Recording with a zoom h2 through line out on a pa desk

adam precision · #1 03-04-2009, 03:58 AM

I'm going to record a mates acoustic gig at the weekend using the h2. The gig consists of 2 acoustic guitars and 2 vocals all run to the desk.

I'm going to use the tape out or phones out to the line in on the h2.

Is it worth using a compressor through the pa as the h2 is recording or is it better to compress the music after it has been recorded?

If you have any experience with a h2 can you offer any tips for the application?

ps. still waiting for the h2 in the post

RustyAxe · #2 03-04-2009, 07:15 AM

Why use compression at all? It's an acoustic gig, and despite what most people think, compression IS distortion. Record off the desk to the H2, watch your levels carefully that you're not clipping. Better a little on the low side than high. You can "normalize" your recording in the H2 (if you go to WAV) after the fact, which will bring up the volume of the recorded track. Or ... take the H2 recording into a computer for tweaking.

Steve · #3 03-04-2009, 07:40 AM

While I really like the H2 for recording .wav files, I've never really been all that impressed with any of the internal processing software and have had better results doing everything outside the unit.

adam precision · #4 03-05-2009, 02:32 AM

Thanks for the replies. I thought i could get a better recording compressing it to get a good signal without big peaks (that would clip).

I'll try it your way without the compressor, maybe add some compression later on a pc program. Less hassle that way too.

I

dave_bass5 · #5 03-05-2009, 04:22 AM

I think while it will work fine using the tape out i found that with our recordings we got a better mix using one of the send channels and plugging our record in to that.
That way we could actually do a mix just for the recorder.
We only have a smallish Yamaha but it has two sends on it. One we dont normally need to use.
I found that the vocal would be a bit loud if we recorded the main mix as that's how the balance was set for the gig. The guitars were usually down a bit in the out front mix but using the send we could back the vocals off a bit and get a better mix.
just an idea.

adam precision · #6 03-06-2009, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave_bass5

I think while it will work fine using the tape out i found that with our recordings we got a better mix using one of the send channels and plugging our record in to that.
That way we could actually do a mix just for the recorder.
We only have a smallish Yamaha but it has two sends on it. One we dont normally need to use.
I found that the vocal would be a bit loud if we recorded the main mix as that's how the balance was set for the gig. The guitars were usually down a bit in the out front mix but using the send we could back the vocals off a bit and get a better mix.
just an idea.

Dave i see what your saying. Think the guys will be using a monitor so they may be taking up that send. The levels shud be ok anyway since they are not using any amp guitar amps, just straight to the pa.
I hope to set the h2 at the start off the gig, forget it and have a few drinks.

dave_bass5 · #7 03-06-2009, 07:45 AM

Yeah, you should be ok. The sound quality will be great coming off the desk.
Although my bands are different ive been using a MD recorder for years to record some of our gigs but last year before switching to the Roland i started to record the main mix off our desk and was knocked out by how good it sounded, although as i said the balence was all wrong.
It might also help to set the recording level quite low so you dont get any distortion. Its easier to get rid of noise than it is distortion.
On my Roland there is a limiter than i have on all the time. This keeps it from distorting but doenst mess with the recording level so you dont get any pumping.