Zoom H8 12-Track Portable Recorder, Stereo Microphones, 6 Inputs, Touchscreen Interface, USB Audio Interface, Battery Powered, for Stereo/Multitrack Audio for Video, Podcasting, and Music

This product is great. It does everything as advertised and sounds great. Once I spent some time exploring all of it's features I was not disappointed.The Zoom H8 is versatile, and customizable. Its LCD screen is just large enough to display the software controls.The only thing that needed improvement was the ability to slide the headphone volume slider control smoothly. But that was a small nusance. (Zoom addressed this concern in their latest firmware 2.0 update). The headphone slider is much more responsive now.The Audio Interface can be complex to set up in Multi-Track Mix Mode. After I spent some time, as there is no documentation on this, I was able to think it thru by trial and error. All of the recording frequencies must match the Zoom H8 frequency setting. If your Zoom H8 is set to 44kHz, 48kHz, or 98kHz frequency. All three settings on the H8, computer sound card, and your Digital Audio Workstation software must match exactly or it will not function.In your DAW Multi-track software you will see 12 inputs from the Zoom H8 available when set up correctly using the Zoom H8 ASIO setting. The top four listed are for the detachable microphone module on top.Ignore the top four inputs listed unless you are using a detachable module as a source in your mix. The bottom 8 inputs you will see listed in your DAW correspond to the Zoom H8's 6 XLR inputs and 2 channel stereo mix.(Many modular microphone and expansion options available from Zoom).There is no documentation or video on setting up multi-track mode at this time. Perhaps I may produce a video to help explain this to new users, as myself. I would have found that useful to learning.I contacted Zoom tech support and took them to school on this topic. I simply shared what I had learned. Tech support suggested I return the unit thinking it was maybe not compatible with my AMD processor. That was not the case. I am glad I persevered as I experimented.There are 2 software licenses included: One for Steinberg's Cubase LE and one for WaveLab Cast. They are included in the purchase and can be installed for just one instance each. Cubase is a Digital Audio Workstation (single and multi-track recorder) and Wave Lab lets you polish your tracks and finalize your mix before uploading to various outlets and podcast. Link's to podcast outlets are included in the WaveLab Cast software. Guitar Lab software is also included and allows users to create customizable effects for electric stringed instruments. Guitar Lab offers several built in effects and ready made patches to make your instrument really sing.I also own Adobe Audition, NCH MixPad, and Cubase 10.5 LE. The Multi-Track Interface Mode works perfectly fine on all thee of those DAW programs. They each recognize and perform flawlessly with the Zoom H8. I am running the included software on an (circa 2009) AMD PC running under a Windows 10 Pro OS with no problems at all.Yes indeed! I would highly recommend this product purchase, especially if you own an AMD, Intel, Mac computer, or i-Pad tablet.The H8 is worth every penny spent as it produces affordable, professional sound quality in a small portable package.The advertised battery lifespan is more or less 15 hours in the field. At home I plug my H8 into a usb port on my computer. With USB it powers up and stays on without a drain on battery power.

Coolest gadget ever.

Lots of connection options and durable. Wasn’t fit for my needs but for the right application it will be awesome.

I use this thing for field recording! Sound is amazing. Ive tried both 90 degrees and 120 degrees. Battery life is great with just the stock mic. Battery life shortens when adding mics that use phantom power as expected but still has good battery life. The touch screen works good. Everything about this Zoom H8 is nice I love it.So far I have used it to record nature, cars, rain, cooking, and stuff like that! I'm tellin you the sound is fantastic! Don't waste your money on the Bluetooth adapter lol the app only monitors the inputs and gives you no control features whatsoever except record, stop and play.All in all, I recommend this rig for sure.

I have purchased this unit for the primary purpose of recording voiceovers. I am using phantom power with my RE20 mic and a cloudlifter unit. The unit starts up fast, is easy to use, the sound is very clean and I am able to easily monitor my recordings through studio headphones. I also like that some of the XLR jacks are designed to lock connections in place.My one big pet peeve is how recorded files are named. For each recording (using a single input in my case), the H8 creates a new folder--with the file "Tr1.wav" inside. So if I record 10 takes, I have 10 folders--each with the same "Tr1.wav" file. Unique file names for each recording should be generated instead...or at least the option available. This is a departure from the file system of the H4 and H6, and a big pain in the butt. You will have to be very mindful of this shortcoming when recording multiple takes.I sincerely hope Zoom addresses this issue in a future firmware update (I am currently on v2.0).

I love the flexibility and user friendliness of this sound recorder. Everything I ever wanted is there available for me. + please if you have one, do yourself a favor and buy their latest shotgun mic capsule SSH-6. This combo blows my mind. I know it's a bit pricey but I'm hearing sounds that I haven't heard before. This mic beats even the Rod mic Pro, a mic that can capture sound beautifully.

I am very glad I upgraded. The ability to record multiple channels at the same is outstanding. The about to configure the unit with additional mics and ports is amazing. The sound recordings can be optimized in the unit. And the files created are very good for any type of post production you care to perform.

Really like the H8, but if you want pro-level features like auto-mixing for a conference room full of people or a podcast room full of people. Step up to pro level gear.This is the last stop in pro-sumer audio gear and I do use it everyday and haven’t had any issues. Travels well in a padded pouch I bought, and almost anything can be plugged into it to get it to record or transmit stereo to a computer for live streaming on MS teams etc.