This entire episode is recorded with the Zoom H6 Studio and a Sennheiser MKH50 boom mic. For those who've seen my Zoom H5 Studio review: the H6 Studio uses the same microphones and the same high-quality, low-noise Zoom F-S series preamplifiers. The main differences are four inputs instead of two (using the same four AA batteries, so runtime is lower with more mics active) and more simultaneous record tracks.

Handling noise samples with the built-in mic show that pressing buttons or adjusting gain dials is clearly audible — it's better thought of as a "handy" recorder useful in many situations rather than a true handheld recorder unless you set everything up in advance and avoid touching it while rolling. Outdoors, you'll need the included furry windscreen accessory kit to avoid heavy wind distortion. RF interference testing near a 550MHz UHF wireless transmitter and a phone streaming over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi showed no audible digital interference — both the H6 and H5 Studio appear well shielded.

Self-noise testing on the XLR combo inputs with a dummy XLR/150-ohm resistor at +60dB gain measured -69 dB RMS max — a worst-case scenario showing very clean preamps; you need to worry more about mic choice and room noise than preamp hiss.

This is an eight-track recorder: four XLR combo inputs, one 3.5mm stereo input, the built-in stereo mics, and a stereo mix of everything, all simultaneously, in 32-bit float with dual A/D converters per input (a step up from the older Zoom Essential series). The built-in XY stereo mics have 123 dB of dynamic range (nearly double the original H6's 65 dB) and a 140 dB SPL max, making them capable of loud sources like concerts. These are probably the best-sounding built-in mics on a handy-style recorder I've used — better than any previous Zoom H-series and better (though noisier) than the Tascam Portacapture line.

It uses the newer Mic Capsule 3.0 system supporting 32-bit float capsules (incompatible with older Zoom capsule modules — a pro/con tradeoff), includes digital look-ahead limiters, an accessibility voiceover menu for visually impaired users, and the same nice color screen as the H5 Studio. Battery testing with a Rode NT1 (5th gen) phantom powered, using AA Ikea Ladda 2450mAh rechargeables, got 8 hours 31 minutes — Zoom recorders remain some of the most power-efficient handy recorders around (though the battery door design isn't great). It also works as a 96kHz audio interface (48kHz if recording onboard simultaneously), records to microSDXC up to 2TB, has a 3.5mm line output with limiter for feeding a camera, and supports the optional BTA1/TCA1 modules for iOS app control and (with the upcoming TCA1) wireless timecode sync with devices like the Atomos UltraSync Blue. Priced at $400 US ($49 for the BTA1).

A few cons: the 3.5mm mic input only supplies 2.5V of plug-in power, less than some pro lavaliers like the Sennheiser MKE 2 want (5V) — unclear if long-term damage results, but worth knowing. The headphone output needs low-impedance headphones (50 ohms or less, ideally 30 or under). And there's no auto-mix feature for multi-person podcasts/panels (you'd need to step up to a Zoom F6/F8n Pro or Sound Devices MixPre for that) — auto-mix automatically ducks other people's mics when one person talks, saving substantial post-production cleanup time on longer recordings.

Compared to the similarly priced ($400) Tascam Portacapture X8: the Tascam's built-in mics are noisier though warmer-sounding straight out of the recorder (though EQ can get the H6 close), Tascam has a bigger touchscreen but worse battery life, and Zoom offers more microphone/module accessory options. This unit is on loan from B&H and will be returned after the review. Get out there and make some great recordings. Talk to you again soon.