Samson Tech stumbled onto something great with the ubiquitous Zoom H4N audio recorder. When the DSLR video craze kicked off, people quickly realized that whilst the video was stunning to look at, the on-board audio sucked. All professional films use separate audio recorders though, and the HDSLR crowd quickly fell in love with the full featured Zoom H4N. Built in stereo mics and 2 XLR inputs meant 4 track recording was possible in a device that was only $300. Samson was in the right place at the right time with the right price, the H4N was and still is everywhere. But many of the features of the H4N were unnecessary to the “run and gun” photo journalist who just want to record some background audio for a multimedia piece, or just use one extra microphone like a shotgun to get slightly more directional pickup. Well the folks at Samson heard your calls and today announced their first piece of audio gear that was actually designed with DSLRs in mind. The Zoom H1. The full feature list is below, and it looks like this little device will give you just what you need for journalistic applications, in a frankly beautifully designed package. But here is the crazy thing, they only want $99 for it!!
All of Samsons previous audio devices have received glowing reviews when it comes to audio quality, so I’m not expecting anything less on that front. If you already have a shotgun mic for your DSLR then it will plug in to the H1 just fine in the 1/8″ jack. The H1 does forgo the XLR input so if you need that then the H4N is still the way to go. But for people using a sennheiser MKE400 or RODE videomic (of which there are plenty), this is the next logical step up in audio quality as you can continue to use the same mic, but now have the quality of separate audio and the freedom to position the mic where you want. For stills photographers looking to add to their arsenal its diminutive size is far more appealing than the clunky H4N and I will definitely be ordering one.
Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images- Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
- Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
- Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
- Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
- Built-in reference speaker
- Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
- One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
- Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
- Track marker function
- Low cut filter
- Built-in tripod mount
- 1/8″ external mic input
- Stereo 1/8″ line output
- Auto record level
The Zoom H1 recorder is currently available for pre-order from B&H photo.
I just got mine in the mail and ran a sound test, comparing the H1 against it’s big brother the H4N. The results show that the H1 is a solid performer, but it’s not the same quality as the H4N. Full comparison on a variety of mics at http://www.danmccomb.com/posts/633/zoom-h1-sound-test-vs-h4n-recorder/
Dan thanks for the info. I think it sounds great! I wish it was a bit better built…… so here’s hoping they make a solid new version of the h2 for something in the $160 range. That would be great. For the moment though, $99 is a great deal for this by the sound of things.
hi dan, i see you’ve written quite a bit on the h1. i used one for a job and accidentally deleted the audio files. i’ve tried a few programmes to try and recover the data but can’t. Any suggestions or ideas?
The H1 has a big design fault with the delete button so close to the on off button and no double confirmation button to check if you really want to delete the files. whereas the h2 it is really fiddly to delete stuff.
hope you can help.
carl
Oh that sounds bad! Which file recovery programs have you tried out Carl ?
Dan,
Do you see any problems using this with canon 5d mark ii? I want to use this with a stereo cable to avoid the hassels of sync’ing audio later? What would you recommend? Which cable would fit this scenario?
Thanks,
Rajiv
I don’t see why not. But you would probably need the -20db attenuating cable from pinknoise systems. They sell them on ebay. I say probably because I havent tried it, but you need one if you are using the zoom h4n.
Hi Dan, Ive bought one of these and the sound recording is really low, even on a 60 input, any ideas?
How are you recording on it ? Plugging in an external mic or using the built in mics ?
I did an unboxing/review video on it, if anyone is interested
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JrUCMxfC6k
The only thing I don’t like is the body quality. Plastic body doesn’t feel durable, and it makes noise when you scrape it against your clothes or tap on it.