---
product_id: 912512
title: "Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-In Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, For Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews"
brand: "zoom"
price: "$557.52"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/912512-zoom-h2n-stereo-surround-sound-portable-recorder-5-built-in
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# SD card recording up to 96kHz/24-bit 20+ hrs battery life 5 built-in mics, multi-mode Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-In Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, For Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews

**Brand:** zoom
**Price:** $557.52
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🎧 Record Like a Pro, Anywhere, Anytime!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-In Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, For Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews by zoom
- **How much does it cost?** $557.52 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.us](https://www.desertcart.us/products/912512-zoom-h2n-stereo-surround-sound-portable-recorder-5-built-in)

## Best For

- zoom enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted zoom brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Compact Powerhouse:** Pocket-sized design that mounts on tripods or DSLR rigs—professional quality, zero bulk.
- • **Endurance Champion:** Uninterrupted creativity with over 20 hours of AA battery power—record all day, then some.
- • **Versatile Mic Modes:** Switch effortlessly between X/Y, Mid-Side, and Surround Sound for studio-grade audio in any setting.
- • **Pro-Level Audio Quality:** Capture pristine WAV files up to 24-bit/96kHz or MP3s up to 320kbps—your sound, uncompromised.
- • **Intuitive Control & Monitoring:** Backlit LCD, LED clipping indicators, onboard speaker & headphone jack keep you in command.

## Overview

The Zoom H2n is a portable, multi-mode stereo and surround sound recorder featuring 5 built-in microphones and versatile recording formats up to 24-bit/96kHz WAV. With over 20 hours of battery life on just two AA batteries, it offers professional-grade audio capture in a compact, tripod-mountable design. Ideal for musicians, filmmakers, and interviewers seeking high-quality, hassle-free recording on the go.

## Description

Zoom H2N handy recorder.

