Zoom H5studio - Transom

Zoom H5studio - Transom
View all Tools
Intro from Transom:
Transom's Tools Editor Jeff Towne is back with a review of the Zoom H5studio -- the newest upgrade of one of the most well-known recorders in the biz, and now offering 32-bit float recording! As usual, Jeff's got plenty of audio examples and photos to help you determine if the H5studio should be the next tool in your toolkit. Heads up: we earn a small commission for sales made through any affiliate links below, but rest assured, every item here has been Transom-tested independently.
The
Zoom H5studio
($350 USD) is a high-quality hand-held field recorder, with quiet mic preamps, excellent built-in mics and 32-bit-float recording.
The original Zoom H5 was one of our favorite portable field recorders — and it actually remains a viable option — if you can find one. The knobs and buttons and menus were better than the most of the other Zoom recorders, and those ergonomic features remain, sort of. The update is not quite the same comfortable shape as the original, but it still fits decently in the hand. The first H5’s built-in stereo mics sounded pretty great, and while not ideal for interviews, they were very good at capturing music, or ambience, or other you-are-there moments. The updated H5studio features much larger, and better quality built-in mics, but the general configuration is pretty similar to the earlier iteration.
Zoom has updated most of its H-series “Handy” recorders, renaming them as “Essential” and switching their record mode to 32-bit-float. We’ve written about
the pros and cons of 32-bit-float recording
. But to make the most of 32-bit-float recording, the input electronics need to be upgraded as well, and Zoom has not done that with the “Essential” series of recorders. The Zoom “Essential” recorders have a wider dynamic range — you can capture very quiet and very loud sounds without changing input gain settings — but even so, the noise and overall sound quality of the resulting recordings is pretty similar to the older, original H-series recorders.
Alongside that development, Zoom has expanded its pro-oriented F-series of recorders. We’ve previously
raved about the tiny F2 and F3 recorders
, and although the F4 has been discontinued and the F6
and F8n
are a bit overdue for updates, they’re all very good sounding devices, with quiet mic preamps, and robust features that pro recordists value.
The H5studio sits squarely between these two product lines. Zoom chose not to title this the H5 “Essential” although they did add 32-bit-float capabilities. And they didn’t change its designation to the F-series, although its mic preamps
are
the ones used in the higher-quality F-labeled recorders. The name “H5studio” refers to those better preamps, and the new large mic elements, but it’s still configured as a hand-held recorder, more likely to be used in the field, so… maybe ignore the branding. It’s a very capable recorder that incorporates many of the strong points of both the H and F-series recorders.
Zoom has also released an
H6studio
, which shares the features of the H5studio, but has four XLR/line inputs, alongside the stereo mic. We haven’t tested the H6studio, but it’s a safe bet that it performs very similarly to the H5studio. One note: the XLR inputs are on the sides of the recorder, making it a little less convenient to hand-hold when using external mics.
Ergonomics
The H5studio is a little larger and heavier than the original H5 (16.8 oz/476 grams vs 11.1 oz/314 grams) but it’s very similar in size and weight to the Tascam Portacapture X8. Although everything is plastic, it feels very solid and well-built (except the mic mount!) and that rubberized material they used on the original H5 is gone, so it shouldn’t get weirdly sticky! Unfortunately, it does NOT come with any kind of protective case (the original H5 shipped with a plastic box that provided at least some protection). You probably will want to invest in some kind of case: the mic capsules seem especially vulnerable if the recorder were to rattle around in a camera bag or backpack. Oddly, it does not come with any wind protection for the mics either. Unless you’re exclusively using the H5studio indoors, you WILL want some kind of wind protection for the built-in mics, they’re very sensitive to even minor movements of air. There is an optional $50 accessory pack, the
Zoom APH-5s
, which includes a protective case, a custom furry windscreen, and a power cable. This has only recently become available in the U.S. so we didn’t have the chance to test any of its components. If you don’t buy this specific accessory pack, a generic furry wind cover can work: the Zoom WSU-1 “Universal Windscreen” will fit over the mics, even though the fit is a little too small. Other third-party windscreens can work too, but you might need to experiment! I’ve had good luck with the furry cover for my Rycote Baby Ball Gag, or the cover for the Rode NT4 stereo mic. But you risk some wind leakage and/or fabric rubbing on the mics if the fit isn’t quite right, so a custom windscreen is preferred. It’s surprising that there are not more third-party options (yet) but there are rumors of some in the works.
