Zoom H6 All Black Handy Recorder Reviews

Works for me
I was looking for a song idea memo recorder,these ideas come and quickly go.
I found that this lil gem works for rehersals and harmony previews as well as a straight to S D card group performances
So What's not to like

Great portable recorder. Very high quality sound production. Highly recommend this unit.

This is a great recorder
for doing remote gigs and or just recording for fun.
Its easy to use and comes with great microphones
on top of the unit. Perfect for what we do.

I bought the Zoom H6 to use for recording for podcasts and for some band gigs. So far I have loved the results using this device, very easy to use, screen is nice and easy to read, recording quality is great (XLR and the module that shipped with it, tested in quiet settings so far), and the battery life has been better than expected. I will start using this more heavily over the next few months, but I am already very happy with this purchase.

I recorded two live sets of the band the night that I received the recorder. I found the recorder easy to setup and use. The onboard speaker doesn't do justice when listening to pre-recorded audio, but plugging in some phones works great.

I have the H4N which I have long enjoyed using both as a recording device and to silently play my guitar with effects. When I bought a Hydrasynth, I wanted a way to record both stereo layers without relying on my DAW, though both function as audio interfaces. This fits the bill perfectly, preserving the channels as separate WAV files on an SD card. I also like that I can add a variety of mics to the unit. Well worth the price of admission.

If memory serves me, I've reviewed the H6 before, but wanted to add a new review to tell you about something awesome I accidentally stumbled upon recently while recording nature sounds in the woods recently.

All of the literature says that the H6 can take up to a 128 gig card and of course yes it does work. But I accidentally substituted a 512 gig MicroSD (Samsung EVO) that I had taken out of my H8 and didn't realize it until I booted up the H6 and found it had hundreds of hours of recording time beyond what I am used to. I typically record in 96k at 24 bit. I'm used to seeing around 24 hours of available record time when I'm using four tracks at a time. Take a look at these phone pics and you will see that with no tracks enabled what the maximum hours are first for the 128 gig card and then with all six channels enabled for recording. Then the second set is with the 512 gig card in with no tracks set to record and then the second picture with all six enabled.

They tell you it can only handle 128 GB but the reality is the 512 worked just as well and upon reviewing the recordings there are no issues. You can run a 512 GB micro SD card and rack up an amazing amount of time even while in wave format. Just thought I would pass that on. Have a great day!

I made a 4-track recording of our brass ensemble soon after getting the H6. The unit was easy to use and the results were excellent. The only limitation was that using 4 phantom powered mics drew the batteries down in about 35-40 minutes. No problem. I replaced them at a break in the program. However, I'll be getting an external power supply soon.

The H6 replaced a dying Sony PCM D-50 recorder for half the cost of a new Sony.
I've recorded two live shows of our band, so far, with excellent results from the condenser mics set at 90 degrees.
The Quick Start manual won't answer all your questions but the full manual is a PDF, available on Sweetwater's product page. Scroll down to find the link.
My years with the Sony saved a lot of time, so the learning curve was pretty short for me.
I record as WAVEs, drag it into Studio One running on an iMac for editing.
Excellent battery life with Duracell AA, so far.
I mount it on a small Gorilla tripod and place it on a table top in the audience. I'll try recording from the mixer at some point.

i love my handy recorder. it's super easy to use, lightweight and portable. i love that i can use it as an interface or record directly on it.

I have been using this Zoom H6 almost daily for the last five months since I purchased it. I use it for a variety of things, and it has proven to be extremely versatile.

Primarily, I use this as a USB connected audio interface with my laptop. My DAW is Ableton Live. The preamps are very clean and I am currently producing an audiobook recording through this interface.

I also do podcasting, frequently with a total of four XLR mics connected. This interface works well for such a setup.

I also use this to capture live audio from our church's soundboard via the line-in. In this case, I am using the unit as a standalone device with no PC connected and am recording to an SD card. When I come home, I connect it to my PC and use it in "SD Card Reader" mode to transfer the files.

I have used the built in mics to record myself singing and playing guitar, and they produce surprisingly high quality audio. The noise floor is very low.

All in all, this is an extremely versatile and capable device.

I purchased this to record my weekly guitar jam. I am beyond impressed with the recording quality. If you need to record live performances, you need this. I have only used it so far with the included stereo mike pod. The sound is amazing, and very accurate. I can't wait for a situation where I can run direct from a board. I highly recommend the Zoom H6.

