Hi Stuart,
The H1 seems to have a slightly brighter sound than the H2, but which one sounds best on your lute, with your playing, could only be determined by test. I don't know how they compare in terms of background noise, I've not actually used it hands on, but can't see a problem there for your application. Apart from that, the H1 has the advantage. It has a proper volume control for recording, which the H2 does not (needing a workaround I've described here before for best results). Only the H2 can be used to record direct to your compute via USB. The H2 uses full size SD cards, the H1 uses those tiny micro ones. The H2 comes with accessories included, the H1 has a package that you buy separately. These include various ways of mounting the recorder. When I bought my H2 the H1 was not available, if it had been I would have got the H1 based on it's feature set. Suggest you get one of those very small camera tripods, the cheapest will do, as this will make recording much easier. Positioning the mic properly makes all the difference. have fun Andy To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
