Beginner's Guide to the Zoom H1n audio recorder

Hey, Julian Kraus here and this is a beginner's guide to the Zoom H1n. I will show you how to set up this device and how to record audio. So let's dive right into it. Before you turn on the device, make sure that you do have a micro USB card and of course some batteries inserted into the device. Okay, let's start up the H1n by sliding and holding the switch on the side of the device. If it's the first time ever you turn on the device, you will have to enter the current date and time. Do this with the four buttons below the display which correspond to the arrows on screen. Now that the device is initially set up and turned on, you can see the screen. On the very top you can see the file name of your last recording. Every time you start a new recording, the number in this file name gets incremented. In the top right corner you can see a battery indicator and on the left you can see a small SD icon which means that your recording will be stored onto the SD card. Besides that you can see a time. If you're not recording, this is the remaining time you can record with your current settings until the SD card is full. If you are recording, this timer will show you how much time has elapsed since you started the recording. Then you got a level meter which shows the audio level and I will go over this level meter in more detail later when we talk about recording with the H1n. And below that you can see some settings which can be accessed with the corresponding buttons below the display and I will also explain these in more detail in a moment. In the middle of the device you got a big record button which starts and stops your recording and you got some more buttons below that for audio playback. On the right side you have a trash button which can be used to delete recorded files and on the left side you do have a volume rocker which you can use to turn up or down the headphone output. And finally on top of the H1n we do have the very important gain knob. Now that we got this all sorted let's have a look at the four main setting knobs. The first one controls sample rate, bit depth and recording format. So whether you're recording an mp3 or wave. I personally would stay away from the mp3 formats. I mean you can use them to save card space at the cost of audio quality but you must be aware that mp3 can and will degrade your audio quality. Additionally the H1n lets you decide which bit rate you want your mp3s to be recorded at. Lower bit rates yield lower audio quality but also bring smaller file sizes and thus longer possible record times. The next recording format the H1n can record to is wave. And here you can set the sample rate and the bit depth. I would advise that you use the 48k and 24 bit setting. This will give you high quality audio with manageable file sizes. If you do plan on doing special effects recording where you slow down the sound in post you can even use the 96k and 24 bit setting to give you a bit more high frequency content to work with. But for general use 48k and 24 bit is the way to go. Okay next up we have the low cut filter. As the name implies it cuts off all low frequencies up to a certain point. This can be very useful to battle handling and wind noise. The low cut filter can be set to 80 hertz meaning that it will roll off all low frequencies below 80 hertz. This setting is especially useful when you record dialogue because human voice usually does not go down to 80 hertz so that you can cut off all the rumble in your recording without affecting the recorded voice. The low cut filter can also be set to 120 and 160 hertz. Setting higher low cut frequencies will roll off even more bass frequencies and can be helpful for example when heavy wind is present. But be aware that the low cut especially at 160 hertz will start to cut off frequencies from the voice and your recording can start to sound thin and tinny. And of course the low cut filter can also be turned off all the way so that you record the whole frequency range the zoom h1n has to offer. The next button in line enables or disables the limiter. The limiter can prevent your audio from clipping. When the limiter is enabled any audio signal going above minus 6 db will be limited and kept in check. This is a great feature because if there is a sudden spike in audio there is a very high chance that your recording is still usable and not distorted. This is particularly useful in run and gun recording situations where you are mostly unable to predict sudden changes in sound level. Sadly the limiter has one downside. Under certain circumstances it can raise the noise floor of your recording. So if you are in a very controlled environment and you know that you do not need the limiter i would advise to turn it off. And the last button will enable or disable the auto level feature. If you enable this it disables the gain knob on the top of the device because the h1n will then set the gain on its own. This can be very useful in run and gun situations where you do not know how loud things are going to and you cannot constantly adjust the gain on your own. I personally would still try to set the gain on my own because i always want to stay in control and it's usually not desirable that the gain constantly changes in the recording. But this feature is still nice to have and it can save you in a pinch. Okay let's quickly go through two recording scenarios and i explain how i would set up the h1n and why. Let's say i would use the h1n as a stereo microphone on top of my camera. Audio recording format is of course 48k and 24 bits. The low cut filter i would set to 80 hertz because i want to minimize handling and wind noise. I would activate the limiter because when i'm out and about there might be some sudden spikes in audio and i don't want anything to clip. And the level is turned off because i will set the gain on my own. Okay scenario number two i want to record some guitar. Record format again would be 48k and 24 bit. I would turn off the low cut because i want to hear the full range of the guitar and i'm also inside so i don't have to worry about wind. The limiter is not strictly needed in this situation so i will turn it off to get the best noise performance. And audio level again is set to off because i will set the gain manually. So now that you know which settings to use and when set up your h1n to fit your recording style and let's make the first real recording. First put your h1n in an appropriate recording position. Generally speaking you will get the best sounding recordings when you get the microphone close but also don't overdo it because of the proximity effect. This will make the internal mics of the h1n bassier the closer you get to your sound source. And if you're too close you can end up with a very bass heavy recording. A good starting point is about 30 centimeters or one foot away from your sound source. Then adjust from there. Before you can start your recording you have to set up your gain properly. A rough rule of thumb is to turn your gain knob up or down until the levels on your audiometer hit on average between minus 18 and minus 12 db. This way you do have some headroom left to not clip but also record a strong and healthy signal. By the way it's always a good idea to monitor the sound you are recording. You simply plug in some headphones into the h1n and then adjust the volume to your liking. But one word of caution because the h1n's microphones are directly connected to its body. Any kind of swinging of the connected headphone cable can result in some rumble in your recordings. So be careful. Now that you have everything set up you can hit the record button and off you go. Stop the recording when you're done. After you finished your recording you might want to play back the audio file. Press the play button and the h1n then starts to play back the recorded files. You can navigate through the files with the forward and rewind buttons. When holding down the forward or rewind button you can scroll through the audio file you're currently on. If you want to delete the audio file you're currently listening to you simply press the trash can button on the side of the device. Then select delete with the buttons corresponding to the arrows on screen and confirm. One more thing that can be very handy is the mark feature. When listening back to an audio file on your h1n you can press the mark button and it will place a marker at this specific place in your audio. Later you will be able to see this marker in your DAW. So if you recorded a long take and come across an interesting part you can mark it to find it more easily later on. To get out of the playback mode simply press the stop button and you're ready for your next recording. Well that's all you got to know to get started with this small recorder. Now grab your h1n and record something awesome. And if you want to share something you recorded with your h1n leave a comment below. I'm always curious to see what other people use this recorder for. If you found this overview helpful feel free to leave a like, subscribe to my channel for more tips and tricks on audio recording and I see you in the next one.