The controls are easy to use, and less fussy than some of the earlier Zoom configurations. There are separate input gain knobs for each of the mic elements, including discrete gain for the left and right mic elements of the built-in X/Y mics. Fortunately, those mic gains are linkable in a menu, so you can adjust the input sensitivity with one knob if desired. There are two more gain knobs for the XLR/quarter-inch combo inputs, which similarly can be linked. The knobs are pretty easy to adjust with your thumb, even while holding the recorder with one hand. Menu navigation is fairly logical, with a small scroll wheel and selection button on the side of the recorder — also pretty easy to operate with one hand. There are good-sized buttons, with obvious red LED indicator lights, for putting the mics, or external inputs, into record mode, and a big red button to start recording. Basic transport controls are arrayed around the record button.
Markers can be embedded in the audio file by moving the menu dial while recording: the first selection is a flag icon, which allows you to add a marker to the recording by pressing the selection button —
twice
. One press puts you in “mark mode” the second press will drop the marker. The markers appear as numbered flags in your sound file, in SOME audio editors, but not all. Adobe Audition and Hindenburg display the markers automatically, Pro Tools does not.
The left side of the recorder has a power switch, and two audio outputs: one for headphones, and a separate line-out to feed a camera or other audio device. That line-out level can be adjusted in a menu, and there’s even a handy 1 kHz test tone at -20 dBFS that’s helpful for setting levels on the remote device. The headphone volume has a small dial next to it. The headphone amp is okay: you’ll want to use low-impedance headphones
(like the Sony MDR-7506)
to get a good volume, but this headphone amp is better than some of the smaller, cheaper Zoom recorders. There’s even a small built-in speaker, if you want to do a spot-check of what you recorded and don’t have headphones handy.
On the right side of the recorder, there’s a covered slot for a micro SD memory card. There’s plenty of room on this case for a standard SD card slot, so I’m not sure why so many manufacturers insist on using the tiny memory cards, I’d much prefer a standard SD card — I find the tiny memory cards more fragile and easy to lose! But microSDHC and microSDXC are priced about the same as the standard cards, and there are compatible cards in sizes up to 2 TB, so it’s not a real impediment.
There’s a list of compatible memory cards
on the Zoom website.
Next to that is the aforementioned menu-navigation wheel and button, and then a USB-C jack, which is weirdly not covered. I guess there are exposed USB jacks on lots of devices, but on a field recorder, I’d rather it was behind a door, or had a rubber plug, or something! There
is
a rubber plug covering a jack for an optional BlueTooth adapter. You can add the
Zoom BTA-1 Bluetooth Adapter
for remote control of the recorder. This allows you to start and stop the transport, see the meters, and do some file management from your smartphone. You CAN’T hear the audio from the recorder on your phone, but that’s probably okay: Bluetooth inherently has a small time delay, which would make monitoring the audio a little weird. That same jack can also accept the Zoom TCA-1 Timecode adapter, which was not available at the time of this review, and… we don’t really use timecode anyway!  But if you need timecode to more efficiently sync to film or video, that adapter should help, or wireless timecode is available via the Bluetooth adapter, and the Atomos UltraSync BLUE. Only that specific make and model of wireless timecode adapter is supported at this time.
Display
The full-color screen is a step up from the monochrome display of the original H5 (mostly) and it’s generally pretty easy to see, but like most displays on devices like this, it’s pretty easily washed out in bright sunlight. The more basic screen on the original H5 was actually more readable in full sun. The brightness can be adjusted in a menu, and dimming it down will extend battery life by a bit, but this recorder is pretty efficient on power, so I tend to leave it all the way up to make it easier to read. You can adjust the “Power Saving” menu to make the display shut-off automatically, after 30 seconds, or 1, 3 or 5 minutes. Or you can turn that off: I like to have the display on during critical recordings, but I’ll let the display turn off automatically if I’m letting it roll for very long periods. You can even set the recorder to power down completely after ten minutes, one hour or ten hours, if you’re making truly unattended recordings.
The time display always shows elapsed and remaining time left on the memory card; it’s nice to not have to toggle for that info. There’s also a battery indicator always visible in the upper right.
Audio levels are displayed on large, bright ladder meters, or a waveform display, or both at the same time. There are separate meters for the microphones, the external inputs, and, optionally, the “Mix Track” if you’re using that.
