In this video, I demonstrate how to use the Zoom H4n handheld recorder as an USB audio interface on a Windows 7 64-bit system. I will show you how I use it with Camtasia, Audacity, Sound Forge and Sony Vegas.
I received many questions about using the Zoom H4n as an audio interface on 64-bit machine. It did not worked on the past but since the release of the latest driver it works fine.
As you will see in the video, it is not simply a matter of pluging in the recorder. You need to make sure that there are a couple of settings are set properly. On my system (an HP laptop) I did not have to latency, I only set the right bit rate (I use 48KHz). Your system might be different and you might have to play with the settings.
You will see the setup I’m using. This video was recorded with my video camera because I can’t record my screen and use the H4n as my microphone at the same time as I’m showing you how to connect it! Also, If I’m recording with Camtasia and the H4n and I record at the same time with Audacity, when I try to playback what I just recorded in Audacity, it just crashes Audacity
The easiest software to use configure with the Zoom H4n is the Camtasia by TechSmith. Is simply a matter of selecting the Zoom H4n as the input device. For Audacity, you can setup the Zoom H4n recorder only for recording and leave the default Windows playback device. For Sound Forge, you have no choice. If you select the Zoom H4n as the audio device, it will be for input and output. With Sony Vegas (I’m actually using Vegas Movie Studio HD), it’s the same as with Sound Forge. I also use Cubase and it also works (I have forgotten to show the settings for Cubase in the video but it is similar to the other programs).
If you are getting tired that every time you load a page you get the more than annoying Security Warning dialog box while using Internet Explorer 8, well you’re in luck ’cause you can get rid of it by changing just one setting.
Step 1 - you go to Tools than click on Internet Options
Step 2 – Select the Security tab and click on Custom level…
Step 3 – Scroll down until you find the group Miscellaneous
Step 4 – Under Display mixed content, select Enable then click OK than OK again on the next screen
The doors are now closed but you can get on the priority waiting list.FusionHQ is simply the best application you can use to manage your online business. You can create mini sites, membership and micro continuity sites with drip feed technology, you can create complex sales funnels or simple squeeze pages. You canmanage your affiliates including paying them, manage your payment options, your products, your mailing list using the included auto responder, create and manage all the tools your affiliate will need to sell your products and make you money.
Drag and Drop technology
Manage your affiliates
Manage your payment options
Manage your products
Included autoresponder
Create sales funnels
Membership & micro-continuity sites
Drip feed technology
Domain registration & cloud hosting
FusionHQ does all this without typing a single line of code. All you have to do is use the Drag and Drop technology of FusionHQ. FusionHQ offers cloud hosting for your sites and product pages or you can use your own hosting. You have the choice of using the FusionHQ auto responder or your own Aweber, GetResponse or 1ShoppingCart account. You can even subscribe your visitor directly to a GoToMeeting webinar that you have planned. Create payment plan usingPayPal, ClickBank, 1ShoppingCart, 2Checkout or Authorize.Net. From the Domain & Hosting tab of FusionHQ, you can purchase your domain name, setup the hosting with FusionHQ cloud hosting and create email accounts for your newly created domain. FusionHQ is truly a one stop solution for anyone wanting to manage their complete online business from site and sales funnels creation to affiliates management, products selling and management and lists management. FusionHQ is re-opening it’s door on November 2. The doors are now closed but you can get on the priority waiting list.
http://www.philb.co/FusionHQ
FusionHQ is REOPENING its door on November 2.
The number of available license will be limited so hurry and get on the priority waiting list.
FusionHQ is simply the best application you can use to manage your online business. You can create mini sites, membership and micro continuity sites with drip feed technology, you can create complex sales funnels or simple squeeze pages.
You can manage your affiliate including paying them, manage your payment options, your products, your mailing list using the included auto responder, create and manage all the tools your affiliate will need to sell your products and make you money.
FusionHQ does all this without typing a single line of code. All you have to do is use the Drag and Drop technology of FusionHQ.
