Audio for Video: Zoom H1 Handy Recorder
The two primary reasons I love the Zoom H1 (http://amzn.to/2DF3ikm) are it’s simplicity and budget friendly price. It offers everything I need in an external audio recorder at less than half the cost of my trusty old H4N (http://amzn.to/2Chd005). Nearly every option this device has is available as a button or switch on the body of the unit - no need to dive deep into a menu system because there isn’t one.
Before we get deep into the review, just a quick note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. I appreciate when you use these links to check out products and I hope that you can see in my writing that I am objective with my reviews. I only write about products I have used and would generally recommend. I also try to point out every shortcoming I have experienced in a product so you know what to expect before you buy. Ok, let's get to it:
Now as a preliminary comment, I’ll admit the H4N is a more robust audio recorder. But for the types of videos I create, I rarely need to take advantage of the 4 channels it has to offer. I also like using the 1/8” jack for lav mics, which is really inconveniently positioned on the H4N - so all the more reason I love the H1.
Zoom H1 Handy Recorder
Let’s do a quick tour. The face just has one button - record. The screen gives you just a few pieces of essential information - levels, record quality, recording time (or time remaining when you aren’t recording), and battery life. On the top of the unit are the built-in X/Y microphones positioned at 90 degrees to each other.
Built-in X/Y Microphones
As a video producer, I’ve used these mics to grab some ambient environmental audio and they work great for that. For everything else I’ll use the line in option. That we will get to soon.
On the right side you will find the USB jack, this can be used to power the recorder or to transfer files to your computer. To be honest I haven’t used this at all. The recorder runs on a single AA battery and lasts quite a while. The Zoom website claims it can last up to 10 hours even while recording, but I have not tested that myself.
And when I need to transfer files I just take the microSD card out and use an adaptor to get them on my computer.
Next is the power and hold switch, delete, rewind, play/pause/mark, fast forward, and recording input level.
The Mic/Line Input is a stereo 1/8” mini phone jack. I generally use this with a single lav mic, but using a splitter you can use 2 mics at the same time. If you use a condenser mic that needs 2.5 volts of power, those will work with this jack as well.
On the back you will find the battery compartment, 1/4” mounting thread, and 3 switches. The first is the lo cut filter, then auto level option. Third is the record format. You can choose either WAV or MP3. MP3 is pretty compressed, so I only recommend using this if you need to record tons of material and are concerned about space on your microSD card. Considering you can record nearly 2 hours of audio at 24 bit, 48kHz on just a 2GB card, there’s really no reason to go with MP3. With WAV can record 16 or 24 bit at 44.1, 48, and 96 kHz sampling rates..
Here’s a table showing how long you can record in a given format with various size SD cards:
Image source: Zoom H1 Website
To change the recording quality for both WAV and MP3, make sure the switch is positioned to the file format you want, then use the fast forward and rewind button to cycle through the quality options, and lastly hit play to confirm these settings.
Finally, the right side has your 1/8” headphone jack, volume control for the headphones (or built-in speaker if you’re not using headphones), and the microSD card slot.
If you have any questions about the Zoom H1 or any other video production gear, feel free to reach out on my contact page and I would be happy to help.
Cheers,
Chris
