Poor audio quality using an external shotgun mic with zoom N1h

  • Thread starter Thread starter Oliveras
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Oliveras

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Hello,
I have been recording audio directly to my Sony A7 IV camera, but I have decided to buy a Zoom N1h to record only audio and with better quality.
To my surprise; the audio I get with an NTG4+ Rode mic conected to my N1h is really poor and low, it is unusable.
When I connect the external mic to the camera, with the same settings and cable, audio looks great. What could be the problem? anyone experienced any similar problems?

Audio with the internal mic in the N1h is okay and loud. I am recording at .wav best quality and not using the LoCut, Limiter and neither auto levels.
you will find a comparison of the same audio both recorded into the Sony and into the N1h

Thank you!
 
Are you using the rechargeable battery or supplying 48v phantom power with the Zoom? I’d be sure to try the latter, and if that doesn’t work, make sure the internal battery is fully charged and turn off Zoom’s 48v.
 
The recording to the zoom I would prefer in all cases. The Sony had worse s/n and not so good - but of course, louder.
The key feature sadly, is that the recording sounds like a big open space with parallel surfaces and the audio you were recording sounds like a band limited recording, not a real person. Your voice sounded normal, the French sounded thin and weedy on both recorders.
The Rode isn't a bad shotgun, but the recording is a great example of why a shotgun in a live room is always awful. Not the mic, just the application. too much distance or poor aiming, or both.

Repeat your test with the mic 300-400mm away from your mouth, aimed directly at your lips. I bet that the results will be much better.
 
keith.rogers said:
Are you using the rechargeable battery or supplying 48v phantom power with the Zoom? I’d be sure to try the latter, and if that doesn’t work, make sure the internal battery is fully charged and turn off Zoom’s 48v.
Click to expand...
Thanks Keith. I have checked that. The NTG4+ has internal rechargeable battery and it is fully charged. The N1h doesn't have preamp to phantom power the mic, as far as I have seen on the internet.
The green light on my Rode stays green as it is self powered.
I believe that the N1h is a cheap recorder and it just doesn't make it.
 
rob aylestone said:
The recording to the zoom I would prefer in all cases. The Sony had worse s/n and not so good - but of course, louder.
The key feature sadly, is that the recording sounds like a big open space with parallel surfaces and the audio you were recording sounds like a band limited recording, not a real person. Your voice sounded normal, the French sounded thin and weedy on both recorders.
The Rode isn't a bad shotgun, but the recording is a great example of why a shotgun in a live room is always awful. Not the mic, just the application. too much distance or poor aiming, or both.

Repeat your test with the mic 300-400mm away from your mouth, aimed directly at your lips. I bet that the results will be much better.
Click to expand...
Well this was a test of me talking at 30-40 cm and the french is from my laptop speakers.
I have tried to capture some ambient noise of birds and the ring bell of a church and i could not use it as it had too much self noise and low sound. If i tried to increase the volume in post, the self noise was way too much.
I guess I will need to invest in a new recorder...
 
I'm going to assume that you are using a Zoom H1n, not a N1h (I don't see that as a real model).

You will need to use the internal battery in the Rode. The Zoom only supplies Plug-In Power, which is typically around 5 V. The H1n doesn't supply 48v as it doesn't have an XLR input. The H1 XLR would be a better choice if you want to use XLR inputs.

If you have auto-level set to OFF, then the volume knob by the internal mics should determine your level for the Rode as well. Is that turned all the way up? One thing I would try is to turn the Auto-Level ON and see if the volume comes up. Also, make sure that you don't have the -10dB pad set, as the sensitivities of the camera and Zoom might be different.
 
How are you connecting the mic to the recorder? The three pins of an XLR output don't correlate to the three pins of a stereo minijack.
 
Both the camera and H1n have stereo mini jacks, so I would think they would be configured the same, but I can't find any supporting info. With 39dB of gain, it should be enough for the Rode which is listed at -32dB sensitivity.

MIC/LINE IN Input connector: stereo mini jack
−∞ dB – +39 dB input gain
2 kΩ or higher input impedance
plug-in power (2.5 V) supported

Something sounds amiss, as I have seen videos of people using external mics with the H1n.
 
I think Rich hit the spot. I suspect he is right and it is a power issue.
 
TRS minijacks can vary. In any case, a simple 1:1 XLR to TRS mini plug cable is likely to have issues.
 
Thank you all for your answers. I am using an XLR to a TRS mini jack. I have tested with another cable and still the same problem. I have tested with a lavalier mic and also the sound is very low.
However, last night I have entered the menu and I have changed the settings for Alkaline to NiMh batteries (which are the ones that I use) and i am not 100% sure, but it seems that there is an improvement. I will continue testing.
I wouldn't think that that would be the reason, as far as I know, this setting it is only used for the battery level icon display on the screen.
 
You can't just connect a balanced XLR's three pins to a 1/8" TRS socket's three contacts.
 
Wow. H1n - I was off by a mile, thinking it was some model I'd not heard of with a standard XLR input. Well, the H1n gain is quite low, relatively speaking, though as pointed out, it should be enough, though you may have to crank it up to full on. That input is really designed for the kind of mic that comes only with a 3.5mm plug, intended largely for use plugged into a camera or voice recorder. The Zoom is an inexpensive recorder not designed for what OP is trying to do, though I did use an external battery powered mic with my original H2 a couple times. If you want a portable recorder for use with the NTG4+, buy one with actual XLR inputs for microphones.

Also, as Rob notes, shotgun mics don't really work the way people think they do - I found mine mostly useless on "live" soundstages and sold it some time ago. In a well-treated space, any mic will work, though you might get a bit more distance, e.g., out of frame, with a shotgun. The shotgun's best use case is when there's just ambient sound off axis that can be suppressed with that design, maybe with some help of a "dead kitten," but noise from the space that originates on axis, especially behind the source, is not going to be suppressed at all.
 
Bouldersound just said you cannot connect an XLR output mic to a 3.5mm input. Not because of the connector, but because they do very different things! 3.5mm sockets can be wired for a stereo unbalanced mic - the commonest version, but other products use them for lav mics with audio on tip and 5v on the ring. Others have audio and 5v on the tip. It means they are never a dead cert. Sometimes the mismatch gives you a weird thin sound, other times nothing, if you then add the audio from a shotgun in reverberant space and its hell on legs.

I ordered a new hairy cover for one of mine from china, and waited and waited. It arrived, clearly opened at least three times presumably by customs from china to the uk. On the customs document it was described as containing a dead cat! Probably microphone wind shield would have been better?
 
The answer from Zoom customer service:
Studio Service Team (Sound Service)
Oct 18, 2024, 08:38 GMT+2

Hello,
You would need to check whether your Rhode microphone requires Plug In or Phantom Power to operate and whether this is switched on. If your Rhode microphone requires phantom power to operate, then it cannot be connected to the H1n e as the H1ne does not provide ph power.
best Regards

Sound Service Team
Click to expand...

So, connection cable can be the issue as well. Thank you all for helping out! I will be looking in upgrading my recorder.
 
Only slightly related, I just saw a vide review of Zoom’s new H1 XLR model. It doesn’t have built-in mics but does have two XLR combo jacks that are switchable for line or mic level, and they have phantom power. 32-bit float recording. Kind of the poor(-est) man’s field recorder. $150.

zoomcorp.com

H1 XLR 2 Track Handy Recorder | Buy Now

H1 XLR Handheld Recorder
zoomcorp.com zoomcorp.com
 
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