FusionHQ offers cloud hosting for your sites and product pages or you can use your own hosting. You have the choice of using the FusionHQ auto responder or your own Aweber, GetResponse or 1ShoppingCart account. You can even subscribe your visitor directly to a GoToMeeting webinar that you have planned.
Create payment plan using PayPal, ClickBank, 1ShoppingCart, 2Checkout or Authorize.Net.
From the Domain & Hosting tab of FusionHQ, you can purchase your domain name, setup the hosting with FusionHQ cloud hosting and create email accounts for your newly created domain.
FusionHQ is truly a one stop solution for anyone wanting to manage their complete online business from site and sales funnels creation to affiliates management, products management and lists management.
FusionHQ is REOPENING it’s door on November 2.
The number of available license will be limited so hurry and get on the priority waiting list.
Hot To Manually Reset Your WordPress Theme From The Database Using phpMyAdmin
**Before you do any modifications on your database/WordPress install, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN UP-TO-DATE BACKUP of both your database and your site.
If you don’t know how to do this then stop reading NOW and find someone than can do it for you.Don’t contact me because you have broken your WordPress!You use the content of this post at your own risk.
Log into your phpMyAdmin interface, make sure you choose the database of your WordPress install and just run these 3 Update Queries one by one.
**You have do know the prefix that was used during the WordPress install. To find it, in phpMyAdmin, look at the start of each table name just before the underscore “_”. The default WorPress prefix is wp_ as in the following SQL queries. If there is another prefix, simply replace the wp_ by your prefix. So if your tables prefixes are wp4Fe_, you would have UPDATE wp4Fe_options …..
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = "default" WHERE option_name = "template"
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = "default" WHERE option_name = "stylesheet"
UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = "default" WHERE option_name = "current_theme"
If the queries have run successfully, your WordPress theme should be back to the default theme. If you did something wrong and your blog is not working anymore you can just restore the database with the backup you just did before starting the modifications. You did do a backup, Right?
I’m not giving more explanation because if you don’t know what to do from just this than you should not do it at all!
If you think I’m not being fare to you and you want more details, go to this blog (AT YOUR OWN RISK), it’s full of screen captures and a longer explanation.
First, I have to tell you that this is a long review. I was tired of reading the same small crappy reviews so I decided to make a full blown review of the Zoom H4n Digital Recorder.
I bought my Zoom H4n digital recorder a couple of months ago. I choose the Zoom H4n digital recorder because I wanted a multitrack, compact but above all, I wanted the best sound quality for about $300.
[qrcode codeID=1]So far, I have used it in a multiple of situation and the quality of the recording I get is simply amazing. I have recorded violin, cello (me trying to play!) and my son playing his 12 strings guitar. I also recorded an English class school project my son had. The different group of student had to make a song with a text they composed. I use my H4n to record each group and I turned the live recording into a CD for them to have. I can tell you that the reaction I got was overwhelming. They could not believe the quality of the sound on the CD.
A friend of mine asked me to record (with video) a live strings concert in a small church. Her daughter was playing the cello and they wanted a souvenir. This orchestra had won multiple awards so the pressure was on to get a good recording. I use a little tripod on the Zoom and a big video tripod for the camera. I connected the output of the H4n to the audio input of my video camera.
I placed the audio recorder in front of the camera on the railing. I was installed at the rear of the church in the top part where the organ was. After the concert, I gave my friend a quick listen to the audio I had just captured. They could not believe the richness of the sound. They could hear the base coming from the 2 double bass and the 6 cellos. For me it was a big relieve because I had never used my Zoom H4N for such a big event.
OK, enough with the bla, bla, bla! Let’s get down to the fact.
The Zoom H4n is the only unit for this price range in the multitrack recorders market. With it’s four channel recording capability, the Zoom H4n can be used as a multitrack recorder allowing you to use the built-in mics plus external mics, a guitar and a keyboard or the output of your mixing board – record the ambiance of the crowd plus pristine sound from the mixing board.
