Zoom H5 to H6 Upgrade After 12 Years! Any Big Differences?

    I have used the Zoom h5s for what must be 12 years roughly now, I got it when it first came out and it was like a dream come true, it feels like a LONG long time since I got it. I have owned about 4 of them over the years and the only dissatisfying time was when the coating turned to sticky mess but it cleans off with isopropyl alcohol with some patience and mess. They have been so versatile as well, I have used them for outdoor recording with the XY mic, I have used them for indoor tabletop recording with the XY for talking videos and also purely as a recorder and power source for XLR mics.

    Yesterday I decided to finally upgrade my studio, I got a Zoom H6! I am buzzing as I cant wait to be able to try out 4 mics via XLR on it eventually and it will mean moving equipment around a whole lot less for me.

    Im unsure if there are any massive differences between the H6 and the H5, is there anything obvious other than the extra XLR ports? Is the setup just as easy?

    Which H6 did you get: the original/All Black, H6essential or H6studio? That changes the answer quite a bit.

    I checked Zoom's manuals rather than making a hands-on comparison: the original H6 records 16/24-bit WAV, the H6essential records 32-bit float, and the H6studio lets you choose between those formats. So the H6 name alone doesn't mean the gain-setting workflow has changed.

    For your four-XLR plan, my first check would be to record each mic on a separate mono track, speak into each one in turn, then listen back to the individual files and a short combined take. That should reveal a routing mistake before a longer session. If you're also using the original H6 as a computer interface, select Multi Track for separate inputs; Stereo Mix sends a two-channel mix.

    The official references are here:
    Original H6, recording formats and USB modes (manual pp. 68, 102-103): https://www.zoom.co.jp/sites/default/…pdfs/E_H6_0.pdf
    H6essential: https://zoomcorp.com/manuals/h6essential-en/
    H6studio: https://zoomcorp.com/manuals/h6studio-en/

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