Review: An amazing recorder that solves a lot of problems - This is an absolutely fantastic little unit. It came out half a decade ago but even despite huge technological advancements in other areas (smartphones, computers, etc) this thing really does holds its own still and will be a great product for years to come. This thing is like a little Swiss army knife for general purpose recording. You can record high quality tracks directly on the unit itself, you can import these tracks to your favorite DAW (digital audio workstation) for further processing, you can use it as a great little USB mic, and it even doubles as an audio interface with a stereo input. There are some great options for mic configurations. You can configure it for X/Y, mid-side, 2 channel, and 4 channel, easily adjusted with the turn of a little dial. A pair of handy LED lights tell you which side (or sides) of the mics are active. These same lights will flicker when the signal is clipping, which is a very nice visual indicator. Furthermore, it can be mounted on a tripod or you can buy the super cheap mic stand adapter for around $10 which allows you to mount this unit on a mic stand (plus it doubles as a useful handle). It has an onboard speaker so you can listen back to recordings, or you can plug in a pair of headphones to the line out. The on board speaker is terrible, but what do you expect? It’s a recording device, not a mini boom box. You can also plug in a remote which is useful for creating WAV markers. I like this because with a DAW that supports it allows you to easily navigate through your recordings. There are some useful options, such as auto-gain (to help prevent clipping and such), a compressor/limiter, a low cut filter, and a few other options. This unit operates on a pair of AA batteries and it’s amazing how long the batteries last given the quality of recordings. Zoom claims about 20 hours of battery life which I find to be a bit optimistic, but even still at around ~15 hours the battery life is great. The interface on the device is quite nice. It has a backlit LED screen and navigation is simple with a selector switch that allows you to move up/down or press it in to make a selection. It only took me a few minutes to get used to it. This recorder uses a single SD card for storage, up to 32GB which is plenty adequate for my needs. I record at 44.1 kHz / 24 bit (any higher is overkill for something like this IMO) and with a 32GB SD card I can get about 33.5 hours of recording. If you record at CD quality, which is 44.1 kHz / 16 bit, then you get a little over 50 hours of recording time. The max setting of 96 kHz / 24 bit will give you over 15 hours of time, and if you don’t mind recording in mp3 then 128 kbps (said to be CD quality, but debatable) gives you over 550 hours! 256 kbps will give you half that. I primarily use this for recording band rehearsals and even demos. Recording rehearsals in the past was annoying, either I would use a smartphone which would provide terrible recordings, or I would use a laptop, dedicated recording interface, and microphones, which did give me better recordings but it became really cumbersome dragging that stuff around to every practice/demo session. Plus it’s annoying dealing with all the extra wires/cables and such. Also, I believe it’s a law that when you introduce a computer into the mix then you’re going to have glitches and other issues. The H2n solves all my problems, all I have to do is plop it down and hit record and I feel confident that my recordings are going to sound good every time. The negatives are pretty minor. The biggest issue being that it only has a single universal gain knob, it would really be nice to have separate gains for each side of the mic. A minor issue is that it doesn’t come with a USB cable in the box (my H6 did), I have plenty of USB cables lying around but including one in the box would have been useful for a lot of people. It does feel a little cheap-ish being all plastic, but I haven’t had any issues with durability yet, though thankfully I haven’t dropped it. Also for the best results you really need to mount it on something, whether that be a tripod or mic stand (using the adapter, not included), recording while handling the device introduces a lot of noise, though this is probably just the nature of the device. Despite the minor issues noted above, this is an easy 5-star product. 5 stars doesn’t mean “perfect in every single way” it means “I love it!” and I certainly do love this thing. It’s super useful and feature-rich, all in a device that can fit in my pocket.
Review: Stellar sound quality, and amazing battery life! - i purchased the h2n not realizing how closely it was in price to its big brother, the h4n, so after i realized that, while i was waiting for the shipment to arrive, i thought that i was starting to feel a bit of buyer's remorse, and was considering sending it right back for an h4n, but after using it rather extensively over the weekend, i have decided to stick with the h2n, here's why: Battery life!! The h2n seriously lives for up to 20 hours on just 2 double AAs, while the the h4n has a pathetic 2 hour battery life. That is such a huge difference. I plan on using the zoom mainly for filmmaking, as well as recording live bands. Changing out the batteries every 2 hours would be ridiculous. I also like how the h2n's internal mics are much more protected than the h4n's. Drop the h2n, and it's not a big deal, but dropping the h4n right on it's head could be disasterous indeed. The audio quality between the two seems very, very comparable, with some people actually favoring the h2n over the h4n. It is more portable, looks sexier with that glossy black, and is much more pocket friendly. The only real advantage that the h4n has over the h2n are it's two xlr outputs, but seeing as i don't actually own any high end xlr mics, this is not a drawback for me. I have recorded videos of just the zoom's internal mics grabbing dialogue, and the results are very, very impressive. Play it back on a computer, close your eyes, and you'd swear the person is right there next to you. No white noise to speak of. In the past i have really only used a Rode VideoMic Pro mounted to my DSLR, and so that terrible, hissing DSLR camera hiss has been present in all of my audio clips up to now. I could mix it down using denoiser effects in premeiere, but if you're editing a long project, it can get really tedious applying the same effects over and over. I'd rather just have good sound right off the bat, and i get that with the h2n, plus not having it tied to the camera is a plus for sure, as it allows for a lot more freedom, having it farther away, closer, up, etc. I have also used lavaliers plugged directly into the h2n's 3.5mm mic line in, and while not as crisp as the zoom by itself (i use CHEAP lavaliers) the audio is still leaps and bounds better than the rode videomic pro. As for recording live music, i was playing with the different settings, 2 channel or 4 channel surround, or the xy in front or ms to the front and to the sides. A lot of other reviewers had problems with the drums or loud audio peaking, even with the mic gain on zero, but i was able to place the zoom right in the middle of the band, with an audio gain of one or two, and be comfortablt sitting at averages of -12 db, as the manual recommends. I was blown away by the sound quality it picked up in this case as well. Very impressive. All in all, for my needs, as i don't use any XLR mics, the h2n is in every way preferable to the h4n. I plan on purchasing a camera hot shoe mount for it, just in case i might want it at some point (i wish it had been included in the 30$ accessory pack) but i am fully satisfied with the H2n. Tried it out yourself! You won't be disappointed.

