H2 Recorder on-board MP3 conversion

As promised, the results from the head-to-head in the speed of MP3 conversion between my oldish laptop (using Audacity) and the Zoom H2.  I recorded 60 seconds of audio, and looked at the total time taken to get that file from WAV format to MP3 and saved on my hard drive (the bit rates were the same and the final file sizes were within a KB of eachother):

Zoom H2:

MP3 encoding – 4.38 mins

Copying – Instant

Laptop:

Importing – 13 seconds

MP3 encoding – 53 seconds

I thought there was a difference, but the results show that the Zoom’s encoder should only be used if you are desperate.  And in no sort of hurry – it is postively glacial.