Zoom H5 4-Input / 4-Track Portable Handy Recorder with Interchangeable X/Y Mic Capsule
Ideal for documentaries, podcasting, audio for video, and professional sound design, the Zoom H5 portable handheld recorder lets you quickly record up to four input signals regardless of your audio experience. With a swappable stereo microphone capsule, versatile 2-channel inputs, and up to 4-track recording, the H5 is both user-friendly and easily expandable.
Like other H-Series Handy recorders such as the H4n Pro and H6, you can hold it in your hand, attach it to a mic stand or tripod, or mount it to a camera (shoe mount available separately); the H5 packs an impressive array of features into a rugged, rubberized body that’s more than ready to meet the varied demands of musicians, videographers, sound designers, content creators, and news shooters. From the plentiful battery life to the powerful audio processing functions, the H5 is well equipped to handle anything from tracking live performances and podcasts to recording interviews, dialogue, and sound effects. It can supply phantom or plug-in power for condenser mics, or accept direct connections from synths, keyboards, drum machines, or 4 dB line-level mixers. No matter the source, selectable auto-recording and pre-recording ensure that you’ll never miss the start of a take, and stereo safety track recording provides duplicate tracks at a lower level to avoid distortion.
Fast, User-Friendly Operability
The H5’s front panel is ergonomically arranged with its most essential and commonly used controls—transport buttons for record, play/pause, stop, back, and forward operations, individual record-arm buttons that double as mute switches during playback, and large gain knobs. For added safety, a hold switch disables all front-panel buttons to prevent accidental operation during recording. Day or night, view vital information such as audio levels, recording time, battery status, and more on the large, monochrome backlit LCD.
Each H5 input has its own dedicated gain control knob, located beneath a protective bar that prevents accidental movement during handling. There’s no track selection or button pressing required to optimize your recording levels; just turn the dials (clearly labeled from 0 to 10) anytime you need to adjust the gain. If your XLR-1/4″ input source is so loud that you need even less gain than the preamps provide at the “0” setting, use the menu system to activate the.20 dB pad (selectable per input).
Interchangeable Stereo Microphone Capsule
Leave your external mics at home and travel light. The H5 is outfitted with Zoom’s XYH-5 interchangeable stereo microphone that provides clear, phase-accurate capture in a classic 90° X/Y configuration for a tight stereo image. The matched unidirectional condensers are housed within a specially designed shockmount that employs rugged external mic wires and rubberized material to minimize vibration and handling noise. With nothing more than the H5, you’re set to record speech, practice sessions, concerts, or ambient and environmental sounds, even ear-rattling ones up to 140 dB!
The Zoom mic capsule input on the H5 accommodates Zoom’s line of separately available interchangeable capsules, which can be swapped out as easily as the lenses of a camera. With mid-side, X/Y, and shotgun mic capsules to choose from, you can be ready to record music, dialog, or sound effects without carting an external microphone setup. Opt for the EXH-6 combo input capsule to accept two additional mic/line signals via XLR-1/4″ jacks.
Zoom H8 Handy Recorder Review
Fast forward to today, we have the Zoom H8 handy recorder. The Zoom H8 is a bigger version of the H4 and the H6, built with more inputs outputs, better ease of use, and even adds on useful podcast functions – to cater to the demands of creators today.
Watch the video below to see the Zoom H8 in action:
At 399 retail, the Zoom H8 handy recorder is an attractive buy. Compared with competitive products, it offers more features such as 8-input channels (12-tracks with backup recording), phantom power for 4 inputs, interchangeable microphone capsules and it records up to 24-bit/96kHz audio in WAV and a variety of MP3 formats.
It also works as an audio interface and you operate it via a touchscreen interface, choosing between 3 apps for different use cases – Podcast App, Music App Field App.
Zoom H8 must-know specs:
- 8-inputs (backup recording makes it possible for 12-track simultaneous recording.)
- 4 microphone inputs with phantom power (12V, 24V or 48V)
- 2 XLR/TRS combo jack inputs.
- Records up to 24-bit/96kHz audio.
- Works an audio interface on a Mac, Windows, and iPad.
- Easily swap microphone capsules (Zoom mic capsule system.)
- Accepts SD cards up to 512GB
- Three applications – Podcast, Music App Field App
- Provides plugin power via input on the XYH mic capsule.
