Slight Technical Difficulties Using the H1N with a PC

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kaparotsyni

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Let me preface this by saying that I am a complete novice in both this forum and recording in general, so please bare with me. :D
I recently obtained this zoom H1N and have been figuring out how to use it. The slight catch is that, with me being blind and it not having any sort of voice guidance, I sometimes have no idea what I am doing.
I have managed to get it to recorde files and play and navigate between them and I was exploring the possibility of using this recorder with my windows 10 computer, however I don't seem to be getting it to work. Of course, there is the possibility that something is faulty either on the PC itself or the recorder, but since I've been doing this mainly by plugging the device in and pressing the recorde button a few times hoping it will work, I am positive that the "usb device not recognised" message popping up every time on my computer is because of something I'm doing wrong.
Essentially, what I'm after is the exact order you press certain buttons on this recorder to get it to work properly in audio interface and card reader mode. I have consulted the respective sections of the manual as well as the zoom tutorials on YouTube, but I still seem to fail after following their instructions to the best of my ability.
I apologise for the slightly weird nature of this question and I would be thankful for any tips anyone might have regarding this.
 
To use the Zoom recorders as interfaces, you usually have to load the ASIO drivers, available on the Zoom website. WIth the driver loaded, you'll have to set up the Zoom as your input device. Once you plug in the device, it should pop up a menu to use it as either a card reader (to transfer files to the computer) or as an audio interface for recording directly to a DAW. The instructions are in the owners manual, about page 42-44. The USB screen should pop up when you plug the H1n into the computer.

The 4 buttons change function in the USB screen. The leftmost button, labeled Audio, is the EXIT button. Next is LoCut which is the up arrow, Limiter is the down arrow, and Autolevel is the Enter button. Audio interface is the top option, card reader is the bottom option of the two on the USB screen. Once you get it into Audio Interface mode, you probably don't need to hit the record button on the Zoom. You would hit record on the DAW.

I don't have an H1n, so I can't give you the exact steps, but that's what I get from reading the manual.

Give this a try and report back. If you don't get it to work I can try to do the same with my H4n. I THINK it works in a similar manner, although I always just recorded in the unit, pulled the SD card and read the files directly in the computer.
 
I wasn't aware of the secondary function of those four buttons, so thanks for that. As I've already said, I have read the sections on the manual pertaining to using the H1N with a computer, as well as whatever relevant tutorial I could find. I also have the driver that I found on the zoom website and installed on my pc. I tried reinnstalling it today just in case but that didn't appear to make a difference. I'm not sure if there is something else I need to do with the driver itself other than installing it.
I'm thinking that I'm messing up on a specific option and this is malfunctioning but of course I can't be sure. I've tried before and after pressing the power switch to turn it on in case it somehow pops up before it's turned on. The message I'm getting from windows explorer is "USB device not recognised, The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned and Windows does not recognise it.".
Anyway, thanks again for your help @2.
 
I found that you may need to have the Zoom ON before you plug into the computer. Go to the menu and set it up to Audio Interface, and say connect, THEN plug it into the computer. It may be something that has changed with Windows USB, since it apparently worked previously. Give this a try.

One other issue I was able to find is to make sure that the sample rates are the same. It seems that Zoom often sets up as a 48k interface. If your computer is set for 44K, it may not see the audio.

 
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Thanks again for your reply.
The only menu that I was able to find out about was the one you can access with the option button when you're not recording which contains options for prerecording and timers and so on. I'm not sure if that's the same place to set it up as an audio interface or whether you can even set up this specific model before plugging it in.
The sample rate for both my playback and recording devices is set to 48000 at the moment, but the zoom is still not able to be recognised.
 
I THINK I have cracked this one. I tried to get my H4n to record as an interface but nothing would come through. I tried both the Windows device drivers and ASIO. Then it struck me that the system sounds were playing through the H4n's speaker. That meant it was talking to the computer. I remembered that Windows now has a setting for Microphone Privacy. Since I had never used the internal mic on my laptop, it was turned off. You'll find the setting in the sound setup page, on the right side.

Make sure the first box listed as Microphone Access On This Device is ON. Then set Allow Apps to access Microphone to ON. There you can choose which apps can use the microphone. If you don't see your particular app listed, look further down to Allow Desktop Apps to access Microphone.

Once I enabled this, I set up Reaper with my Asio driver, set sample rate at 48k, enabled a track to record and VOILA! It started working.

Its a case of Microsoft saving us from all the perverts that want to hack into our computers and listen to our private conversations! The medicine is often worse than the disease.

Check those settings and let us know if it helps.
 
At this point, I'm thinking that something is probably busted in there, although it seems to work perfectly in all other contexts. I was able to find the microphone privacy settings you mentioned and it turns out to have been one of the settings I went through when I was first trying to figure out what was wrong too. Microphone access is on and most microsoft store and other desktop apps appear to have access to it. I tested audacity with my internal mic and it seems to be working.
What always seems to happen is that I get this usb device not recognised notification unfailingly every single time I try either card reader or audio interface mode. By this point I am sure how to get to both options so it's not likely due to something I'm doing wrong.:unsure:
 
Sorry, but I'm afraid that you might be right. Other than a bad USB cable, I can't think of anything else.
 
It sucks all the more because everything was brand new and the pc is not that old either. Might have to try my luck with another usb cable or something. Thanks for all your help though. You've been incredible. :)
 
Are you using a USB2 or USB3 port? Maybe make sure you are on a USB2 port if available. Some devices are a bit finicky about the port for some reason.
 
Just checked with the device manager. If my USB ports are the things that are labeled "USB Root Hub" they are both USB 3.0. That could possibly explain all of this? Maybe? Unfortunately I don't have a 2.0 port to test this with but at least I would have a better idea of what on earth is going on in there.
 
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