dust and various debris in it's inputs, which point in every direction, thus I would strongly advise to get the corresponding case that Zoom makes + some rubber dummy XLR plugs for channels that aren't used. Other than that, it's absolutely fantastic, a real swiss army knife, albeit a bulky one!