Unboxing the Zoom H8
The Zoom H8 comes with the Zoom XYH-6 microphone capsule, AA batteries (for testing only), and manuals (yes, you would have to buy your own SD card). But unlike its earlier predecessors, the Zoom H8 does not come with a carry case or pouch – which I thought was weird, since it’s meant to be portable.
You will also notice that the Zoom H8 is built with a different type of plastic (the hard type). While the earlier Zoom H6 could withstand drops and bumps, the Zoom H8 feels like it’ll crack upon any accidental drop from the table – so be careful with it.
I thought the build of the H8 was a little odd (like a spider). And it’s also quite bulky and it feels weird holding it. Mounting it on top of a DSLR camera or carrying it in a bag for run and gun field recording might be awkward.
Operation-wise it was easy to figure out the Zoom H8, without having to dig into the manuals much.
Zoom H8 Interface
The Zoom H8 can be powered with 4 AA batteries, a power bank, or USB-powered (USB micro-B). The XYH-6 microphone capsule sits on the Zoom mic connector, with 4 XLR inputs and 2 XLR/TRS combo jack on the sides.
The mic pre-amps sounded neutral and had enough gain for most recording situations. I did, however, find it to introduce some noise with higher gain settings. If you decide to plug in something like a guitar or run your microphones through a pre-amp, make use of the 2 XLR/TRS combo jack on the side.
Each of the inputs has its own dedicated gain dial which looks like mini knobs when compared to the older Zoom models. Then we have the mic track enable/disable buttons, and pad switches.
On its sides, you’ll find the SD card slot which allows storage cards up to 512GB, a line-out jack, phone-out jack, remote connector jack for the optional BTA-1 adapter, and the USB port.
And on the back, there’s a small built-in mono speaker, definitely not used for monitoring but for quick checks without having to plug in a pair of headphones.
Two quick things to point out so far:
- The Zoom H8 still uses USB Micro-B. Why not go into USB-C?
- The Zoom H8 records up to 24-bit only. I know some people hoping to see 32-bit support.
You can rotate the individual mics on the XY mic capsule to record at a wider stereo width, to record in a recordings situation that has a wider soundscape such as recording a quartet performance, ensemble rehearsal, or doing field recording.
What I liked about the XYH-6 mic capsule is that it has a mic/line-in input jack with plugin power, that I could use to connect an external microphone, such as a lavalier microphone.
What’s Plug-in Power?
Certain lavalier microphones will require a small voltage to operate (usually around 3-5V). The Zoom H8 provides a plugin-in power function to supply power to 3.5mm TRS minijack lavalier microphones that you plug in the XY mic capsule.
This is a big deal – due to the fact that there are still many cameras and portable recorders that don’t provide plugin power. (although they should.)
This is why some lavalier microphones have battery slots, in the case you were to use them with a recorder that does not support plugin power.
Most tiny lavalier microphones are electret condensers, which would require power. Here are some lav mics that need plugin power:
And one that does not need plugin power (has a battery slot):
Controlling the Zoom H8 Remotely
During my test with the Zoom H8, I didn’t manage to test the optional BTA-1 Bluetooth adapter, that, once connected, allows you to control the H8 remotely on an iPad using the H8 control app.
Although, the H8 control app doesn’t do much other than enabling you to monitor the input levels, start/stop recordings and enable/disable channels. It’s more designed to be used as means to start recording remotely (up to 10 meters) without having to touch the H8.
So don’t expect to have the full suite of functions on the app. Also, the H8 Control app is only available for iOS devices, so if you’re out of luck if you’re using an Android smartphone or tablet.
For me, I wouldn’t spend the extra 29.99 on the BTA-1 if using it with the Zoom H8. I think Zoom should have built a Bluetooth module right into the H8.
Interchangeable Stereo Microphone Capsule
Leave your external mics at home and travel light. The H5 is outfitted with Zoom‘s XYH-5 interchangeable stereo microphone that provides clear, phase-accurate capture in a classic 90° X/Y configuration for a tight stereo image. The matched unidirectional condensers are housed within a specially designed shockmount that employs rugged external mic wires and rubberized material to minimize vibration and handling noise. With nothing more than the H5, you’re set to record speech, practice sessions, concerts, or ambient and environmental sounds, even ear-rattling ones up to 140 dB!
