Zoom H8 “Handy Recorder”

[KirkP]

The Zoom H8 multitrack recorder lists for about $400, but is on sale for $350 and currently $325 at Amazon. That’s about the same price as the recently discontinued H6. The sale might only last a couple of days. I’m impressed with the specs, features and reviews, so I thought I’d pass the word. All those XLR inputs are overkill for most of my needs, but too many are better than too few.
Zoom H8 product info

[kris]

Can I ask?
What do you want to use the Zoom H8 for?

[KirkP]

I want to record myself solo or in small ensembles. I want to be able to multitrack. I want to be able to use my choice of mics, including some that require phantom power. I want a self-contained system for portability, quick set up, and ease of use. I’d like the flexibility for onboard mixing or to transfer wav files to a PC for mixing there.

I had a portable 4-track system many years ago, and I found having the ability to make high quality recordings helped motivate me to practice, compose and arrange. I collected some decent mics at that time. I’d like to dust them off and get back to it. I also find the technical side of recording interesting. It’s just a hobby though. I won’t make a dime from it.

The Zoom H8 is overkill to achieve these objectives, but at the current price point it’s hard to resist.

[lawson-stone]

That thing looks like an Imperial destroyer from Star Wars!

[KirkP]

That thing looks like an Imperial destroyer from Star Wars!

It looks crazy, but I think it’s more a case of form following function than an artistic statement. The shape seems to be driven by squeezing all those connectors, controls, and the screen into the smallest possible package. I doubt I’d need more than 4 inputs at a time, but if the need arises it’s nice to know there are a couple of spare channels. With care I think I could get a decade or more of use out of it. (I’m repeating all the rationalizations I’ve been giving my wife. )

Sweetwater has a nice overview of capabilities:

Here’s Zoom’s overview of the music recording features:

[guido5]

I made some great recordings with my Zoom 6, but it ran out of channels if you wanted to get multiple mics on teh drums. The Zoom 8 looks to solve that nicely.

Now there just needs to be live music to record again...

[KirkP]

I made some great recordings with my Zoom 6, but it ran out of channels if you wanted to get multiple mics on teh drums. The Zoom 8 looks to solve that nicely.

Now there just needs to be live music to record again...

If you had a spare mixer you could put multiple mics on the drums and mix them down to one or two channels to feed into the H6. But that obviously complicates things and is much less portable and flexible than having the extra channels built in to the recorder.

[guido5]

If you had a spare mixer you could put multiple mics on the drums and mix them down to one or two channels to feed into the H6. But that obviously complicates things and is much less portable and flexible than having the extra channels built in to the recorder.

Very true.

[Cunamara]

It's the Shelob of portable recorders (looking at the image with the cables plugged in, it becomes arachnoid).

Joking aside, Zoom makes good stuff.

[Michael Neverisky]

..., Zoom makes good stuff.

Indeed. I used my trusty old H2 just yesterday!

[Skip Ellis]

I just record me and my H1 works just fine.

[KirkP]

After just a few hours of playing with the H8 I’m glad I got it. My old H2 served me well, but I was often frustrated with the limitations of a two track recorder with built-in mics.

I can still do that with the H8 of course, but I’ll also have the option of using outboard mics, plugging the guitar in direct, multitrack recording, dubbing, rudimentary mixing, using the H8 as a multitrack audio interface, etc. The H8 will perform the functions of a number of other pieces of gear with much less bulk and interfaces—sort of a Swiss Army knife. There’s a bit of a learning curve to do the more complex stuff, and some things aren’t explained very clearly in the manual, but there are a number of helpful videos and user groups developing.