Greetings,
I did some forum searches, but the latest posts were over a year ago, so I decided to start a new thread.
I have a Zoom H2, and before just the 2nd time I used it, one channel of the line-in port blew out. Seems to happen when the line-in is used in conjunction with certain battery boxes. My Internet searches have revealed this to be a common issue. I use a SP-SPSB-8 box, which worked fine the first time I used the Zoom, but the second time it was clear one channel was blown. I could not find any Customer Support links on Samson's website.
http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916#servsupport Is this worth the hassle to get fixed? I recorded the gig using the Mic-In with Phantom Power off on the Zoom, and it came out okay. Is this going to be worth getting fixed? Something tells me that contacting Samson is going to be a hassle. Will the same issue happen with the Mic-In eventually, or is this a unique issue with the line-in port? (I did not find any reports of the Mic-In having this problem).
While the two recordings I made came out nice, I don't like the lack of level controls on the Zoom, and am still worried about clipping. Neither gig I recorded was overly loud. I realize the input level is digital and after the fact, so the only real gain control is the switch on the side which I of course set to Low. Using Mic-In w. my battery box, am I likely to run into problems with real loud shows?
This unit appealed to me it because it was inexpensive, relatively small (though a lot bigger than the MD that I upgraded from), and could record for hours w. Lithium AA batteries. But the fact that the line-in went after only one recording troubles me. I don't want something that is going to be an on-going problem. Would I be better off counting my losses and picking up something else like the Edirol R-09HR. I know it's a good deal more expensive than the Zoom. I will be pairing it with SP-CMC-2 > SP-SPSB-1, which I have had good luck with for the past five years with my MD recorder and the first recording I did on the Zoom.