Being able to record using 4 mics will help you achieve great recording. The H4n is the only handheld recorder allowing recording on 4 channels at the same time using the on board microphones and your own external microphones. You can control the “Blend” of the 2 sets of mics with the built-in mixer.
Built-in Stereo Condenser Microphones
The built-in high-quality condenser stereo microphones are arrange in a true X/Y configuration with a selectable coverage of either 90° or 120°. With a uniform frequency response the H4n will give you excellent stereo recording with natural depth and accurate imaging.
Maybe they are not studio mics, but those built-in microphones are of excellent quality and deliver exceptional sound for the size and price. Voices and instruments are clear and precise. As with all condenser microphones, they are very sensitive and will capture the weakest sound… Like your dishwasher running upstairs while you’re recording a superb cello concerto in the basement!
On board Reference Speaker
One feature you will find very useful on many occasion is the built-in reference speaker. Sure it’s mono and you won’t throw a party with the level of sound, also it vibrates on very loud passages still it is useful. Ideal for checking your recording or to listen to a track without the need of headphones it is very good for field recording.
WAV and MP3 Recording
You can record in MP3 from 48 to 320kbps and in VBR (Variable Bit Rate). In WAV format you have the choice of 44.1/48/96kHz 16/24bit with BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) compatible track marker and time stamp.
USB Audio Interface & USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Port.
The Zoom H4n can be used as a USB audio interface. Use your favorite audio program, it comes with Cubase LE 4 so you can record directly in your computer.
**You will read lots of reviews about the Zoom H4n not working properly as a USB audio interface on Windows 7 64-bit machine. That was the case when I bought mine but now, Zoom as release new drivers for 64-bit PC and it now works perfectly.
Operate on AC adapter, 2X AA batteries or USB power
There is an included AC adapter with the Zoom H4n. It’s very small and will operate from 100V to 240V so it can be used it most countries. If you have good USB ports on your computer, you will be able to run the H4n on USB power.
The surprising point for me is the longer than expected run time on batteries. I was skeptical about the 6 hours announced run time so I did my own test. I took 2 AA Ni-MH 2500mAh rechargeable batteries, and make sure they where fully charged. I recorded and played some tracks for almost 7.5 hours (OK, 7:28 Hours)!
The recording was done at 96/24 using the built-in mics with no effects or compressor/limiter. I let the H4n run for about 1 hour then erased the just recorded track and started over until the “Low Batteries!” started flashing on the screen. I did not test the recording time using the Stamina mode. Note that the batteries I used are not new (about a year old). I will test again with brand new AA Ni-MH 2700mAh stronger batteries. I should get longer running time. I will also test the Stamina mode with the new batteries.
Zoom Digital Recorders
There a 3 models offered by Zoom, the H2, H4 (discontinued) and H4n. The Zoom H2 is the least expensive of the 3. It can’t be used as a multitrack recorder. It has 4 on board mics. 2 in front with a 90° coverage and 2 in back with a 120° coverage. You can use the 4 together as “surround” or either the front or the rear mics.
The Zoom H2 has less features, is less robust and has a really small screen but at half the price of the H4n it is still an excellent recorder (the H4n sound much better).
The Zoom H4 is the predecessor of the new H4n. It is bulkier and the screen is still too small. It has no mounting joint for a tripod and does not have true x/y mics (does have kind of X/Y mics). You can still get the Zoom H4 but for the same price just get the much improved Zoom H4n!
