Any experience with the Zoom H5 and Zoom H6 recorders?

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Luc
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Any experience with the Zoom H5 and Zoom H6 recorders?

Post by Luc »

Hello. I'm in the market for an audio interface. Who isn't?

I've been reading countless pages of websites and manuals for days, it's a tiresome job, but I really want to make a good purchase. Among my current optiions are these two Zoom portable recorders, the Zoom H5 and the Zoom H6. They're not just recorders, they also have USB audio interfaces.

I already knew them when I ran into this interesting piece of information, the Zoom H4 has an audio interface and gets along with Linux just fine. It's even included in the linuxaudio.org hardware compatibility matrix. The only caveat is that it's USB 1.1 and has bitrate limitations.

http://wiki.linuxaudio.org/hw/zoom_h4

So I thought I would investigate some more, because the H4 is discontinued. Besides, I prefer USB 2.0. I spotted reports that the Zoom H4n can do the same, but without duplex mode. The manual isn't very clear about it. It says:
Two channels can be sent and received while it connects a computer and by using o f 44.1kHz or 48 kHz.
Does it send and receive at the same time? It doesn't say, and I found someone who says it doesn't, right here:

http://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php ... +h5#p35591

That doesn't matter much to me. I like the H5 and H6 better for the features, and the H4n and H5 cost the same where I shop. So I would go with the H5 at least.

The H5 manual is better. It says:
You can send signals input through the H5 directly to a computer or iPad as well as output signals from that device through the H5.
NOTE
* Set to "STEREO" to use it as a 2-in/2-out interface or "MULTI TRACK" to use it as a 4-in/2-out interface.
* When using an iPad, select "STEREO". It cannot be used with MULTI TRACK mode.
* When using Windows, a driver is necessary to use MULTI TRACK mode. You can download this driver from
the ZOOM website.
Using Loop Back (STEREO only)
When in STEREO mode, you can mix the sound from the computer or iPad with the sound input through the H5 and send it back to the computer or iPad again (loop back). This can be used, for example, to add narration to a musical backing track playing on a computer, and then record it using software on the computer or stream it live via the Internet.
then at the end, at "Specifications":
Audio interface operation: MULTI TRACK mode (Note: Use with Windows requires a driver, but Mac OS does not)
Class: USB 2.0 High Speed
Specifications: 4 in/2 out, 44.1/48kHz sampling rate, 16/24-bit bit rate
The Zoom H6 manual says pretty much the same. If anyone is interested, here are direct links to these two manuals:

https://www.zoom-na.com/sites/default/f ... E_H5_0.pdf

https://www.zoom-na.com/sites/default/f ... Manual.pdf

So, judging from the manuals, I've reached the following conclusions:

1) Are they USB 2.0?
YES.

2) Do they support 24-bit?
YES.

3) Do they support duplex transfer?
YES, but not in multitrack mode.

4) So I can record multiple, separate channels at the same time?
YES, at least on Windows and Mac.

5) Can I record multiple, separate channels on Linux?
No idea. If drivers are not needed for the Mac, maybe Linux also gets a free pass?

6) Does it even work with Linux at all?
No idea. The H4 was 1.1 (class compliant), these ones are 2.0. Anything could happen.

I tried searching the forum, but the search engine purposefully ignores "H5" probably because it's too short a word. So I have to ask:

Can someone please share any information on how well these two recorders interact with Linux?
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