(Slightly off topic) Surprised ZOOM H4n user…

[Tony Arnold]

Johnny,

I love it when things just work on Linux! Good story.

Regards,
Tony.

On 16/03/13 13:20, Johnny Rosenberg wrote:
> This is not a question really, I just wanted to share this with
> whoever who might be interested.
> 
> The ZOOM H4n is a handy 4-channel audio recorder with two built in
> microphones and two combined balanced XLR/TRS inputs with phantom
> power, 48 or 24 V. It's a great piece of device, actually, at least
> for its price. There are smaller devices out there and there are
> better ones as well, but this was the combination that made me
> actually buy it…
> 
> Anyway, I use it when recording acoustic instruments and things like
> that, then I move the audio files (in WAV format) to my main recording
> device via my laptop. So it obviously has a USB connector, and when
> connected to a PC it behaves like a USB stick. That's one of its two
> modes. The other one is the audio interface mode, which requires a
> driver of some kind.
> 
> A quick look at http://www.zoom.co.jp/downloads/h4n/software/ makes it
> pretty clear that operating systems other than Windows are not
> supported, so I never even tried this mode. Until yesterday…
> 
> So I plugged it in, only for curiosity, to see if there will be any
> interesting error messages or something…
> 
> H4n asked me, as usual, the following:
> STORAGE →
> AUDIO I/F →
> 
> There's a ”clickable” scrolling wheel on the right side of the unit,
> so clicking a line that ends with a → brings up more options for that
> selection.
> 
> For the first time ever, I went for the AUDIO I/F thing.
> Next selection:
> FREQUENCY (44.1 or 48.0 kHz)
> CONNECT →
> 
> 44.1 kHz was pre-selected so CONNECT was my choice.
> ”Please wait”
> 
> After a little more than a second, I guess, it has connected. The
> display shows a header (”USB AUDIO I/F”) and a L/R level meter with a
> -48 – ±0 dB scale.
> 
> I open Audacity to try it out.
> To the right of the microphone symbol in the tool bar in Audacity,
> there is an input selection thing and when I click it I see a few new
> entries there, that I never saw before, such as ”H4: USB Audio (hw:
> 1,0): Line:0”. There are seven of them, named in a similar way
> (another one is ”H4: USB Audio (hw: 1,0): Aux:0” and so on).
> 
> So, time to record some rubbish! Hit the record button and start
> speaking or making any kind of noise. The audio curves are drawn and
> things look well. Time to stop, go back and listen.
> 
> The first thing I notice is that the audio is played back through my
> H4n, which has a poor built-in speaker that is activated if there are
> no head phones connected. I also notice that the sound is distorted.
> Okay, I think, so maybe this device is not supported after all. But
> there was sound, at least.
> 
> But after a short debugging session I find that the H4n internal
> effect processor is turned on featuring a guitar amplifier simulator
> effect. I turn it off and the distortion disappears!
> 
> So I have had this unit for several years now without realising that I
> can use it as an audio interface, even though I don't have Windows!
> And what's better, I didn't have to install anything! I was very
> surprised, I must say. I'm impressed!
> 
> Is this unit supported by the kernel or did I probably install
> something else some time (for a different purpose) that supports the
> unit?
> 
> Another thing that is nice with this unit is how to perform updates of
> its firmware. I also have a 2-channel unit, Olympus LS-10, which is
> great, but that unit need Windows or MacOS X for updates (and it
> doesn't work through Wine, or didn't work when I tried last time). The
> ZOOM however, doesn't need anything but a file that can be downloaded
> from the page I referred to earlier in this post. Just download it,
> connect your H4n to a USB port on your PC, select STORAGE on the H4n.
> Now put the file in the root directory of the SD card in your H4n
> (/media/H4N_SD), disconnect it and shut it down. You can, of course,
> also just put the SD card in your PC, but I think USB is more
> convenient in this case.
> 
> Start up the H4n again, holding two buttons of the H4n down (I don't
> remember which ones, but it's in the manual) during the startup
> process, and the H4n will update itself. Make sure the batteries are
> good or, even better, use the included AC adapter, because you don't
> want the batteries to die during an update…
> 
> Well, that's just about it. I am now an even happier H4n user than I
> was before, thanks to this unintended (i suppose) Linux support. It's
> perhaps the other way around; H4n is supported by Linux rather than
> Linux is supported by H4n…
> 
> So I am very happy with this piece of device, except for one minor
> thing: It supports 24-bit audio, but NOT in multi track mode, which is
> the only mode I need and use… There is a device out there that
> supports this; the Tascam DR-40 seems to support 24-bit recording in
> any mode, but it's not available in any local store where I live
> (Sweden), where I've seen so far, so I don't have one yet… Recording
> in 16-bit is okay though, since most things I record with this unit is
> background stuff in the final production anyway, ending up at maybe
> -30 – -20 dB or something, but still, 8 more bits wouldn't hurt…
> 
> 
> 
> Johnny Rosenberg
> 

-- 
Tony Arnold,                        Tel: +44 (0) 161 275 6093
Head of IT Security,                Fax: +44 (0) 705 344 3082
University of Manchester,           Mob: +44 (0) 773 330 0039
Manchester M13 9PL.                 Email: tony.arnold at manchester.ac.uk