*NEW* As of firmware version 1.70 (now at 1.72), recording level of INPUT1 and 2 can be set individually -this is so cool
*NEW* MEMORY REC function that records to internal memory without SD card -you get 35 sec. of .mp3 @ 96Kbps recording that you can later backup to a memory card
Built-in X/Y stereo condenser microphones, record at either 90° or 120° stereo patterns
Variable speed playback (50 to 150%) makes it easier to practice those fast passages
Large 1.9 inch back light LCD screen for easy reading
Can be used as an USB audio interface (see my how to video)
High speed USB 2.0 port
Support for up to 32GB SDHC memory card
Built-in reference speaker so you can listen to your recording without headphone
Tripod mount (you can use a mini or regular photo or video tripod)
Rubberized chassis
External stereo microphone input with plug-in power (1/8” stereo jacks)
Mid-side matrix decoder enables you to use external microphones in mid-side stereo configuration
BWF (broadcast wave format) compatible track marker, time stamp
Built-in metronome and digital tuner
Up to 2 second pre-record feature (1 sec. In 96kHz or 4 channels mode).
Auto-record feature (you can adjust the start/stop levels plus the stop time in seconds)
Low-cut Filter adjusted separately on mics and inputs (off, 80, 90, 115, 133, 150, 168, 185, 203, 220 and 237 Hz)
Multiple setup of compressor and limiter adjusted separately on mics and inputs
Chose from 50 effects and amp models (available for recording)
Work on 2 AA batteries for up to 6 hours recording (up to 11 hours of recording in Stamina mode) or with the included AC adapter(good for 120/240V)
Included in the box: Cubase LE 4, 1GB SD card, wind-screen, mic clip adapter, AC adapter, USB cable and plastic protective case
An excellent RC4 remote control is optional. You will want to get this one, it makes for quieter recording plus it serves as view meters while recording – useful when the recorder LCD display is out of view and you want to check for clipping (the LED on the left of each input goes from green to orange to red when clipping is present)
Zoom H4n Pros and Cons
Like:
small size
4 channels simultaneous recording
lots of effects
Exceptional sound from both built-in mics and input.
can not use the effects on playback (but honestly, I don’t use the built-in effect much because I prefer to add them on my laptop after the recording is done)
MTR mode works only with 44.1kHz/16bit audio (is it really that bad?)
the tripod mount is not deep enough for my Manfrotto tripod so I have to use a plastic spacer between the H4n and the tripod shoe. Note that a mini tripod will fit just OK.
the printed manual (YES, it comes with an actual printed manual!) could have been better translated. It is sometime difficult to understand what is explained. The downloadable PDF manual from the Zoom site is a bit better translation and is much easier to understand.
Would I recommend the Zoom H4n? The answer is a big YES, with no hesitation!
The main purpose of the H4n is to record in 2 or 4 tracks and it does it very well. All the other features are bonuses. I don’t really use all the effects for my recordings. To me, there like all the effects and filter on a digital camera. It’s much easier and practical to work on your images or audio files on your computer.
Having recorded the following; cello, violin, 12 & 6 strings & electric guitar, flute, accordions, drum, piano and vocal, I can tell you that the sound quality is exceptional on all the instruments and voices (using the built-in mics).
One of my son’s English teacher (remember from the top of this post, she is the teacher with the song writing project) was so impress with the sound that she bought one the next week!
If you have installed Kaspersky 2010 and you find that your Windows Explorer is running super slow, the cause is Kaspersky and you will have to do a repair.
Go the Start, click on All Programs, scroll to find your Kaspersky program, click on it and then click on “Modify, Repair or Remove”. Once it is started, click on the middle icon title “Repair”.
Once this is complete (it could take some time to complete), reboot your PC and the speed problem should be gone.
L2TP VPN Issues – Intermittent errors resolved by reboot
I start having this error soon after installing a secure VPN software (Anonymizer Universal). Working from the cottage using an Wi-Fi access points as my internet connection, I got this error a lot and it was driving me crazy.
I noticed that it was happening when the connection was not stable. By that, I mean that I had some latency issues between my antenna and the rest of the network. You can determine the latency “quality” by doing a ping. The ping test will measure the time it takes for a fix quantity of data (a packet) to travel from your PC to the chosen location and back. To find the latency problem I have used the ping test done from PingTest.net. I also used a little software made by IP_Switch named WS_Ping ProPack. While testing, I would get pings as high as 2 seconds! Just to compare, using my cable connection, I get pings of around 10 to 20 ms (milliseconds). The ping time was fluctuating a lot so the VPN connection was dropping a lot, to the point where I would need to reboot my laptop every 5 minutes.
