Have you EVER had a problem with your Zoom H1?

T

tikigod19

Well-known member
Hi all,

I currently use a Sennheiser G2 connected to Zoom H4N for wedding ceremony audio but for speeches I use a series of H1's.

For ease it would be much simpler for me to switch to using a H1 for the ceremony also, HOWEVER....

Last year after a wedding speech I grabbed the H1 from the speaker and it was recording as normal, the clock still ticking. When I pushed the record button to stop, the spinning loading display that usually shows for a second or two stayed on... it didn't go away! I sat there watching it (it was the grooms mic...) trembling for about 15 minutes until I decided to pull the battery (the off switch was not responsive) and when i restarted it, it was blank.

Tried memory card restoration programs but they only work if something is on the card, this had recorded nothing!

I threw the micro SD in the bin (it was a class 6, 8GB) and have not had any other issues since or before that.

Has anyone else had this or similar issues in the past and do you have any idea how this sort of ting can be avoided, as if I can get rid of this niggling sense of mistrust in the H1, my ceremony recording life would be a lot simpler.

It would still be dual sound for the ceremony as I'm not that silly.. however I can only use 1 lav mic and would very much like to sell the wireless and go all Zoom.

Thanks in advance.
 
Never had problems yet. I have heard of one or two (including yours) incidences that were something like this; I think weirdness can happen with any op system in the digital recording world. It could have been the media also. If you're concerned, maybe with the money you're saving on the H1, buy a unit or two extra as a back-up?

The only issue I've had is with the buttons/switches on the bottom. You have to make sure that they are set right, and maybe throw some tape over them or something, if this is going to be in a groom's pocket. I recorded part of a conference last year, and was calculating that I had many hours left on my card, but recording ran out after about an hour. The switch on the bottom had shifted to the highest recording resolution by accident, probably when I was setting it up on the tripod... Also, it's best to record with the H1 from a stationary position, because there is handling noise, but if you're using a lav, you should be fine.

I know someone (or several) will respond with "Get something better," but really, the H1 is fine.

GJ
 
Really appreciate your reply Gregg. There is a lot of the 'get something better' on the internet, but the fact is if the H1 continues doing what it's done 99.9% of the time then it's the perfect little tool for the job.

With regards to your get some spare units thing, I already own 7 of them but the issue is that you obviously don't know if it's broken until AFTER the speech so unless I put two recorders on each speaker with 2 lav mics or perhaps some sort of splitter, I can't guarantee anything.

I could always chuck one on the table with a mini tripod as I have done in the past for brides speeches, but nothing compares to the sound of a lav mic.
 
Hi. Use my H1 a lot and have not had any "recording" errors. The only error I have had was "the press record twice" feature, between myself and my assistant we ended up with the recorder in monitor mode and not actually recording, of course only found out after the shoot, serious mishap.
 
ja_swaer said:
Hi. Use my H1 a lot and have not had any "recording" errors. The only error I have had was "the press record twice" feature, between myself and my assistant we ended up with the recorder in monitor mode and not actually recording, of course only found out after the shoot, serious mishap.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of this mode, I know the H4N does this but my H1's don't (as far as I know..)
 
I've never had a problem so far, but my unit will drain the battery dead if I leave the battery in while in storage. ( I make a habit of pulling the battery, when I put it away )

Also, there is new firmware that came out last month...

Zoom H1 Firmware Version 2.00

1. Added USB Audio Interface function.
2. The starting time is shortened.
3. Added the File Recovery function that restores broken data caused by power-off while recording.
4. Skip date/time setting menu after 10 seconds with no operation.
5. H1 freezes at the end of a recording in MP3 format in rare cases.
6. Some PC software can not recognize the mark created by H1.
 
Thanks for the heads up dingo. Skipping the date/time alltogether would have been goo d... I always remove the battery for storage too, more by habit than anything
 
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