Japan's Zoom has released a few details about a new addition to its excellent handy recorder line. The H6 is claimed to be the world's first portable recorder with interchangeable microphone heads, giving it a versatility lacking in its closest competitors. There's not too much by way of available information, but here's what we do know.
The H6 Handy Recorder looks to have about the same dimensions as the rather chunky LS-100 I reviewed last year, and even sports a similar-sized color LCD display – although the former's screen is set at an angle and positioned at the opposite end to the microphones. The portable audio recorder will come supplied with two interchangeable microphone modules, which are locked in place and released using buttons on either side of the mount. Both feature an onboard level control dial.
The X/Y microphone module has condenser mics placed at 90 degrees to each other on the same axis for stereo depth and imaging accuracy, and the mid-side module combines a uni-directional mid microphone to capture sound from the front and a bi-directional microphone to grab audio from the left and right.
Zoom has also revealed an optional shotgun microphone module and another that has two XLR/TRS inputs (in addition to the four already included on the recorder itself). Users are offered up to six channels of simultaneous recording at a definition of up to 24-bit/96 kHz.
The H6 supports SDXC media cards, and can be powered by four AA-sized batteries for over 20 hours of continued operation. An optional Hot Shoe Mount will also be available to allow the device to be used as the recording source for a digital video camera.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we've been unable to persuade Zoom to part with any more information. We'll fill in the significant blanks when more detail is available.
Update 06/18/13: Zoom has now released an overview video, which you can see below.
Source: Zoom