Topic: Zoom H1 modification

[toddboyle]

I'm having some difficulty using the Zoom H1 with cheap external mics like the ATR 3350.  The hiss is much greater than the internal mics, and the clarity is not as good.   Has anybody tried removing the internal mic elements and inserting a few feet of wire?

There's a good examination of the Zoom H1 on Youtube, if you search for "EEVblog #271 - Zoom H1 Recorder Teardown".  At 8:00 and again at 17:00 it's clear that the little mic elements can be easily removed and made into external mics with perhaps 6 foot cables, allowing recording from mic stands or perhaps even as lapels.  My question is: will I run into line noise, hum, loss of gain, etc?

[Church-Audio]

I'm having some difficulty using the Zoom H1 with cheap external mics like the ATR 3350.  The hiss is much greater than the internal mics, and the clarity is not as good.   Has anybody tried removing the internal mic elements and inserting a few feet of wire?

There's a good examination of the Zoom H1 on Youtube, if you search for "EEVblog #271 - Zoom H1 Recorder Teardown".  At 8:00 and again at 17:00 it's clear that the little mic elements can be easily removed and made into external mics with perhaps 6 foot cables, allowing recording from mic stands or perhaps even as lapels.  My question is: will I run into line noise, hum, loss of gain, etc?

You will not run into a loss of gain but you need to make sure the capsules are shielded properly from RFI. Also the main issue is one of overloading it really depends on the max spl the recorder can handle this limitation comes two sources the mic capsule it self and the power supply voltage or lack of voltage. so you can run the cables out take it to a show and see how it works out or you can break down and buy some quality mics from me or other vendors on tapersection that also make fine microphones. there are also some good used mics for sale. generally speaking you are probably not going to see the improvement you are expecting with this mod

[toddboyle]

Thanks man.  Yeah, I know it won't be pro-quality; I am just videoing lectures, never music or loud levels.  The audio from the Zoom H1 internal mics is good enough for this purpose, if you're between 6-12 inches.   I'm going to insert the Zoom's mic assembly (including whatever shielding it has) into a foam rubber windscreen and attach it to the podium mic with gaffer's tape.  I think I will go with 10-foot cables, since that would allow me to serve two microphones if there's an interview or panel discussion.  The thing is a pretty good solution at $79. (here's some of my videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/ToddBoyle/videos?view=0)