Zoom H6 Recorder

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
I picked up one of these off the local CL the other day for a decent price. I rationalized in two ways.
1. My youngest daughter (the doctor) is putting together a series of video trainings on various neurological conditions and issues that I am going to produce for her, and I needed a more portable way to record audio than my DAW, and higher quality than my camera. These are quite widely used for that purpose it seems.
2. I often don't record something I play or make up (and subsequently forget it) because my DAW is not up and running and I'm too lazy to start it up and use it. I need something simple sitting right on my desk to just press a button and be instantly recording something for future reference.

After playing with this for a few days, I am super impressed with its versatility. It can handle any type of mic (4 channels, XLR or 1/4"), even provide phantom power while portable, has a variety of mic capsules that can be attached, audio quality seems very good, onboard color user interface including input mixer and mixdown mixer and VU meters, simple and very intuitive user interface very easy and quick to learn and use, line in, line out, headphone jack for monitoring live and playback, onboard compressor and limiter assignable to each track individually - and on, and on , and on - can't list all the features. This is a portable audio studio in a hand held form factor. You can overdub existing tracks. Oh, you can also use it as a front end interface for your real DAW via the USB output with individual tracks or mixed down (your choice).
It will not take a guitar directly, but just running the guitar through some pedal will probably serve as an interface. I did test recording the line out from my Katana amp to it and it sounded great.
I'm still finding new features every time I turn it on it seems.
Quite a handy device if you can rationalize a "need" for one!!
When you look at the pictures, it appears larger than it really is - it's quite small - fits in the hand nicely.
I highly recommend it - a sweet piece of gear.
For picture and more info, look here:
https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/h6-handy-recorder

There are many yt videos showing it in action as well.
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Cool.
I've always wanted a little Zoom.
I've never heard anyone say bad things about them
Excellent tools that do so much in a tiny package.
Have fun(y)
 

OG_Blues

Guitar Geezer
I got the R-16 and thing has more stuff in it than I will ever use. Good stuff---enjoy.
Oh ya, that R16 looks really nice for a desktop, and even for some "take it with you" applications!
I should sell my old analog mixers and replace it with something like that. Need to take a closer look!
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Zoom makes some really great portable recording gear at really reasonable prices. There really isn't a dog in their entire product line. The mics that come on most of their products will handle live recording and the loud volume levels that accompany them exceptionally well. You can take that H6 into a club with a small tripod and make a live recordings that will amaze you.
 

jmin

Student Of The Blues
...and there’s one on musicians friend’s SDOTD today!
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/zoom-h1n-handy-recorder-red-edition
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/zoom-h1n-handy-recorder-red-edition

I had “auditioned” for a GarageBand a couple of years ago, and they recorded all of our sessions with one of these. I was amazed at the quality of the recordings by just putting this recorder in the middle of the garage. I was just thinking that for the price of a Shure SM57/8 MIC, you get a whole recording studio!
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
...and there’s one on musicians friend’s SDOTD today!
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/zoom-h1n-handy-recorder-red-edition

I had “auditioned” for a GarageBand a couple of years ago, and they recorded all of our sessions with one of these. I was amazed at the quality of the recordings by just putting this recorder in the middle of the garage. I was just thinking that for the price of a Shure SM57/8 MIC, you get a whole recording studio!
I have the prior version, the H1 and I have to say that for less than a hundred bucks, it was the best money ever spent for any recording gear. The H1n appears to have taken the H1 concept and made it much easier to operate and the recording quality is top-notch.

I use a pair of Rode Video Micro Pro mini shotgun mics with mine. If you listen/watch the BGU Live 2018 videos, nearly all that audio came from my Zoom H1 with Rode mics. Even without the additional mics, the built-in mics do an incredible job, even at very loud events.
 

snarf

making guitars wish they were still trees
it was the best money ever spent for any recording gear
I picked up an H4n back nearly 10 years ago, and it was my goto simple recorder for a while. My phone has since replaced it for ease of use because I always have it with me, but the Zoom has so much more capability that it's my first grab if the potato recording from my phone isn't going to cut it. Bang for the buck, those Zoom handhelds are great deals!
 

sloslunas

NM Blues
Okay, you boys have seriously put something on my gear radar that has been seriously lacking for years. Several questions:
1. How much video can it record at any given time?
2. How do you power this thing, and if it rechargeable how long does it hold a charge?
3. I would need a tripod. Where do you get these?
4. I want something simple to use at home only. There seems to be many different models. I disconnected all electronic devices and computers from my music room (they became nothing but a distraction!!), but, have a very good computer in my sun room.