And that’s one of my few complaints: when recording only the mics, or only the external inputs, it would be nice to be able to show ONLY those active meters, but there does not seem to be a mode for that. So if you’re using the H5studio as a stereo (or mono) recorder, you always have half the display showing nothing. This is something that potentially could be changed in a firmware update: I’d appreciate the option to see only the channels that are currently recording.
Battery Life
For many years, battery life was one of the most important features of a portable recorder. It’s a huge annoyance to run out of power out in the field. For a long time, hand-held recorders had pretty miserable performance; it was not unusual to get only a couple of hours of recording on the internal batteries. More recently, rechargeable Lithium and Ni-MH batteries have provided better performance than disposable Alkaline batteries, and simultaneously, many manufacturers have made the recorders more efficient. Sound Devices recorders are still notorious power hogs, but many other field recorders have become shockingly good on battery use.  Zoom has been especially good in this respect: I made a joke about how the little Zoom F3 recorder seemed to never need new batteries…  And I’m thrilled to report that the H5studio also has very good battery performance. Of course batteries don’t last forever, and specific performance will be affected by the type of battery, and how you’re using the recorder. External mics that require phantom power will draw more, using the built-in mics and the external mics simultaneously will use more battery than only one or the other, high sample rates require more juice, ambient temperature will affect performance (batteries don’t like cold!) and most crucially, the type of battery has a large effect.
The good news is that even just using four off-the-shelf Duracell Alkaline AA batteries findable in any store, I was able to record for over 9 hours, using both the internal mics AND a pair of condenser mics requiring phantom power, and recording four channels to the H5studio. Using only the built-in stereo mics, and some Eneloop Pro Ni-MH rechargeable batteries, I was able to do four separate 3-hour recordings, over 12 hours in total, and I still hadn’t completely depleted the batteries. So, with some high-capacity rechargeable batteries (go for a large mAh rating – 2800 or better is recommended) you really don’t have to worry about battery life, unless you’re doing extremely long recordings, like a drop-rig to record nature sounds. In that case, the recorder can be powered via the USB-C jack and external power banks, like you might use to charge your phone. And on the other extreme, if you find yourself needing to buy some cheap alkaline batteries at a convenience store, you’ll still do pretty well! Get the best batteries you can and you’ll be fine. That said, ALWAYS carry spare batteries, because that set you’ve been using with good results can suddenly misbehave. It’s not that hard to carry four or eight spare AAs!
Microphones
The main selling point of the H5studio is the big built-in microphones. If you’re only using external mics, you might want to look at the smaller Zoom F3. But the H5studio is just a tiny bit more expensive, and gives you more recording options. The built-in stereo mics are not ideal for interviews, but they’re great for capturing musical performances, ambience, nature sounds, sound effects, or any event you want to capture in a vivid way. You risk some handling noise if you truly hold it in your hand while recording; even small movements of your fingers on the plastic case will transmit to the built-in microphones. You can get
an isolation mount
, for the best of both worlds: hand-held portability and stand-mounted isolation.
Annoyingly, the XY mic module can rattle if you move the recorder up and down rapidly, because the mic module itself does not attach to the recorder as firmly as the old design did. I found myself adding a small piece of gaffer’s tape to a corner of the module, to eliminate the movement.  Not a great long-term solution, but it
did
eliminate the noise!
Zoom says these new mics have a much wider dynamic range than the previous H5 module, able to handle sounds up to 140 dB SPL, which is VERY loud — literally beyond the threshold of pain! They DO sound very good, but they’re so large that they feel even more in the way and vulnerable than the mics on the earlier incarnation of the recorder. I expect many users will remove these mics when using the recorder for interviews or other recording tasks that do not require the built-in mics. That can make the recorder smaller and lighter, and protect the mics, although it leaves the module mount exposed in a troubling way!
Similar to the original H5, that built-in mic module is interchangeable, but they have changed the mounting system, so if you invested in the optional mics for the earlier system, those will not fit on this new recorder. That’s unfortunate, but Zoom claims that the new modules, and connections, are of better quality. It took me a few minutes to figure out how the socket is configured: the modules do NOT pull straight off the end of the recorder like they used to! There’s a small plastic latch that you push up, then slide the module forward. This system seems okay, although it’s a little more plastic-y than before, and the connection is not as solid as the earlier system.  As mentioned above, there’s a little play in the new connection, and the XY mic module can rattle if the recorder is moved rapidly.