The Zoom mic capsule input on the H5 accommodates Zoom‘s line of separately available interchangeable capsules, which can be swapped out as easily as the lenses of a camera. With mid-side, X/Y, and shotgun mic capsules to choose from, you can be ready to record music, dialog, or sound effects without carting an external microphone setup. Opt for the EXH-6 combo input capsule to accept two additional mic/line signals via XLR-1/4 jacks.
2-Channel Microphone/Line Inputs
Equipped with two XLR-1/4 combo inputs and a 3.5mm stereo mini-jack input, the H5 can accommodate condenser microphones, 4 dB balanced line-level sources, or signals from unbalanced instruments with active electronics. Turn on 12, 24, or 48 VDC phantom power to the XLR jacks, or 2.5V plug-in power to the mini jack. Whether you plan on recording studio condenser mics, a stereo feed from a mixer or wireless receiver, or a lavalier mic for an interview, the H5’s preamps (identical to those found in the H6) are ready to deliver low-noise (-120 dB EIN) performance.
If you happen to setup external microphones in a mid-side configuration, the integrated MS decoder allows adjustment to the perceived width of the stereo image, which is beneficial for sound design, broadcasting, or general stereo-to-mono compatibility.
Record up to 4 Channels Live or Overdub Layers
The H5 boasts multiple recording modes, and is capable of up to 24-bit / 96 kHz resolution. Record in stereo from the X/Y mic capsule or input jacks, or use Multi File mode to simultaneously record the X/Y mic and two external sources (great for getting the room sound and a stereo feed from a mixer). Alternatively, Multi File mode can be utilized for overdubbing in case layers of instruments need to be added after an initial recording. The H5’s internal mixdown function lets you adjust levels and pans as you blend four tracks down to stereo.
Maximize portability by recording directly to an SD card (up to 2GB capacity) or SDHC card (up to 32GB capacity). A 2GB SDHC card will yield approximately three hours of 16-bit / 44.1 kHz stereo recording time using the BWF-compliant WAV format for uncompressed audio quality and industry-standard file compatibility. Note that media cards are available separately, and larger capacity cards will increase startup times.
Alternatively, use the H5 as a 4-in/2-out USB 2.0 audio interface at up to 24-bit / 48 kHz. For audio interface operation with an iPad (Apple Camera Connection Kit required and available separately), select USB Stereo mode, which offers two channels in and out at up to 16-bit / 48 kHz. The USB port also enables fast file transfer and firmware updates.
Digital Audio
There’s a tonne of different options and settings inside the recorder. I’d really need to write a manual to run through them all, but here are the most relevant.
Recording Format
You can record in either WAV or MP3. The most common setting for recording podcast vocals is 44100Hz, 16bit.
You can go as high as 96000Hz, 24bit (way too high) or as low as 48kbps MP3 (way too low). As always, file quality is reflected by its size on the SD card. The higher quality you go, the bigger the files are.
Low Cut Filter
This helps reduce the impact of unwanted low sounds in your recording, such as popping, or wind/handling noise.
Compressor/Limiter
This helps raise low-level input signals and lower high-level input signals. It basically takes the loud bits of your audio and the quiet bits of your audio and pulls them all closer together.
Phantom/Plug-in Power
This can be used with external mics that require a power source to work. Inputs 1-4 can provide phanton power of 12V, 24V, 48V.
Sound Quality of the Zoom H6
Here are two sound samples recorded on the Zoom H6. Both have been normalised but no post-processing or cleaning has been applied.
Zoom H6 Review Summary
Okay, that’s our Zoom H6 review! Unsurprisingly I share in the common opinion that the Zoom H6 is an incredible piece of kit, and a great choice for audio producers and podcasters alike.
But, although it’s definitely good value for all that it does, it’s still a serious investment. So do you really need one?
Who Probably Doesn’t Need a Zoom H6?
- A solo monologue podcaster
- A solo ‘Skype interviews’ podcaster
- A locally recorded co-hosted or interviews podcaster
- A multi-participant show recorded online (remote recording tools are a better option here)
Who DOES Need a Zoom H6?
If you want the ability to record 3 to 6 participants on independent microphones, and even independent tracks, then the Zoom H6 is the recorder for you. This might be for ’roundtable’ podcast episodes, or it might be for a multi-cast audio drama.
If you’re in the market for a high-end recorder that doubles up as a USB interface, then you’re probably as well opting for the Zoom H6. It’s less than 100 dearer than the Zoom H4n, only about 20 dearer than the Zoom H5, and the extra options and functions make it well worth the extra cost!
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