Is it possible to love a piece of hardware? If it is, then I love this thing. It capably handles any task I put in front of it. Gotta go mobile? No problem. Gotta sit at the table with a handful of board members? No problem. Mix from four dynamic mics? With its eyes closed. Every element is controllable, and the modular microphone system is a nice luxury.

As an emerging rock band with limited budget Haxprocess wanted to create meaningful content for our social media pages, we started filming our live shows with multicamera views, basically using several cell phones clipped around the stage, then doing the cuts in Adobe Premier, the one thing we were lacking was a good sound source, we tried the audio recorded by the phones and the output from the venue mixing board, both were disappointing. The we were advised by Perry Davis to try the Zoom H6 and it made a huge difference, it is not a digitized mixed track but it is a real stereo rich audio track, now we just replace the audio file from the edited multicam video and it looks as close as possible to a professionally recorded live show, for a fraction of the cost.
For our Merciless EP release party we just clipped the Zoom H6 to a wall bracket at the venue and recorded using its Shockmounted XY Capsule mics and it basically gave us what we were looking for. We are providing the link with this review so anyone can have a direct reference to the expected result.

I'm not a musician or engineer. I shoot video and I wanted a device that I could run 4 mics into to record into my Sony a7sIII camera. Using the camera cage I attached the unit, mic'd up, then ran the line out into my camera. With the onboard LED and input control knobs, I get 4 channel of clear, noise free audio recored with my video.

I do own the new Black H6. It's fairly small and portable when you consider it can support 6 microphone or line level inputs (if you buy the optional xlr snap in input) and it can be a 6 channel digital interface for your computer.

It has analog controls for volume and channel selection which makes using and monitoring easy. The color display is pretty small but very legible and well laid out. Sonically, the recordings are clean and sound good.

I own several small recorders. The mics that come with H6 sound really good and have a fuller more balanced tone then other recorders I've had.

The Black version is the way to go. Instead of the old rubberized gray finish that can go sticky (think old remotes that are awful to touch), the black unit has a hard spatter coated painted finish which should be stable over the life of the recorder.

Battery life has been quite good. Finally, the fact that you have a 6 channel digital audio interface and a recorder in one unit make this recorder a good value for me as well as a space saver.

i know a small fraction of zoom H6 capabilities. one thing i do know & like is the playback function continues through the files in a folder non-stop. it is a good function

I do a hyper local podcast (for lack of a better term) and this has become my go to for doing interviews, recording city council meetings, capturing music performances as well as using it to put together my little week in review podcast for the community.

Researching I spent hours watching YouTube videos trying to decide between a H4n Pro or the H6. Prior to this purchased i used a H1n, which I still love and use for backup and quick on the spot recording. Ultimately I decided I wanted the 4 XLR inputs so I could grow into the H6. I am so glad I went ahead with the investment. I already have a project that will use all the inputs.

The preamps are amazing. The near zero device noise is wonderful. One of my best decisions as I have upgraded my gear to the next level of quality.

I coupled the H6 with a pair of AT LavPro70s for Interviews and have enjoyed every session.

Literally worked right out of the box. They don't tell you that is does NOT come with an SD card or USB cable. This really wasn't an inconvenience but I thought anyone going to buy one should be aware. It sounds fantastic, the included XY mics are wonderfully directional. They seem to be just the right amount of sensitivity. I've been recording things to use as samples in my music production, and I've used it as an interface for my electric guitar. 10/10, would recommend.

This review won't have a "yay/ney" answer necessarily, and it doesn't go over the whole aspect of the device and its features (that's what the specs page is for). It's my observations thus far on the device.

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Background:

I bought the Zoom H6 earlier this year* (sometime in April or May) as my first recorder. I wasn't new to audio and music, but I had never owned a truly standalone recorder such as this. I had looked at a lot of different options -- Zoom, Sound Devices, Sony, Tascam -- and considered getting something one of the other handhelds. Since I didn't need to stay inside a volcano or visit Antarctica, I went with a cheaper option.


Usage:

I record the sound of birds, little effects of every day, household objects, and weather sounds--lightning, thunder, rain, and wind. The microphone capsule I use the most is the XYH-6 with a stereo width of 110 degrees. I haven't used the MSH-6 (mid-side) mic as much, unfortunately. Details on that below.