If the VPN tries to “reconnect” to often, you will get an error from Windows as it will be unable to reestablish the VPN connection.
The full error I would get was: “Hardware failure in port or attached device”.
You can fix this by reboot but this reboot solution is more annoying than a real fix.
Since rebooting my laptop every 5 minutes was not an option, I search the web for a better solution to this problem.
I’m glad to tell you that I have found a solution for the error 692. It is a HotFix from Microsoft and it works! After having installed the HotFix, the 692 error is a thing of the past. Sure, I still get deconnected once in a while but now I can simply restart my VPN and it works.
I’ve been using Photoshop CS5 for almost a month now and this morning, when I tried to launch it, I got Error 16 and those 2 error messages.
I clicked OK and got this message???
What is this crap? It worked yesterday!!!!
I did not call or communicate with the technical support at Adobe because from my previous experience, it’s a total waist of time. You can try but you will probably get a generic answer that does not work (from my previous experiences).
It is faster to search on Google and find the solution by yourself.
This is what I did to fix this problem:
Started Windows Explorer
Navigated to C:Program Files (x86)Common FilesAdobe
Created the SLStore folder that was missing
Now, Photoshop CS5 is starting properly! It is strange that the SLStore folder was missing because I had been using Photoshop CS5 for some time now and it was working perfectly! Must have happened in one of the updates.
The important thing is that I can now use it without any error message.
If this solution does not work for you, You can check those links:
Working on your laptop using free Wi-Fi Hotspots from the local coffee shop?
You just love your laptop! You take it with you everywhere you go. Now that you can have a Wi-Fi connection almost anywhere, there is no need to stay secluded in your house working those long hours alone… right?
You tough that having a firewall and an anti-virus software installed on your laptop meant that you where safe surfing at those WiFi access points (or hotspots). Boy are you wrong!
It is in fact not so hard for someone with the right knowledge and some free open source software to see what you are doing (and everybody else using the same connection) on the web while surfing using your wireless connection.
They can capture your login information from Facebook, Gmail or your credit card number when you do an online transaction. Your laptop becomes a plain pen for hackers.
A hacker could be sitting right next to you at your local coffee shop. He could be “sniffing” the Wi Fi network and stealing people information.
The easiest way to protect yourself is by using a secure VPN. It will encrypt your connection thus making it unreadable to other. Maybe your employer has a VPN setup on there server, if so, use it. You can also find some good online service that will provide 128 or 256-bit encryption. Some of them are complicated and not so easy to setup if you’re not a computer geek!
The easiest on you could install and use is a software called Anonymizer Universal. It is a simple software that you install on your Windows, Mac OS or iPop/iPhone/iPad. It will encrypt all of your internet traffic. From your email software, your weather or stocks reader on your desktop to your browser. The only thing you have to setup is the install of the software and your user name and password. That’s it! It will even rotate your IP address every 24 hours.
There are some other option like Identity Cloaker. This one is more versatile but at the same time, a little more complicated to use (actually, not much). Identity Cloaker is at the time of writing, only for Windows machine!
It will also only protect your browser traffic so if you are using an email software like Outlook, it will not encrypt your email data. At this time, there are 13 servers with 142 IPs in 8 countries in the Identity Cloaker network! You can connect to any one of them and even have Identity Cloaker rotate between all the server at any given time interval!
Using those 2 service will assure you a safe and secure surfing experience.
I have chosen to write about Anonymizer and Identity Cloaker because they are the software I personally use on my laptop. There support service are excellent and there software top quality.
If you do any work on the road, you really need to protect yourself and those 2 software are your safest choice.
Zoom H4n USB Audio Interface
