Thank you for doing this. For the work I do, the Zoom M3 has been bloody fantastic! Great to travel with, love the sounds I have collected. So when I saw the H2E I was also very excited but to be honest it looks like a good little all around mic. Some field recording situations, some music situation and interview and podcast situations. Noise floor sounds a little high but it’s still an impressive piece of kit for the price. Not sure I want to buy it or another M3…. Now back to playing with my F3 and some new mics! All the Best!
@@Ozpeter Love the M3. I have been using it for field recording work here in Canada and Mexico along with some interview work with it mounted on a boom. Just love it! The MicTrak line will likely be discontinued soon since they botched the release of the M2 and M4. Too bad, I like the form factor. So I might need to pick up another M3 as a backup...
@Kellysnorthshore Indeed there were problems with the first release of the m2 but mine is from the fixed release - and it was remarkably cheap due to the adverse reviews from before...
Thanks, this was interesting!! On my headphones anyway the external mic sounds way better than any of Zoom's mics. Could it be geometry or due to differences in background rejection though? I'm having difficulty figuring out if the more boxy sound of Zoom and Sony's mics is due to room reflections... When you boosted the bass on the H2 Essential it did even out the tone but the low end was muddy. Good to know!
@@JeffWernerIthacaNY External - You mean the Superlux mic with the H1 XLR recorder? I would expect the best results from that simply because the cost of its capsules would be radically higher than those in the portable recorders, whose price includes many other components and tech stuff. I included it to give a basis for comparing the others with a much more 'serious' piece of kit - however you can of course go a lot further upmarket than that! Every mic has its own character, whereas relatively speaking, the electronics which follow it should not mess with the audio very much these days. Flat frequency response and low noise are no longer the preserve of costly recording devices, but those qualities in a mic still tend to not come cheap.
Zoom is a real disaster. I have the H2n. It even records a drum salvo when I touch my headphones or the cable. You have to hold it on a very weak elastic band without connecting cables to not hear contact sounds. - Then I have the Zoom H6. Almost never used. I took it out of its original packaging a month ago. Then it stuck to my fingers like a pot of honey. The entire rubber coating is sticky. So I can't sell it and upgrade it to 32 bit. - I have emailed zoom many times. But they simply don't answer and no service. I think I'll just send them an invoice for my damage via a lawyer. If they don't respond, a bailiff and then debt collection. Maybe they will respond there. Never again Zoom
@@Robterdammer I have seen videos listed on RUclips suggesting ways of dealing with sticky rubberized surfaces - might be worth a search - I've not encountered that problem with any of my Zoom devices but I have very occasionally with other stuff. Handling noise is indeed often a problem with Zoom (and other) recorders. It's probably difficult for them to avoid with such tiny devices, as there's simply no room for mic suspensions. They have tried to minimize the issue with the M3 by giving it a very shiny exterior intended to reduce the sound of fingers moving on its surface, but then the appearance is not liked by some.
It seems to me that Zoom needs to come up with a solution. They make the wrong device. The solutions from youtube did not help. I do not have that contact noise at all with my Tascam and almost not with my H6. So I put with an H6 Honeypot and an H2 drum kit for hundreds of euros new in the box. For me NEVER ZOOM again
Thank you for doing this. For the work I do, the Zoom M3 has been bloody fantastic! Great to travel with, love the sounds I have collected. So when I saw the H2E I was also very excited but to be honest it looks like a good little all around mic. Some field recording situations, some music situation and interview and podcast situations. Noise floor sounds a little high but it’s still an impressive piece of kit for the price. Not sure I want to buy it or another M3…. Now back to playing with my F3 and some new mics! All the Best!
@@Kellysnorthshore I guess they are each tools for slightly different jobs. I'm glad I'm not the only M3 owner in the world!
@@Ozpeter Love the M3. I have been using it for field recording work here in Canada and Mexico along with some interview work with it mounted on a boom. Just love it! The MicTrak line will likely be discontinued soon since they botched the release of the M2 and M4. Too bad, I like the form factor. So I might need to pick up another M3 as a backup...
@Kellysnorthshore Indeed there were problems with the first release of the m2 but mine is from the fixed release - and it was remarkably cheap due to the adverse reviews from before...
Thanks, this was interesting!! On my headphones anyway the external mic sounds way better than any of Zoom's mics. Could it be geometry or due to differences in background rejection though? I'm having difficulty figuring out if the more boxy sound of Zoom and Sony's mics is due to room reflections... When you boosted the bass on the H2 Essential it did even out the tone but the low end was muddy. Good to know!
@@JeffWernerIthacaNY External - You mean the Superlux mic with the H1 XLR recorder? I would expect the best results from that simply because the cost of its capsules would be radically higher than those in the portable recorders, whose price includes many other components and tech stuff. I included it to give a basis for comparing the others with a much more 'serious' piece of kit - however you can of course go a lot further upmarket than that! Every mic has its own character, whereas relatively speaking, the electronics which follow it should not mess with the audio very much these days. Flat frequency response and low noise are no longer the preserve of costly recording devices, but those qualities in a mic still tend to not come cheap.
Zoom is a real disaster. I have the H2n. It even records a drum salvo when I touch my headphones or the cable. You have to hold it on a very weak elastic band without connecting cables to not hear contact sounds.
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Then I have the Zoom H6. Almost never used. I took it out of its original packaging a month ago. Then it stuck to my fingers like a pot of honey. The entire rubber coating is sticky. So I can't sell it and upgrade it to 32 bit.
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I have emailed zoom many times. But they simply don't answer and no service. I think I'll just send them an invoice for my damage via a lawyer. If they don't respond, a bailiff and then debt collection. Maybe they will respond there. Never again Zoom
@@Robterdammer I have seen videos listed on RUclips suggesting ways of dealing with sticky rubberized surfaces - might be worth a search - I've not encountered that problem with any of my Zoom devices but I have very occasionally with other stuff. Handling noise is indeed often a problem with Zoom (and other) recorders. It's probably difficult for them to avoid with such tiny devices, as there's simply no room for mic suspensions. They have tried to minimize the issue with the M3 by giving it a very shiny exterior intended to reduce the sound of fingers moving on its surface, but then the appearance is not liked by some.
It seems to me that Zoom needs to come up with a solution. They make the wrong device. The solutions from youtube did not help. I do not have that contact noise at all with my Tascam and almost not with my H6. So I put with an H6 Honeypot and an H2 drum kit for hundreds of euros new in the box. For me NEVER ZOOM again
And their customer service of ZOOM gives no sound at all. Also broken