## Features

- Over 20 hours of operation using two standard AA batteries. Mounts directly to tripod or DSLR
- Key control, a-b repeat, file dividing, normalize, MP3 post-encode, marker and surround mixer
- Additional functions include lo-cut filter, compressor/limiter, Auto gain, pre-rec, auto-rec, Tuner, metronome, variable speed playback
- Records in WAV up to 24-bit/96kHz and MP3 up to 320kbps
- File types supported: mav, MP3

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B005CQ2ZY6 |
| Battery Average Life | 20 Hours |
| Best Sellers Rank | #77,010 in Electronics ( See Top 100 in Electronics ) #343 in Digital Voice Recorders |
| Brand | Zoom |
| Compatible Devices | Personal Computer |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 2,774 Reviews |
| Digital Recording Time | 15 hours |
| Format | MP3 Audio, WAV |
| Global Trade Identification Number | 04515260010080, 04515260010097 |
| Hardware Interface | Secure Digital Card |
| Headphones Jack | 2.5 millimeters |
| Item Dimensions D x W x H | 1.68"D x 2.66"W x 4.5"H |
| Item Type Name | CD Recorder |
| Item Weight | 0.29 Pounds |
| Manufacturer | Zoom |
| Memory Storage Capacity | 2 GB |
| Mfr Part Number | H2N |
| Microphone Form Factor | Built-In |
| Microphone Operation Mode | Stereo |
| Model Number | 10005121 |
| Number of Batteries | 2 Lithium Polymer batteries required. |
| Screen Size | 1.9 |
| UPC | 411378269171 210000050244 884354010065 003103006146 |
| Unit Count | 2.4 Ounce |
| Warranty Description | No warranty in us. |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** Zoom
- **Compatible Devices:** Personal Computer
- **Format:** MP3 Audio, WAV
- **Hardware Interface:** Secure Digital Card
- **Headphones Jack:** 2.5 millimeters
- **Item Weight:** 4.64 ounces
- **Memory Storage Capacity:** 2 GB
- **Microphone Form Factor:** Built-In
- **Number of Batteries:** 2 Lithium Polymer batteries required.
- **Product Dimensions:** 1.68"D x 2.66"W x 4.5"H

## Images

![Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-In Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, For Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71be9UiE35L.jpg)
![Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-In Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, For Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hYW2y5alL.jpg)

## Available Options

This product comes in different **Configuration** options.

## Questions & Answers

**Q: u mentioned coming with all accessories.  do you mean the zoom aph2n accssory pack?  thx.**
A: Comes with SD card, fome wind cover, table top stand. Microphone adapter for microphone stands, batteries, USB cable, AV cables.

**Q: Can you get sound quality that's good enough for podcasts or radio?**
A: If you attach a 2nd mic to filter background noise you will get excellent quality sound. By itself it's pretty good but, it will pick up any background noise so just don't podcast where there is a lot of that.

**Q: I thought this had an AC power adapter so you didn't have to run on batteries.  Is that true, or just  batteries?**
A: I've always used it with batteries. However, I did purchase the Zoom Accessory Pack for the H2n Portable Recorder which includes among other things an AC power adapter. Available at Amazon for $29.25.

**Q: This may seem like a silly question but i will be video taping using a camera while using this Zoom H2n to record. So how do I sync the 2 together and will it be a perfectly synced piece of video?**
A: This is done in post.  You have several options:
1) Use an audio/video sync app.  Red Giant's Plural Eyes 4, is what I use and it is SUPER easy to use
2) Use your video editing app if it supports it.  Adobe Premiere will do this sync, but not quite as good as Plural Eyes
3) Do a "Clap" at the beginning of each clip when recording, and manually sync them yourself where you see the large peak from the clap

hope this helps

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An amazing recorder that solves a lot of problems
*by S***N on March 18, 2019*