Removing the mic module leaves a small circuit board exposed, so be gentle when sliding modules in and out.  That exposed board makes it a bit squirmy to use the recorder without a mic module attached. Zoom seems to provide a cover for that board with the H6studio, but one is NOT included with the H5studio, and I don’t see it offered for sale as an accessory. I would like to see Zoom sell that slide-on guard, or failing that, some enterprising entrepreneur with a 3-D printer could save the day!
There are new optional modules in the “3.0 Capsule system.” There’s a stereo shotgun mic (SSH-6e), a module with two additional XLR mic inputs (EHX-6e), and a receiver for two channels of wireless audio. Not all of these are available as yet, and we haven’t had a chance to test them, but we’ll update this review when we have given them a listen. One interesting detail is that the additional XLR mic inputs will only be able to provide phantom power when the recorder is receiving power via USB, NOT via the internal AA batteries. If you expect to need three or four XLR inputs, you’d be better off getting the H6studio, rather than the H5studio and the optional module. The H6studio is able to provide phantom power to its four XLR mic inputs while using 4AA batteries, (although the battery life might be as low as 2 hours) but according to Zoom documentation, the EHX-6e module will require external power via USB when providing phantom power attached to the H5studio. This will not be an issue with dynamic mics, or line-level inputs.
The provided X/Y stereo mics are a big selling point for the H5studio, and they are quite useful for grabbing sounds in the field. The microphones themselves have a very wide dynamic range (123 dB), so they can capture loud sounds without overloading. We didn’t test them with extremely loud sources, but all the sounds we encountered were captured cleanly, and with a vivid stereo image. The coincident X/Y stereo mic configuration does not create as wide of a soundstage as some other stereo recording approaches, but it retains a solid middle image, and translates well to mono, which is an advantage when final mixes are being heard in a wide variety of situations. Here are a few sounds we captured while testing the H5studio.
Applause at a storytelling event
Listen to “H5S-Applause”
A bee visiting a flower
Listen to “H5S-Bees”
Songbirds at a feeder
Listen to “H5S-Birds”
An orchestra warming-up
Listen to “H5S-OrchestraWarmup”
Toy Cars racing in a circle
Listen to “H5S-ToyCars”
The 32-bit-float recording format and option for high sample rates (up to 192 kHz) makes it well suited for collecting sounds for later manipulation. Recording at a high sample rate allows you to slow down playback while maintaining good audio resolution. While clearing some hazardous icicles, I noticed that they sounded interesting, so I placed the H5studio on a tall stand and recorded as I tapped on them. The raw audio was not as interesting as I’d expected, but as often happens in the world of sound design, with some manipulation in a digital editor — changing speed and pitch, and adding some spacey effects — the icicles became much more interesting!
Icicles
Listen to “H5S-Icicles”
Icicles (processed)
Listen to “H5S-Icicles-FX”
External Inputs
The H5studio has two XLR/quarter-inch combo inputs, which allow connecting external microphones, or line level signals. There’s also a stereo mini input on the side of the mic module. Plugging into that jack will bypass the built-in mics. That mini input can provide “plug-in power” which is required by some microphones that use a mini connector. Unfortunately, the plug-in power is only 1.5 volts, which is sufficient for some lavaliers and mics intended for on-camera use, but many pro-level lavaliers prefer 5 volts. Will it work with your mic? You might just need to try it, although it may not be good for the microphone to run it at the wrong voltage, so it might be better to use an adapter like the Rode VXLR+ and use an XLR input if your mic calls for more than 1.5 volts of plug-in power.
The microphone preamps are very good, with low noise and a good amount of gain for low-output microphones. Although the focus of the H5studio is on the built-in microphones, many users prefer an external microphone, especially for interviews. It’s larger than the Zoom F3, but the metering and headphone monitoring are much better, so it can be a good choice of field recorder even if you’re not very interested in the stereo mics. The good news is that these mic inputs are up to the task: popular reporter mics like the Electrovoice RE-50, or shotgun mics, or lavaliers, can be recorded cleanly, without the hiss that many earlier field recorders added. Even the gain-hungry Shure SM7B works pretty well with the H5studio. I used to joke that nobody would plug that mic into a field recorder in the real world, but these days, podcasters probably will, and it’s great that the recordings will sound good.
