Congratulations on purchasing the Zoom H5 Handy Recorder! An sound recorder is your first step to capturing meliorate audio and markedly improved productions. At present to acquire how it works, nosotros present a Zoom H5 tutorial that is faster to read than that Zoom education booklet threatens.

So light a match under that waste of paper (read: please recycle) and allow's get started, shall nosotros?

Using the included capsule or an external mic

The get-go matter yous may accept noticed virtually your shiny new Zoom H5 is the silver-stun-baton-looking-device sticking out of the top.  Surely by now yous've been made aware that this is not Batman's prison anarchism gear, but in fact an Ten/Y microphone for capturing stereo sound.

While yous may end upwards generally using the Zoom H5 in conjunction with a separate shotgun or lav mic, this capsule mic will let you go recording correct out of the box.

The 10/Y positioning is optimal for capturing sound over a wide expanse while still focusing on sound from the centre. Its pickup design isn't quite as tight as a shotgun mic, just it'south also not an omnidirectional (or lavalier) mic. Information technology'd be off-white to phone call the capsule mic a jack-of-all-trades merely master of none. The closer y'all're able to go the capsule mic to your source, the better the sound, just this can exist a limitation if you need to keep the recorder out of the shot.

The X/Y capsule mic is platonic for recording musical instruments, outdoor ambience, and is generally an all-around improvement over internal camera microphones. Because of the X/Y mic's wide spread, I haven't been able to capture good recordings indoors, specially in open rooms with reverb. The recordings are often echoey and heavy on environmental noise like air workout, reckoner fans, and running refrigerators.

If you lot need a microphone that can reject ambient noise you might consider using an external shotgun mic or one of Zoom'southward interchangeable shotgun mic capsules.

Here is an tutorial overview of Zoom's interchangeable capsule system:

Signal bondage for different setups

Next upwardly in our Zoom H5 tutorial, we'll cover signal chains, or the society in which to connect wireless systems, soundboards, or other external microphones.

If it helps to keep information technology directly, retrieve virtually the signal chain as a series of pipes taking water from a reservoir. The microphone collects water and pumps it through a cable into the H5 where it is filtered into the SD bill of fare and condom to beverage.

If you're connecting a camera, the water doesn't stop at the H5 but is pumped further through the Line Out, through some other cable where it is filtered into the photographic camera's SD carte du jour.

If you lot're using a wireless system, the microphone collects water and pumps it through a cable into the transmitter where the droplets are evaporated into the air and invisibly transported to the receiver, where the water is re-condensed and pumped into the H5 for filtering.

There are three inputs on the Zoom H5:

  • Input 1 and two are XLR/TRS inputs (located at the lesser of the H5)
  • Line In or L/R is a iii.v mm input (located on the right side of the X/Y microphone capsule)

Yous can use any one or all three of these inputs at any given time dependent on your connecting microphone'south output cable.

Rundown of controls

No Zoom H5 tutorial would exist complete without a description of it's controls. Next, let'due south take a expect at the H5's buttons, switches, and flashing lights.

Zoom H5 controls tutorial: Left Side

zoom h5 left side

  • Line out jack
    • Use this 3.v mm output to send audio from the recorder to a camera or other device. Personally, I don't use the Line Out because I typically exit my recorder running separate from my camera. Only if you want to save yourself the step of syncing the recorder and audio in post, yous always have that selection.
  • Phone jack
    • Monitor your audio here. Don't forget to bring headphones to your shoot!
  • Volume buttons
    • Use these to adapt volume of the Line Out signal and the built-in playback speaker (on the back of the H5)
  • USB port
    • This is useful for supplying plug-in power and saving some batteries on long recording sessions. The port can as well be used to plug into the estimator, effectively turning the H5 into an SD carte du jour reader or (my personal favorite) an audio interface. If you demand to record a voice over or narration, Adobe Premiere and other editing software volition recognize the Zoom H5 every bit an audio interface and record direct into an open project.
  • Power/hold switch
    • The "hold to power" feature makes certain you don't accidentally switch off the recorder in the middle of a recording.

Zoom H5 controls tutorial: Right Side

zoom h5 right side

  • MIC/LINE input jack
    • Located on the correct hand side of the X/Y mic capsule, this input receives 3.5 mm microphone or receiver outputs.
  • Remote jack
    • The remote is sold separately. To exist honest, I'chiliad not actually sure I could always trust a remote when it comes to pressing tape on someone's hymeneals vows.
  • Curl button
    • Pushing upwardly or downwardly will switch between menu items while pushing down will confirm your option.
  • Menu button
    • This opens the bill of fare if you tin believe information technology.
  • SD carte slot
    • The H5 does not read 64 GB and bigger SD cards, merely a 32 GB will give you enough of breathing room. Unless you are recording a real life Leslie Knope filibuster, an empty 32 GB SD card will always be overkill with a recording time somewhere betwixt 50 and 100 hours depending on file format and how many inputs you are using.
    • The H5 will take a hot 2nd to format a blank SD carte du jour with its filing system. The emptier the card, the quicker the formatting. An empty bill of fare volition but accept a couple of seconds just a fuller card could take 5 minutes or longer to format. This is important because, while the H5 formats the card, you won't be able to use the recorder. If y'all're in a compression and the formatting is taking too long, at that place is no way to abolish except for yanking the batteries from the back. Seriously, don't put an SD carte du jour with 28 GB of information into the H5 with two minutes to showtime.