This is an absolutely fantastic little unit. It came out half a decade ago but even despite huge technological advancements in other areas (smartphones, computers, etc) this thing really does holds its own still and will be a great product for years to come. This thing is like a little Swiss army knife for general purpose recording. You can record high quality tracks directly on the unit itself, you can import these tracks to your favorite DAW (digital audio workstation) for further processing, you can use it as a great little USB mic, and it even doubles as an audio interface with a stereo input. There are some great options for mic configurations. You can configure it for X/Y, mid-side, 2 channel, and 4 channel, easily adjusted with the turn of a little dial. A pair of handy LED lights tell you which side (or sides) of the mics are active. These same lights will flicker when the signal is clipping, which is a very nice visual indicator. Furthermore, it can be mounted on a tripod or you can buy the super cheap mic stand adapter for around $10 which allows you to mount this unit on a mic stand (plus it doubles as a useful handle). It has an onboard speaker so you can listen back to recordings, or you can plug in a pair of headphones to the line out. The on board speaker is terrible, but what do you expect? It’s a recording device, not a mini boom box. You can also plug in a remote which is useful for creating WAV markers. I like this because with a DAW that supports it allows you to easily navigate through your recordings. There are some useful options, such as auto-gain (to help prevent clipping and such), a compressor/limiter, a low cut filter, and a few other options. This unit operates on a pair of AA batteries and it’s amazing how long the batteries last given the quality of recordings. Zoom claims about 20 hours of battery life which I find to be a bit optimistic, but even still at around ~15 hours the battery life is great. The interface on the device is quite nice. It has a backlit LED screen and navigation is simple with a selector switch that allows you to move up/down or press it in to make a selection. It only took me a few minutes to get used to it. This recorder uses a single SD card for storage, up to 32GB which is plenty adequate for my needs. I record at 44.1 kHz / 24 bit (any higher is overkill for something like this IMO) and with a 32GB SD card I can get about 33.5 hours of recording. If you record at CD quality, which is 44.1 kHz / 16 bit, then you get a little over 50 hours of recording time. The max setting of 96 kHz / 24 bit will give you over 15 hours of time, and if you don’t mind recording in mp3 then 128 kbps (said to be CD quality, but debatable) gives you over 550 hours! 256 kbps will give you half that. I primarily use this for recording band rehearsals and even demos. Recording rehearsals in the past was annoying, either I would use a smartphone which would provide terrible recordings, or I would use a laptop, dedicated recording interface, and microphones, which did give me better recordings but it became really cumbersome dragging that stuff around to every practice/demo session. Plus it’s annoying dealing with all the extra wires/cables and such. Also, I believe it’s a law that when you introduce a computer into the mix then you’re going to have glitches and other issues. The H2n solves all my problems, all I have to do is plop it down and hit record and I feel confident that my recordings are going to sound good every time. The negatives are pretty minor. The biggest issue being that it only has a single universal gain knob, it would really be nice to have separate gains for each side of the mic. A minor issue is that it doesn’t come with a USB cable in the box (my H6 did), I have plenty of USB cables lying around but including one in the box would have been useful for a lot of people. It does feel a little cheap-ish being all plastic, but I haven’t had any issues with durability yet, though thankfully I haven’t dropped it. Also for the best results you really need to mount it on something, whether that be a tripod or mic stand (using the adapter, not included), recording while handling the device introduces a lot of noise, though this is probably just the nature of the device. Despite the minor issues noted above, this is an easy 5-star product. 5 stars doesn’t mean “perfect in every single way” it means “I love it!” and I certainly do love this thing. It’s super useful and feature-rich, all in a device that can fit in my pocket.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stellar sound quality, and amazing battery life!
*by P***R on February 24, 2014*