Electrovoice RE50 – Dynamic Omni Mic
Listen to “H5S-RE50”
Shure SM58 – Dynamic Cardioid Mic
Listen to “H5S-SM58”
Shure SM7B – large-diaphragm Dynamic Cardioid Mic
Listen to “H5S-SM7B”
Rode NTG-2  Shotgun Mic
Listen to “H5S-NTG2”
Built-in XY stereo mics – handling noise
Listen to “H5S-XY-StereoMics-Handling-Wind”
Built-in XY stereo mics – module noise
Listen to “H5S-XY-StereoMics-Rattle”
USB
Like most field recorders, the H5studio can also operate as a USB interface, so it could serve as the main input to your digital workstation, and will even sound better than some entry-level desktop USB interfaces. I always recommend creating a studio setup that does NOT require you to tear everything apart and reconnect, but if you need to be efficient and use the H5studio for multiple roles, it can be both a field recorder and a desktop interface. Changing a setting in the menus can also allow transfer of audio files via USB, which is sometimes easier than fiddling with the microSD card, or looking for an adapter. That USB-C  jack can also be used to power the recorder, which is especially nice for VERY long sessions, like recording nature sounds for extended periods.
Like all of the new recorders from Zoom, the H5studio offers “Guide Sounds” that can aid in operating the device by playing a synthesized voice reading menu options. This is a great idea, not only for users with vision challenges, but also for anyone using these recorders when the screen is not very useful. It’s a nice, bright and readable screen in most situations, but in bright outdoor sun it’s almost impossible to see anything, and the audible prompts can be helpful to any user. You can also set this function to “Beep Only” which will give audible confirmation of button-pushes, so you can feel more confident that you
did
press the record button! I ended up turning all the guide sounds off, but it’s great to have them available.
In Conclusion
The H5studio is a worthy successor to the H5 — with significant improvements in sound quality. The addition of 32-bit-float recording is welcome, and even more so because it’s an option: you can press a button at the top of the recorder to switch from 32-bit-float to what they call “fixed” bit depth. You can then choose 16- or 24-bit in the recording menu.  32-bit-float gives you more options: you can record very quiet and very loud sounds and even them out when you edit and mix, but it does create more work in those later stages of production. Oddly, unlike the Zoom F3, and the “Essential” recorders that only record at 32-bit-float, the H5studio does require you to set the input gain, even when recording at 32-bit-float. If your inputs are turned all the way down, you do NOT record any audio. 32-bit-float will give you leeway to recover very quiet or loud sounds, but you still need to set a level with the input gain knob(s).
Recording at 16- or 24-bit can still result in excellent-sounding audio, with smaller file sizes, so you can record for longer on a memory card. But you need to be careful about setting your levels properly. Zoom has implemented new “Advanced” limiters, which can be turned on or off in the input menu, and can help avoid distortion from loud sounds. But it’s best to set your levels properly at the time of recording, with sufficient headroom: the H5studio is quiet enough that, especially recording at 24-bit, the sound quality will be quite good at any of the settings, and you can record at a slightly lower, safe, level and still get a clean result. 32-bit-float is very helpful when encountering unpredictable sound levels, but it’s also nice to have the ability to record at 16- or 24-bit if desired.
It’s frustrating that the H5studio does not come with a protective case, those large mics could be easily damaged, so some kind of protection is needed. The
Zoom APH-5s
accessory pack is a smart purchase, to get a case that’s custom fit to this recorder. This box is pretty large, and soft-sided, so it’s not exactly a robust road case, but it does provide good padding. Similarly, if one chooses to remove the mic module to protect the mics, or just to reduce the size and weight when using external mics, there’s a real need for a small cover to protect the mic module connection point. Zoom really needs to sell that piece as an accessory! And Zoom really should offer wind protection designed specifically for the mics on the H5studio and H6studio, outside of the accessory pack. These are problems that can be solved, and it’s worth a little trouble for the convenience of easy, high-quality audio capture in the field.
Google+
Comments
Leave a Comment
Cancel reply
Is there anywhere at all to attach a strap to the recorder? That’s definitely a prerequisite of mine for a field recorder. I don’t want to have to carry it around in one hand.
Hi Grant: good question! There IS a small hole/notch at the very bottom of the case, near the external XLR inputs, where you could loop a strap through. That would result in it hanging mics-down if you wore the strap around your neck. It would be hard to see the meters in that orientation, but it would be fairly simple to tilt it up for a look. Zoom has made holster-style cases for some of their other recorders, but I don’t see anything made for the “studio” recorders, at least not yet. But accessories are still trickling-out, so maybe some more options are coming.
Have you tried any external condenser or microphones with this unit? I’m curious what your experiences were like, if any.
Cancel reply
Related Features
32-Bit Float Audio
Zoom F2 and F3
Pro Tools Shortcuts
Share
Google+
Loading Comments...