Have anyone tried the new Zoom H1 essential? (2 Viewers)

[Samuel Patinha]

Hello,
I was going to buy the Zoom H1n, however I just saw that they had released a new recorder (H1 essential) for a similar price. So, my question is if anyone has tried it yet and if it is worth it.
Thanks in advance

 

[Jon.Bryant]

I have not tried the H1 Essential, but I suspect it really depends on how you intend to use the recorder.

I cannot see a spec for mic sensitivity in the H1N, but the sensitivity of the mics on the H1 Essential is not great, so the recorder would be best for close work - I suspect that both recorders will not be great for medium distance recording of birds and are probably designed for recording music (a loud source quite close) or voice (a reasonably loud source very close).

The H1 Essential is obviously 32 bit float, which is a plus, especially for close and remote mic work - say leaving the recorder near to where a bird is vocalising. In this scenario you will not be able to alter gain manually, and 32bit float comes into its own - masses of headroom, so very difficult to make a complete hash of recording levels.

Both devices only have mini jack mic inputs, so if you ever want to upgrade to XLR phantom powered mics, then you will have problems. There are parabolas with mini jack connectors, but there will be far more mic options to explore in the future, if you select a recorder with XLR type inputs.