i purchased the h2n not realizing how closely it was in price to its big brother, the h4n, so after i realized that, while i was waiting for the shipment to arrive, i thought that i was starting to feel a bit of buyer's remorse, and was considering sending it right back for an h4n, but after using it rather extensively over the weekend, i have decided to stick with the h2n, here's why: Battery life!! The h2n seriously lives for up to 20 hours on just 2 double AAs, while the the h4n has a pathetic 2 hour battery life. That is such a huge difference. I plan on using the zoom mainly for filmmaking, as well as recording live bands. Changing out the batteries every 2 hours would be ridiculous. I also like how the h2n's internal mics are much more protected than the h4n's. Drop the h2n, and it's not a big deal, but dropping the h4n right on it's head could be disasterous indeed. The audio quality between the two seems very, very comparable, with some people actually favoring the h2n over the h4n. It is more portable, looks sexier with that glossy black, and is much more pocket friendly. The only real advantage that the h4n has over the h2n are it's two xlr outputs, but seeing as i don't actually own any high end xlr mics, this is not a drawback for me. I have recorded videos of just the zoom's internal mics grabbing dialogue, and the results are very, very impressive. Play it back on a computer, close your eyes, and you'd swear the person is right there next to you. No white noise to speak of. In the past i have really only used a Rode VideoMic Pro mounted to my DSLR, and so that terrible, hissing DSLR camera hiss has been present in all of my audio clips up to now. I could mix it down using denoiser effects in premeiere, but if you're editing a long project, it can get really tedious applying the same effects over and over. I'd rather just have good sound right off the bat, and i get that with the h2n, plus not having it tied to the camera is a plus for sure, as it allows for a lot more freedom, having it farther away, closer, up, etc. I have also used lavaliers plugged directly into the h2n's 3.5mm mic line in, and while not as crisp as the zoom by itself (i use CHEAP lavaliers) the audio is still leaps and bounds better than the rode videomic pro. As for recording live music, i was playing with the different settings, 2 channel or 4 channel surround, or the xy in front or ms to the front and to the sides. A lot of other reviewers had problems with the drums or loud audio peaking, even with the mic gain on zero, but i was able to place the zoom right in the middle of the band, with an audio gain of one or two, and be comfortablt sitting at averages of -12 db, as the manual recommends. I was blown away by the sound quality it picked up in this case as well. Very impressive. All in all, for my needs, as i don't use any XLR mics, the h2n is in every way preferable to the h4n. I plan on purchasing a camera hot shoe mount for it, just in case i might want it at some point (i wish it had been included in the 30$ accessory pack) but i am fully satisfied with the H2n. Tried it out yourself! You won't be disappointed.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ LOADED with AWESOME features for musicians and filmmakers
*by J***F on September 13, 2011*

I am extremely impressed with the Zoom H2N. I have owned other Zoom audio recorders: H1, H2, H4, H4N. I've also owned Tascam DR-05, DR-08, Sony PCM-M10, Edirol R44, and Fostex FR-2 LE audio recorders. I am both a musician and videographer and for the price of the H2N, it is BY FAR the most versatile audio utility device I have ever owned (until the next latest and greatest technology comes out). As a videographer/Indie filmmaker, I got the H2N because: *It has 20hrs of battery life - longest of all Zoom recorders to date. *The user interface is well designed and easy to adjust during shooting. I love the analog gain wheel. *It has a REMOTE port (remote comes with accessory pack). *Internal mics & preamp are super crisp, amazing quality up to 96kHz/24bit Wave. Great for room tone or foley. *Doubles as USB microphone for Skype, iChat, Logic Pro, Garageband, etc. I'll use to record voice over for my videos. **The H2N can record both external mic input AND onboard mics at the same time in multitrack mode. Similar to Zoom H4N. If you already own an H4N, you might still want the H2N to add to your gear. It's a different type of tool. If you absolutely need XLR inputs for everything you do, then don't bother getting the H2N. BUT if there are times when you only need to capture ambient audio, or only use a 3.5mm wireless lav or 3.5mm stereo Rode mic, then I strongly recommend the H2N. It's a better tool for those types of situations. As a musician, I got the H2N because: *I wanted to record my band rehearsals and some of my gigs. Put this in the middle of the room, picks up the whole band. *Has built in Tuner, Metronome, slow playback with pitch control -- so I can learn bass lines by slowing down music. *I use it for Logic Pro 9 to record vocals. Also makes a great mic for quick demos. *The Zoom can convert files in the recorder. Converts 4 track to stereo, Wave to MP3, etc. The few negatives: -The mics are too sensitive to wind. I don't understand why they couldn't build a windscreen INTO the mic frame. -The tripod mount is plastic and will wear out over time. -It's a little too thick to actually put in your pocket. Definitely less portable than the older H2. If you are a musician, indie filmmaker, or event videographer and you want better audio for your projects, GET THE ZOOM H2N. You also definitely need the purchase the Accessory Pack.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Zoom H2n Stereo/Surround-Sound Portable Recorder, 5 Built-in Microphones, X/Y, Mid-Side, Surround Sound, Ambisonics Mode, Records to SD Card, for Recording Music, Audio for Video, and Interviews
- Amazon Basics Lightweight Mini Tripod, Black
- ZOOM Mixer Accessory (SPH-2n)

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*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-07-05*