Comment on Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder by Peter Hyatt.
Zoom quality audio,
I had the Zoom H2 for years and loved it. One day, I plugged in the wrong AC adaptor and fried the unit. ugh!
I was familiar with the H2 and was comfortable with it but its tiny screen was hard for me to read and it took quite a bit of time for me to get used to the interfacing.
The H1 is simple and having the controls on the device make it far more user friendly. It is tiny, smaller than I thought, which is great.
The sound quality is equal to the Q3, though this tiny unit feels fragile compared to the Q3. The plastic concerns me as I’m not sure it will hold up well. The Q3 feels more solid. I don’t have a professional musician’s ear, but the sound quality seemed to me to equal the recordings I have done with the H2. The “cd quality” sound is what I got when recording guitar, harmonica and vocals.
Other reviewers have wisely recommended the protective case and the mics are highly sensitive. The lo-cut feature (just a switch) nicely cuts out background noise.
Strangely, the unit is not made well for standing up straight. If you use the H2 platform, for instance, it means laying the H1 on its side. However, for best recording, Zoom recommends aiming the microphones directly towards the subject.
The mics appear to have a little “give” to them, as they wiggle slightly, and the plastic dome that covers them does not appear strong. This concerns me.
The door that opens for the microcard is very fragile and I thought I broke it the first time I opened it. I plan to leave it alone and not swap cards but transfer songs via interface. Handle with care; or as another reviewer said; put in the card and leave it alone. That is my plan.
With these issues addressed, the bottom line is the wonderful Zoom recording quality for a great price, with user friendly controls that can be learned in under 10 minutes. For guitar, piano, vocals, recording bands, bluegrass jams, etc, it seems to sound as nice as the H2 did, without the complex interface. If the unit was just a bit sturdier (like the protection of the mics), it would be a 5 star recorder. The audio sound is 5 star quality.
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