Zoom H5 controls tutorial: Forepart Side

zoom h5 front

  • Interchangeable X/Y mic capsule
    • In case y'all missed it, the H5 supports a range of other attachments including a mono shotgun mic sheathing, a stereo shotgun mic capsule, a mid-side mic capsule, and a capsule that supports two additional XLR/TRS inputs. If you need more 3 inputs, the EXH-6 capsule is a valuable purchase.
  • Ten/Y mic input volume 50/R
    • The ideal book proceeds will vary between devices and contexts. But cheque the display to make sure the loudest sounds aren't peaking. Peaking or clipping will cause a distorted buzzing noise. Typically, I turn the dial until the boilerplate levels are reaching 12 dB which leaves room for any screaming, shouting, or clapping.
  • Input volume i / Input volume two
    • See higher up.
  • Track buttons & indicators
    • A carmine low-cal turns on when the runway is selected. If the calorie-free is off that track isn't getting a bespeak and won't be included in your recording.
  • Stop, play/pause, back, forrard, and REC push button
    • Above the record button is a small cerise light that indicates the H5 is recording. Pressing the record button again volition stop the recording. The stop push will as well stop the recording. The play/interruption, dorsum, and forward buttons are used for playback.

Zoom H5 controls tutorial: Back Side

zoom h5 back

  • Speaker
    • During playback, the built-in speaker is decent enough to make sure you are getting a signal, only I would not rely on its quality for picking up whatsoever unwanted noise. Like I said, bring your headphones. You don't want to get to post-production and realize you in that location was some nasty buzz or WiFi interference that you couldn't hear from the speaker.
  • Battery cover
    • There is a small satin tab in the battery compartment that is helpful for carefully removing batteries that need to be replaced. The last thing you want to do in the middle of a shoot is accidentally break i of the metallic springs that brand contact with the negative end of the battery. I take done this…

Zoom H5 controls tutorial: Bottom

  • Input one and ii
    • Don't forget that in addition to accepting XLR cables, the inputs too receive  ¼" TRS cables.

Settings to employ & why

Finally, we'll get over how to read the home display and some of the features you might find useful in the menu.

Home Display

If you are using an SD carte, a symbol in the top left that reads "SD" volition appear. Side by side to that symbol is a number.

  • Before you lot hit tape, the number will read the recording time remaining on the SD card.
  • When y'all hit record, the number will read how long your current recording has lasted.

In the next row downwardly, the display reads the folder into which the recordings are being stored. To the correct of the folder is the name of the current file (ex: ZOOM0001)

Below the file name is the level readouts for the L/R, 1, and ii inputs. The -48, -32, -18, -12, -6, and 0 represent the level in decibels (dB).

The first box in the lesser row tells y'all the file type the recordings are existence created every bit. The next box tells you which, if either, of Input 1 and 2 are providing phantom ability (48V). In brusque, phantom power is a boost of voltage required to ability some microphones.

Carte Display

  • "Project" gives y'all admission to play dorsum the files that have been recorded.
  • "FOLDER" allows you to select i of x folders to store your recordings. This can be helpful if you desire to organize files from unlike projects.
  • "IN/OUT" opens upwardly to give you access to the H5'due south built-in effects and phantom ability.
  • "LO Cut" is short for depression cut (likewise known as high-pass) and is a filter that is helpful for cutting out low frequencies from ambient noise. If you are picking up unwanted low rumbling from your HVAC arrangement, using a depression cut filter tin be an effective approach.
  • "COMP/LIMITER" or compression is a process where loud sounds are reduced and quiet sounds are amplified. If you're in an unpredictable recording environment where a sudden burst of noise might crusade clipping (distorted sound), turning on compression tin aid.
  • "REC" opens options to change the file format and other safety features like auto-record or pre-tape.
  • "REC FORMAT" is divided between 44.i kHz and 48 kHz. Surprise, the human being ear can't detect a deviation between the ii so if you want to avoid a deadening science lesson and pretend you're getting the best quality just choose 48 kHz. The 2d division is chip depth, 16-bit or 24-scrap. The easiest way to understand this is past thinking about 8-bit games versus xvi-bit games. The Super Nintendo sixteen-bit system was able to process more colors than its 8-flake predecessor. Fleck depth for audio is similar. 24-flake gives your audio more "colour". Of grade the trade off is larger file sizes. And whether or not humans can actually hear the departure between the 2 is again up for debate. So I'll exit information technology upward to you. But if space isn't an upshot, you might also bring more than colors to the audio rainbow.

The remaining menu items are relatively self-explanatory similar "SYSTEM" which allows you to change the date/time and "SD CARD" which allows you lot to format the menu.

But hopefully you've learned everything you need to get your Zoom H5 up and running!

If you lot need more info… well then I laugh every bit I point yous to the charred remains of your Zoom didactics booklet in the ashtray. Just kidding. Please recycle.