Topic: Zoom h2n vs Tascam DR-05v2 vs Olympus LS-P4 any opinions?

[saberpoder]

Hello there,

I've been out looking for a highly portable recorder. The plan is to take it everywhere and rely on its onboard inbuilt mics for taking sound samples to use afterwards for music production and some other sound related projects, so the inbuilt mics must be pretty okay for the size and the budget, and no need of xlr inputs.

I've been comparing mostly zoom h2n and Tascam DR-05v2 (although it seems that the real competitor with the DR-05 would be the zoom h1, I guess there's nothing from tascam between DR-05 and DR-40). I'm not really sure of which one's mics are better quality: for what I've been able to hear, I would say zoom h2n gets closer to a decent sound, but these conclusions just come from crappy youtube videos, so I would like to know if someone out there has any real experience and can recommend one over the other.

On the other hand, I've seen this pretty new Olympus LS-P4. It looks pretty neat, but there aren't a lot of reviews about the quality of the inbuilt mics. It's the newest and most expensive of the three of them (it gets to 199E), so would be nice to know if it's worth the price (DR05 is on 88E and h2n is around 130E). Is anyone owning one of them and can write some notes about it?

Thank you all,
cheers

[dogmusic]

I think the TASCAM DR-05 is an underrated recorder. The mics are pretty good and the machine has been reliable. Rugged enough to keep in your pocket. Would be fine for catching sounds.

As far as I know, whatever is in Version 2, you can get by updating the firmware in the original DR-05. But maybe other parts were improved.

[Ozpeter]

I'd characerise the H2N as 'a mic that records' - all the design emphasis is on the multipattern built in mics, which provide stereo imaging possibilities unavailable on any other low cost device.  You don't install crap mics on a device where the mics are a key feature rather than a secondary inclusion.  Having said that, you have to temper expectations with awareness of the price. 

For me the sound obtained is sufficiently good that you can use eq to taste in post production to produce a result which is as good as you'll get at the price.  Sadly I had to cease regular location recording activities not long after acquiring mine so I can't post a meaninful sample, but perhaps a search on Soundcloud would turn something up?  Also check samples from the original H2 which lacked sophistication but produced similar end results to the H2N - I recall hearing four channel pipe organ recordings from that device which were pretty impressive.