User guide

Headphones
ALWAYS WEAR HEADPHONES WHILE RECORDING!
Headphones allow you to hear what is being recorded while it is
recording. What you’re recording with the zoom isn’t necessarily
the same as what you would hear without headphones on.
Headphones also give you an idea about the level of background
noise. For example if a car passes behind you the zoom might pick
this up and make the speech you’re recording inaudible. If you’ve
got headphones on you’ll hear this disturbance and you can correct
it in the field by asking your interviewee to repeat their answer.
Once you get back to the station there is no way to fix the audio so
you need to get it right when you record.
You can plug headphones into the left side panel (see right). You
can adjust the volume with the +/- control. This will just adjust the
volume of what you hear, not the recording level.
Recording
Press the [REC] button once to put the zoom into recording standby
mode. The word REC will appear on the screen with a pause symbol
next to it. You are not recording anything yet. This will allow you to
adjust the levels and assess background noise. The input level will be
shown by the VU meter on the screen and you’ll be able to hear the
input through your headphones. If you want to exit from this mode
press the [PLAY] button underneath the [REC] button.
You can adjust the recording level by pressing the
<< and >> buttons either side of the [REC] button.
When you press these buttons the current recording
level will show up on the screen and increase or
decrease as you adjust it. Set the level as high as
possible but so that the VU meter does not exceed 0 (dB) during the
loudest parts. The setting range is 0 – 127.
You can also adjust the recording by altering the mic gain. This
switch changes the mic sensitivity. Set the gain to high (H) if
the sound source is far away, low (L) if it is very close and
medium (M) if it is in-between. Experiment with the gain and
recording level to find the best combination for your recording.
To start recording press the [REC] button once more. The pause
symbol will change to a round rec symbol and the time counter will
start ticking down. If you see this you’ll know you’re recording.