Pros:

* Handheld, portable
* Small, fits in a small hip/side bag
* Starts up fast, can set on a mini tripod and go
* Backup recording at a lower level to avoid clipping from unexpected sounds
* Easily swappable mic capsules (no undoing cables or connections)
* Not specific to the device itself, but I'm giving it honorable mention: It fits inside the Nanuk 904 case along with one, probably two, capsules, and a Movo windscreen.


Cons:

* MS capsule is noisier than the XY.
* Low battery life (NOTE: I have not tried Eneloop or other high capacity batteries as of yet, so this may not be as much a negative point as it sounds).
* There is a higher noise floor on the capsules (something like 15-20dB A-weighted?), but for a sufficiently loud sound source (metering ~-30dB and up), it has posed me no personal issue. I might otherwise say it's a no-go if I were to record the sound of snow falling or the sound of my eyebrows growing out.
* The noise floor for the XLR inputs is also, seemingly (with an NTG5 at least) noisier than I'd prefer. As I've said, recording sufficiently louder sounds is perfectly fine.
* Lack of locking Neutrik connections. This one has bitten me multiple times, but if the device is stationary, it isn't a problem.

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My comments:

A lot of people seem to have unnecessarily aggressive hate toward Zoom because of the noise floor of the H series. I've only owned this H6 and an F6, so take those opinions with a grain of salt, my friend. I don't desire negative decibel noise floors, but if I had the money to afford to a Sennheiser MKH 8040, then I would go for Sound Devices recorders (or stick with the Zoom F6, really). Otherwise, I really enjoy using this device. It's about 6 months in, and I haven't had any issue with it (knock on wood). It records when it should, and none of the files have yet to be corrupted. Hopefully it stays that way!


* I bought the original grey version with a pair of silver capsules prior to the all-black version.

I really love the H6. I used it a lot for recording college class lectures and some sound effects. I liked how it comes with multiple mics that you attach to the top of the recorder to give you tons of options for recording and it has a great battery life. However, there are two flaws with the H6 that make it a four and a half out of five stars. The first flaw is the preamp inside the recorder does not produce enough gain to give the recording enough volume or head room. I would record from a couple of feet away and it would sound as if I use twenty feet away from the sound source and pickup all the reverb for the room. The second and last flaws is the cheep plastic that is the cheep rubber plastic mold used to create the casing for the body. After a while, my H6 started melting and created a glue like sticky feeling when I touched it. So, the only things Zoom needs to do are to add more gain to the preamp and use quality material for the casing.

I bought my Zoom H6 from Sweetwater about 4 years ago for podcasting, and it still runs as perfectly as when I got it. The two standard mics get great sounds, and it's insanely easy to plug in XLRs or quarter inch cables. If you're trying to record on the go and backpack space or power outlets are of concern, this is about as good a choice as it gets. It's also a pretty decent interface for recording software.

That said, it's becoming more difficult to justify broadly recommending this device. Interfaces are getting better and cheaper, USB mics like Yeti are insanely good value for money, and certain audio software can be had for free or next to free. If you can bring your laptop along with you, I'd recommend the aforementioned items before I recommended a Zoom. While it's a great recorder, I don't think it sounds better than a Yeti out of the box. It also has some weird and annoying quirks, i.e. 4 quarter inch inputs but only a single eighth inch output, using giant SD cards, and not being able to access the rest of the device software when it's being used as an interface.

What a great tool! I've been using it to record myself playing songs I wrote. It allows me to overdub parts and instruments and do a reasonable mix of them, although I'm just downloading them to Logic Pro for mixing. The built in mics capture room sound nicely. The menu is a bit cumbersome, but that's to be expected on a multipurpose device with a tiny screen. It also works as an interface for pod casting. One caveat: it accepts 1/4 inputs but not the HiZ output from a guitar!! Buy a adapter if you want to direct record guitar.

I don't have this new all black version. I have the origenal. So if the pre-amps are the same this is an awesome recorder. The sound is TV real. Totally great for the 10 aclock news. Comeing from totally consumer recorders and blindness specific recorders the great thing about this device is that it sounds pretty close to my favorite blindness device but unlike that device it's small and 4 XLRs that can put out full 48 V phantom. Now nothing in this world is sadly perfect so here we go. I had bought it for recording 5.1 surround sound out doors live but oops it only has 4 XLRs for the other 2 mics you need the EX H6 which that's okayish. The real big oops is that you can't get phantom out of that thing. Looks like with the new EX H8 with 4 XLRs Zoom didn't fix this real real big oops. I like the MS H6 best panning wize but sound quality wize I have to give it to the XY H6. Also it's epic how those can handle up to 136 DB SPL. Friends, if it did 2 DB more it would handle the Victory Bell alarm at 100 feet away. The curious thing though is that the XY H5 mics for this recorder's little sister can handle 140 DB SPL. As Zoom says a Jet at little under then 200 feet away or that victory siran again but right near it. Other then those few things I like this recorder a lot. Best I've ever owned up to this point Though I do plan to get an F6 at some point.

