Re: Zoom H4 for laptop looping

[Joshua Carroll <josh@infinivert.com>]

Hey, I fixed the artifact issue (at least as it applies to the recording 
I'm working on).  The file in question was recorded at 24-bit / 48k, and 
I was using the interface in 44.1k mode.  I switched it to 48k, and now 
everything works.

I'll have to play with mobius and see how that works since it needs 44.1

--Josh



Per Boysen wrote:
> You won't hear the artifacts when you play an audio input because your 
> source audio is "leaking" through the ASIO direct monitoring and 
> masking the drop-outs (the analog signal of the H4 is very good). Try 
> to set up a long delay or reverb, in your audio application, with only 
> wet sound (no direct instrument going   through it). Then you can play 
> something and stay silent and listen to what you just played coming 
> back through the delay/reverb.
>
> I'm afraid it is not as much a driver issue as it is a USB2 protocol 
> issue (for sound cards you should look for Firewire or PCI).  But the 
> H4 is great bang for the buck as a field recorder IMO! And I'm totally 
> happy with using it as a pre amp, merge box and reverb unit before my 
> laptop (with another "clean" audio interface).
>
> per
>
>
>
> On 11 nov 2006, at 01.20, Joshua Carroll wrote:
>
>> That's weird.  I didn't notice any artifacts, but I haven't really 
>> run it through the ringer yet.  I'll play with it some more and see 
>> if I can get it to reproduce your results.  If so, I'm going to be 
>> all over Zoom to fix that as I bought it specifically because it 
>> could double as an interface and I need it to work.
>>
>> Thanks for the heads-up!
>>
>> --Josh
>>
>>
>> Per Boysen wrote:
>>> Yes, of course. By writing "the dedicated software drivers" I meant 
>>> the "H4 ASIO Driver Version 1.0.0.1". AFAIK there are no other 
>>> drivers for H4 (I tried ASIO4ALL but it did not detect the hardware, 
>>> but on Mac the OS X took care of it right away, although still with 
>>> tiny audio artifacts) . I'm hoping an update to the ASIO driver is 
>>> due soon...  ;-)
>>>
>>> per
>>>
>>>
>>> On 10 nov 2006, at 02.22, Joshua Carroll wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ha!  Very cool.
>>>>
>>>> Did you download the ASIO driver for it?  I've not had any problems 
>>>> getting a great sound as an interface via ASIO...
>>>>
>>>> --Josh
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Per Boysen wrote:
>>>>> Date: Wed, 08 Nov 2006 10:06:16 -0600
>>>>>
>>>>>> Just thought I'd throw out a plug for the new Zoom H4.  It works 
>>>>>> as a great 2x2 audio interface for Mobius (it has some built-in 
>>>>>> effects I haven't tried yet, but will work in audio-interface 
>>>>>> mode), and the other features make it ideal for collecting 
>>>>>> found-sounds or putting together rough song ideas on the fly.  
>>>>>> The built-in stereo condenser mic has really impressed me so 
>>>>>> far.  I expected it to pretty much suck for the price, but I've 
>>>>>> been getting some excellent acoustic guitar recordings with it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyway, for the price, I'm really happy, so I thought I'd pass it 
>>>>>> along.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --Josh
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Someone posted and asked about latency. I just picked one up this 
>>>>> morning to check out, and may have some information to share. 
>>>>> Regarding the option to use the H4 as an audio interface the 
>>>>> software drivers are bad news. So bad actually that I would rather 
>>>>> say that the H4 is not usable at all "as laptop sound card". I 
>>>>> tested it for hours and although I used the largest available 
>>>>> buffer I could not get a clean sound from it. Not on Mac with OS X 
>>>>> and not in Windows XP with the dedicated software drivers. I'm 
>>>>> glad I don't have to review it in a magazine because the marketing 
>>>>> of it is partly misleading.
>>>>>
>>>>> But the H4 is great for other purposes - just forget about that 
>>>>> audio interface dimension - like for example the stereo recording 
>>>>> and the effects. Good guitar sounds in there  (Some people might 
>>>>> want to use it as a four track porta studio as well). H4 is also 
>>>>> awesome as a USB2 based SD card reader. And it rocks as a portable 
>>>>> field recorder. I like it so much that I decided to buy one as a 
>>>>> replacement for my old portable DAT recorder.
>>>>>
>>>>> And I did actually find a place for it in my laptop looping rig - 
>>>>> as a mic pre amp, merge box and input reverb unit :-)  I feed the 
>>>>> H4 with one acoustic flute mic and one line level EWI synth 
>>>>> clarinet. Then I put a simple stereo cable from the H4 into the 
>>>>> PCMCIA sound card Echo Indigo i/o on my lappy. That's a minimal 
>>>>> set-up that sounds decently ok. Two instantly connected 
>>>>> instruments of which one is electric and can be used for heavily 
>>>>> distorted sounds that would not be possible with a microphone.
>>>>>
>>>>> Greetings from Sweden
>>>>>
>>>>> Per Boysen
>>>>> www.boysen.se (Swedish)
>>>>> www.looproom.com (international)
>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast)
>>>>> http://www.myspace.com/looproom
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