Following on from the tape cassette and the Minidisc, sound recording enthusiasts and professionals now tend to use digital audio recorders that record on memory cards.

Most of these start at £300, however, and climb steeply in price from there. The Zoom H2 Handy Recorder costs less than £130 but still offers a lot of scope.

It is about the size and shape of a classic 1950s-style microphone and comes complete with a stand, microphone stand adapter, wind muffler, 512MB SD memory card and a mains adapter (it runs on two AA batteries for up to four hours of recording). It can also screw directly onto a camera tripod.

The screen is backlit, but we could have done with it being bigger and less crowded with icons. Although it’s reasonably clear, a colour display would be much easier to see.

The membrane controls are also a little difficult to use and would benefit from a dedicated stop button (the user has to press the Record button to start monitoring and set the sound levels, press it again to start recording and a third time to stop).

One of the key features of the H2 that separates it from its competitors is its four microphones. Behind the heavy-duty grilles at the top of the device are a pair of stereo microphones pointing forwards and another pair pointing backwards. Not just that, but the front pair are angled at 90 degrees, which is ideal for recording an interviewee or a single performer, while the back pair is set at 120 degrees, suitable for a group or ensemble.

Both pairs can be used together for simple four-channel recording, giving an approximation of surround sound. This mode might be useful for recording a meeting or a jam session, where it would be placed in the middle of the group to capture all the sounds.

The H2's audio quality is excellent -– its Wav and MP3 recordings are much better than those made using a typical portable media player and are, in some cases, of broadcast quality. We know of at least one community radio station that uses the H2 and its bigger sibling, the H4, for all its non-studio recordings.

Anyone interested in high-quality sound recording should give the feature-packed H2 a listen.