Steve

PS. Beware.... that if I were to get one of these I would be very tempted to join in on all of the wonderful things happening in the 'Members Recording' section.
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
Okay, you boys have seriously put something on my gear radar that has been seriously lacking for years. Several questions:
1. How much video can it record at any given time?
2. How do you power this thing, and if it rechargeable how long does it hold a charge?
3. I would need a tripod. Where do you get these?
4. I want something simple to use at home only. There seems to be many different models. I disconnected all electronic devices and computers from my music room (they became nothing but a distraction!!), but, have a very good computer in my sun room.

Steve

PS. Beware.... that if I were to get one of these I would be very tempted to join in on all of the wonderful things happening in the 'Members Recording' section.

1. The Hx series are audio only devices. They do not record video. Zoom makes the Q2n and Q8, both of which record video and audio. They both have excellent audio recording capabilities, with the Q2n being roughly equivalent to the H1n and the Q8 being very similar to the Zoom H4n recorder. I have a Q8 and I'm not exactly a fan of it for video. It's a fixed focus lens with a 160° field of view, which tends to look like a fish-eye. The zoom in it is electronic, not optical, so if you zoom in, you do so that the expense of resolution. It's also a stepped zoom, so there is no method to slowly move from a wide shot to a close up. It also tends to be pretty grainy in low light situations. The Q2n is essentially the same camera, but married to the H1n style audio recording. But if you have the means to put together a video with adequate light, either camera is OK for candid shots.
Your question about how long will they record is a bunch of different answers. The audio only recorders H1n will record approximately 50 hours in 2 channel/stereo mode using a 32gigabyte micro SD card (44.1Khz/16 bit sampling). The H1n and the H4n will accept up to a 32gb card. The H6 accepts up to 128gb cards. Since the H4n records up to 4 channels, your time will be reduced by half if you record all 4 channels. The H6 will record up to 6 channels simultaneously, so your recording time would be 1/3 of the total time if you record all 6 channels.

2. Zoom recommends alkaline or nickle metal-hydride cell batteries in the Hx series. The recorders are not configured to charge batteries while in the recorder, so if you want to use rechargeables, you'll need to provide your own charger. Both the H4n and the H6 will also run from an AC adapter. Battery life is 4 to 6 hours in normal mode and up to 10 hours in what Zoom calls "Stamina" mode. The H1n runs on two AAA cells. My old H1 runs on a single AA cell and I get about 10 hours on a fresh, name brand alkaline battery.

3. You can get a desk tripod from Amazon, Best Buy or even in the phones and camera section of Walmart.
4. For Audio only, the H1n is about the easiest thing ever to use. All you need to do use it is turn it on, set the volume levels so they aren't terribly hot or extremely low, point it at what you want to record and press the big record button. To download your recorded files to your computer, plug a USB cable between your computer and the H1n and it will appear in your file explorer. You can use it just like you would use a USB thumb drive. Copying files from the H1n is as simple as drag and drop. The H4n and H6 have more channels than the H1n, but operation is pretty much the same.

Video camera operation is very similar. My Q8 says it will record approximately 5 hours of video and 2 channel audio at 1080p/30hz and about 8 hours of video and 2 channel audio at 720p/60Hz, with a 64Gb card.

All Zoom products will operate from external power. The exception is the older H1 which will only operate on batteries.
 
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PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
I ordered an accessory package for mine that has a desk tripod and a tapered tube with a threaded end to fit in a mic stand
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
I have several adapters that will drop into a mic holder on a mic stand. They appear to be a standard 1/4" thread and fit my H1, Q8 and my Sony RX-100 camera.
mic-adapter.jpg

$8 from Amazon.
 
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