Yes. You read that correctly. I have/do own a collection of Zoom H1's, an H1n, a couple H4n and a couple H4n Pro models, so I'm very much a Zoom user. The thing is, THOSE lesser priced models can do something this more expensive model can't, and THAT'S frustrating. That's why I only gave it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Because of how I use my recorders for nature and outdoor recordings, I got this H6 because it would let me record 3 different mic sources at the same time, eliminating the need for setting up 3 different recorders. I also (from time to time) want/like to be able to move .wav or MP3 files onto my recorder's SD card and have the ability to play them back on any of those devices. All my other Zoom recorders, even my Tascam handhelds can do this. But when I plugged the USB cable in and moved some test tone files (both in wav and mp3) onto the H6 card, in a specific folder, I went in to pull it up and it wasn't there. So I pulled the card, put it in my laptop, and Windows had no issue finding the files I had transferred onto the SD card. So I took it back out, put it back in the H6 and after booting up, the files were nowhere to be found.

After experimenting back and forth with those transferred files and a couple quick live recordings I made, Windows was able to find and play all the audio files on the SD card, still the H6 would only "see" and allow playback of the files recorded on the H6. If you don't record it ON the H6, you can't play it ON the H6.

That's my basic issue with it. I've only owned it a few weeks now, and today the H8 finally became available. So now I'm wishing I had just waited until it was available and got it instead, but I'm also wondering if this limitation is also problematic with it as well.

It's just frustrating that a more expensive model of recorder winds up having less flexibility than some of it's lesser priced family line. So I'm happy with it because it's an awesome recorder that meets a very specific need for me quite well... and I'm disappointed it has some simple shortcomings like file recognition.

So I have the original dark grey one, not this color. The description doesn't proclaim any major upgrade, just a color change. But it appears that only the XY mic is included with this black version. The grey one comes with 2 mics: the XY and the Mid-Side: which is a pretty cool mic - different polar pattern, and it has post production possibilities... This is a GREAT recorder for sure, and I love mine, and you should buy an H6, but I can't imagine spending more in order to receive less. I gave this version only 4 stars for that reason (the original grey gets 5 stars of course). Both are available still - pretty clear choice. Get the grey one while you can!

My initial reason for the purchase was that I wanted better audio for the live gig videos of my duo that I shoot with an iphone. I thought that I could also use it for an audio interface for recording, and as a mic/interface (usb mic) for recording acoustic guitar. The sound quality is ok, not spectacular, and as an interface it's also ok, not spectacular. What I don't like about it is that the display for monitoring levels is on the back side of the device. So if I'm recording
my acoustic guitar with the mic pointed at my guitar, I cannot see the levels. The display is also angled down, which makes it more impossible to see. I think this is a major design flaw for a device that is to be used by a musician. For someone doing interviews or recording live bands, who is not in the band, maybe it's ok. I know there's an extension cable for the front mount mic, but that kind of defeats the utility value of the device, imo. It's also kind of big and bulky. After
trying it out, I find that I would rather just use a regular desktop interface for connecting mics and instruments to a computer for home recording. It is probably best as a field recorder, but even then I would be concerned about those mics hanging on the front end exposed as they are. So consider what your real purpose is before buying. I have to thank TJ Jackson for being a great guy to work with. Because of him and the company, Sweetwater is my go-to.

I researched the H6 for a long time, I watched and read several reviews. I decided to buy this and as I ordered it I noticed at the last minute that there is a new version called the H6/BLK and saw that it cost $... more. I decided to get this more expensive version and placed my order. When this H6/BLK arrived and I opened it I was extremely disappointed and angry to see that all of these accessories were just NOT INCLUDED with the /BLK:

M/S Microphone Capsule
Carrying Case
Windscreen
USB Card
and
USB Cable

And, on top of that, this thing costs $... more!! I feel so cheated by zoom, all these items missing and on top of that it costs more!!!

I chose this /BLK version so I have to live with it, but I am quite disappointed in zoom! I have the highest respect for Sweetwater by the way.