Topic: Zoom H1 XLR 32bit Handy Recorder announced on Aug. 8 2024

[adrianb]

I wonder whether right angled XLR adapters would separate the mics a bit more and give wider stereo?  I actually have the means to try that here, with similar mics (mine are antique Naiant ones) and the adapters.  But no disc although I should be able to improvise.  Still I am glad you had no issues with the performance of the recorder itself.

I made those 110 degrees XLR adapters for this recorder. Yesterday I took delivery of these 110 degree angled cardioids, again with this recorder in mind:

https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=206319.0

Big problem. This zoom has unusual XLR inputs with the locking connectors at opposite sides. I’m back to the drawing board with my DIY angled adapters.

[Ozpeter]

Very neat mics!  The widely available 90 degree XLR adapters can be rotated but I wonder whether there are straight ones with that feature?  Hmm.

[TheJez]

Ah, that explains it.  The R-09HR has an A weighted noise level of -103dBu...

As a long time user of the R-09HR, and to prevent anyone stumbling on this thread thinking that it's a very noisy recorder, I feel the urge to advocate a bit for this device: The mentioned -103dBu noise level applies only when the 'mic gain' switch is set to 'low'. When set to 'high' it becomes -118dBu.
Unfortunately, for years, I strictly followed the manual which states that the 'low' setting is for 'loud sounds such as band performances', even though I used very insensitive mics...  When recording realy loud stuff this was not a problem, but with these high dynamic performances it defenately bit me in the quiet parts. 

[Ozpeter]

Thanks for correcting me on the R-09HR noise figure.  For some reason, when I did a ctrl/f to find it in the Avisoft table, it only picked up the figure near the bottom of the table, not the perfectly respectable one much further up for the "H" setting.  Actually I will amend my earlier post to confess to my misinformation, right away.

[Ozpeter]

Today the weather has been quite remarkable in terms of lack of wind.  A single leaf on the tallest tree has not even thought of twitching for hours.  And as the day began with steady light rain, and it is Sunday, there isn't much suburban noise in the garden.  So I have made some ambient recordings with the Superlux S502 with no wind muffs into the XLR sockets, and then with the Roland binaural mics into the 3.5mm input (not worn, just laid on the garden table).  I am very pleased with the outcomes, with no system noise that I can hear from either source.  There were a few good samples of birdsong, and at one point a yapping dog gradually got louder as it was lead up the road outside the house, and the local birds got very vocal nearby telling it shut up, and then it all faded back to ambient background again. It may be a few days until I get a chance to upload some samples but I certainly will.

[rastasean]

Which Roland mics did you use? I purchased a pair from ebay several weeks ago but had to return, since the audio on one of the channels wasn't working.
I think they were cs-10 or something. I was looking forward to using them.

In my very brief usage of them, I found the self noise to be quite high, but that was only about 10 minutes usage with basically only one channel working.
Looking forward to your recordings.

[Ozpeter]

Roland CS10-EM indeed.  I had to look it up!  In my test recording of 'silence' I could hear nothing obviously wrong on the noise front compared to the Superlux mics, neither from the mics themselves nor from the different input sockets each used.  That was playing back using Sennheiser HD25 headphones, with the H1 XLR output volume up to 100, which results in a replay level significantly higher than I would have experienced in the garden in real life.  Subjectively the Roland mics seemed to have more grunt with the low frequencies and overall slightly higher level than the Superlux mics.  That's a combination of the mic itself and the different input socket used.

Sadly it will be a couple more days before I can get anything uploaded, but watch this space...

[rastasean]

Peter,

Maybe I missed it elsewhere in this thread, but how do you get your Superlux S502 plugged into the H1XLR? It looks like both mics connect to a single five pin XLR...
https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_s502.htm

Can you snap a picture?

[Niels]

… but how do you get your Superlux S502 plugged into the H1XLR? It looks like both mics connect to a single five pin XLR...
https://www.thomannmusic.com/superlux_s502.htm

The mic comes with the necessary cable according to your link:
“Includes microphone cable (5-pin female to 2x 3-pin male) and wind protector”

[jefflester]

Yeah, comes with a short cable. Then can use common XLRs to extend to desired length, or a less-common 5-pin cable to extend from mic end.

[adrianb]

That Superlux S502 looks like a lot of microphone for not much money.

Here’s my slightly cheaper (nearly) ORTF setup using the Zoom H1 XLR. Very portable.

[rastasean]

Right, i understand there's a cable. I thought peter was saying he plugs the mics directly into the recorder without the cable.

[Ozpeter]

I plugged my MKH mics directly into the device - well, with suitable XLR to XLR angled and straight adapters, but indeed the supplied adapter lead (only) was used to connect the S502.  As it happens I have at least 100 feet of 5 pin XLR to 5 pin XLR cable which I could use to get that mic away from the recorder.  That goes back to my pro classical recording days where I started with an MS pair for almost everything.  Why run two cables when you could run one from stage to control room?  It was as thick as my thumb however - and heavy!  But if somehow I got the chance to try the Superlux and H1 XLR on a classical performance now, my approach would probably be to put the mic on the top of a stand, the recorder at the bottom with not much cable between neatly attached down the stand, start the recorder running before the audience comes in, and walk away.  And I think the S502 would produce a perfectly adequate result, even for broadcast.

[adrianb]

Ever since I saw the Zoom H1 XLR in images I thought it had the potential to be the perfect portable recorder with the right microphones. Hence my DIY efforts because the right microphones don’t exist.

I might be as close as I can get with my latest effort, utilising the microphones from an obsolete Rode iXY microphone for 30-pin iPhones, which I knew had decent capsules. It was guesswork on the voltage requirements, but using a Simple P48 wiring to take the voltage down from 45.6v to 5.6v seems to give good results. Just need to find suitable wind protection now, although the Rycote I use for my Sony D100 works adequately.

Incidentally I have just realised I can turn the screen off, and managed a recording time of 13 hours 42 minutes using these mics, so the test times I mention on Page 9 of this thread are on the low side because the screen remained on during recording.

[Ozpeter]

That's impressive!