Customer Ratings & Reviews

I’m new to sound equipment and did some research before making this purchase. In the end, I was stuck between the H4 and H5 as I understood these to be some of the more common in the industry for professional field recording. I’ve been using the H5 for over 6 months now and am very pleased with the crisp, high quality sound it records. I love popping in my headphones and just listening to the enhanced reality surrounding me as I’m recording. Feels surreal, like being in the IMAX. When held close, it captures your voice nicely and is great for audio notes. A bit of a podcast tone to it. The rubber-like material around the grip is great and keeps it from slipping or moving around in your hand. It’s also a slimmer and sleeker build compared to the H4. Light weight and easy to grab with you on the go. I’m very happy with the purchase. While I don’t have personal experience with the H4, I’d say if you can afford it, go for the H5. It’s been improved to offer a more comfortable experience for the user, although I believe the sound itself is highly comparable. The H4 has been used by professionals for years and is too a great investment for a smaller budget.

Been using this device to record audio for my videos. The sound quality is great, plus I love the versatility of the device. The only bummer is that it does not accept 64GB card, only 32 GB.

I am a professional speaker and use this device in the room to record my presentations. It has great sound quality and picks up well even when my back is to the device. Comes with good editing software. I am very pleased.

I already own and love the Zoom H2. It has been my "go-to" recorder for rehearsals, live gigs and as a quickie USB DAW interface. I was drooling over the Zoom H4, and had the opportunity to audition one for a weekend. The inability to balance hyper-sensitive direct inputs with the on-board stereo mics was a deal-breaker. The H5 addresses those issues, plus provides the flexibility of the interchangeable mic and direct input modules. I would give this 5 stars, except the stereo mic capsule that it ships with does not sound as good to my ears as either of the stereo capsules on the H2. I did not test the H5 mics extensively, nor have I tried any of the optional capsules. Further use and investigation of optional capsules could provide a better impression. Honestly, if I could give it a 4.5 star review, I would. The mic capsule is not my highest priority. The quality of the direct inputs, ease of use as a USB DAW interface is. So far, those functions have been 5 star. Mic pre-amp phantom power is sufficient to power a Shure 87A. To my ears, sound was clear with more than enough headroom for my recording purposes (vocals, stringed acoustic instruments). USB DAW functions are SO much faster and easier than navigating all of the shenanigans required to get anything done with my M-Audio Delta 1010, PreSonus FirePod, Focusrite Saffire and Saffire Pro24 DSP. Call me a technophobic wimp, but DAW software interfaces prevent me from getting from power-up to recording tracks in a reasonable amount of time and effort. The H5 is an instant gratification breeze in comparison. The headphone amp is sufficient to power my AKG K-240S headphones, which are fairly power-hungry. The H5 is an awesome Swiss Army Knife device that may be the only recorder you will ever need. Yes, it's that good.

Thus far, I can't say enough good things about the H5, which I use for voiceover work. It's hefty and easy to handle, produces great audio and is easy to warm up to. It requires a bit of a learning curve (I thought the manual could have been more instructional), but the more time you spend with it, the more its good features come to light and become intuitive (oh, I get it). My first impression upon seeing it promoted in an online blog was something akin to "no, I need the real deal, not a gadget." But the H5 has earned its spurs with me. I truly enjoy working with it.

This is a great recorder in all aspects. Sound quality is very good, inputs are clean, controls are very accessible. At the end, special thanks to Best Buy.

This little handy recorder is excellent. I used it for recording some audio for a historical piece of one of our local community centers that was turning 100 years old. Audio was super clear, the battery lasted for the entire session (better part of a day on and off), and it was super easy to carry around. Can't wait to try it out on some other projects.

I do a lot of weddings and commercial work and audio is vey important to me. I bought this to record vows and toasts at weddings and for interviews and it has saved me incredibly. I would be lost without it. The audio quality is amazing, it is very user friendly, and it is pretty affordable. Being able to have multiple audio sources is great. I would highly recommend this to anyone who records important audio for their work or personal life.

This handheld ambient sound digital recorder is worth every penny! Such a pleasant upgrade from the H4n. *Be prepared to buy a bigger SD card...2 gig is just too small.

Incredible control and sound quality. It's prefect for podcasts and mic control on film projects. Easy controls and long battery life. I recommend watching a review view but you dont really need to take the time, get it, its seriously impressive stuff.

It works well, is built well, sounds great, and has a great feature set. I got it on sale for around $250 and for that price, its fantastic! The included wind shield came pretty tattered and is therefore useless but other than that, no complaints. It’s lived on my camera rig since I got it.

Worked so amazing! Work in production and needed something last minute to pick up audio. So simple to use. 100% recommend!

I use this with my MXL 990 and the sound quality is incredible. It’s easy to setup and use and you can fine tuned your recording more than I realized. Important for me was the ability to record in mono, stereo, or multi, and this one offers all three. 100% recommend.

i use my zoom for all kinds of audio recording scenarios and it's super solid. a lot of different functionality and high quality recording, love the size but still being able to use xlr cables. would definitely recommend this over most recorders.

Got this because my old unit was too basic and didn't have any Line/XLR inputs. I'm a huge fan of this, especially the dials for volume control. I feel like I would have gone for the H6 if it was a bit smaller and cheaper, but for what this is I love it and it works super well.

Hands down the H5 is worth every penny. I love it. Way better than my Rode Mic Pro and I thought the quality on it was pretty good but this H5 is very handy and great quality. It comes with everything you need to start right out of the box, even batteries and an SD card.

I'm a live sound engineer and love to record my shows. I can't always multi track so the H5 is exactly what I need to get a matrix recording. The XY pattern mics also get a great ambient recording. This is great for movie audio recording as well. The card that comes with it is operational but, not big. Definitely get a larger size one for big projects.

The H5 is the perfect recording solution for any situation needing portability, functionality, and and high quality. It's very simple to use and has a myriad of inputs for adding microphones. I love this purchase and highly recommend it!

Great portable device for podcasting and making youtube videos. You can plug in an XLR microphone and then use the line out to go to your DSLR / full frame camera. Really handy.

Professional level audio, but really easy to use. The external mic catches room tone, while the XLR input gets the direct feed, so you can work with several channels. This is actually easier than going straight into garage band with a mixer.