Zoom H6

One of the best portable recorders on the market

The flagship gadget from Zoom that can literally do everything you could want from a portable recorder. Simultaneous recording of up to six audio tracks, 1,000 audio capture settings, DSLR camera hot shoe adapter, built-in 6-in/2-out USB audio interface, and up to 20 hours of battery life (when recording WAV at 48kHz) from 4 AA batteries have made it an indispensable assistant on film studios, for operators of major TV news channels, podcasters, professional video studios and demanding musicians.

Good in everything

At the same time, the device conquers with its versatility. Especially for musicians, there is a built-in metronome and tuner, allowing you to adjust the instrument before recording. Recording format WAV stereo 24 bit/96 kHz makes it possible to edit the resulting material in any convenient editor. There are so many settings that if you are not used to them, you could get confused. Luckily, Zoom decided to use a colour LCD instead of the usual monochrome display, which is able to display more information on the screen and generally simplifies the process of use. For example, managing files is quite convenient without a computer. The built-in file manager allows you to create several folders for different occasions, for example, make one for field recordings, the second for rehearsals, the third for vocal sketches. There you can also cut the necessary recordings into pieces, delete unnecessary ones, normalize the volume and perform other audio operations, for which you usually have to use a desktop audio editor.

Rich equipment

A separate plus is the equipment of the recorder. In a protective plastic case, along with the Zoom H6, there are two interchangeable capsules (MSH-6 and XYH-6 with a record aperture of 14.6 mm), a foam windscreen, a 2 GB SD card and 4 AA batteries. As they say, little things, but nice. Naturally, the angle of the stereo base can be changed from 90 to 120 degrees by simply turning the capsule, as in the younger model Zoom H4n Pro. And inside the device itself, a set of high-quality effects is hidden, including a Lo-cut filter, a compressor with three operating modes and a limiter, also with three settings. In general, there are no perfect recorders, but the Zoom H6 is extremely close to this concept. In his case, a tiny fly in the ointment is a sensitivity to electrical interference (he makes noise if other gadgets like smartphones or laptops are nearby), as well as a dislike for very loud sounds. If, for example, you write the ringing of a church bell, the recording will not clip, but at the same time it can hardly be called crystal clear.