Zoom H8 User Manual

Page 1

Handy Recorder

Quick Guide

You must read the Usage and Safety Precautions before use.

The Operation Manual can be downloaded from the ZOOM website (www.zoom.jp/docs/h8).

This page has files in PDF and ePub formats. The PDF file format is suitable for printing on paper and reading on a computer. The ePub format can be read with electronic document readers and is designed for reading on smartphones and tablets.

© 2020 ZOOM CORPORATION Copying or reprinting this manual in part or in whole without permission is prohibited. Product names, registered trademarks and company names in this document are the property of their respective companies. All trademarks and registered trademarks in this document are for identification purposes only and are not intended to infringe on the copyrights of their respective owners. You might need this manual in the future. Always keep it in a place where you can access it easily. The contents of this manual and the specifications of the product could be changed without notice.

Page 2

Names of parts

 To p

Mic input volume L/R

Mic track button

PAD switch 1

Input volume 1/3/A

Hi-Z switch A

PAD switches 3/4

Touchscreen

XY mic

Track buttons/ indicators 1/2/3/4/A/B

PAD switch 2

Input volume 2/4/B

Hi-Z switch B

STOP/HOME button PLAY/PAUSE button REC button

 Bottom

Mic connector cap attachment points

 Left side  Right side  Front

Power/Hold switch

MIC/LINE IN jack (supports plug-in power)

REMOTE jack

USB (Micro-B) port

Tripod mounting threads

Battery compartment cover

Input 1

Input A

Input 3

SD card slot

Lock release buttons

Input 2

Input B

Input 4

LINE OUT jack

By connecting a ZOOM BTA-1 or other dedicated wireless adapter to the REMOTE jack and using the dedicated controller app, the operated from an iOS/iPadOS device.

PHONE OUT jack

Strap attachment holes

H8 can be

Page 3

Connection examples

 Field recording

Gun mic

Wireless lavalier mics

 Music creation

Electric guitar

 Podcasting

Mics with tabletop stands

Ambient mic

Vocal mic

Lavalier receivers

Audio device, etc.

Lavalier receivers

Drum mic

Ambient mic

Electric bass

Keyboard

Headphone

Page 4

Preparations

NOTE

• Use alkaline batteries, rechargeable NiMH batteries or lithium batteries.

• To enable accurate display of remaining battery charge, set the battery type using Home Screen > SYSTEM > Battery.

• SD cards must be formatted by H8 before use. To format, use Home Screen > SD CARD > Format.

HINT

AC power can be used by connecting a dedicated AC adapter (ZOOM AD-17) to the USB port.

NOTE

• If “No Card !” appears on the display, confirm that an SD card is inserted properly.

• If “Card Protected !” appears on the display, the SD card write-protection is enabled. Slide the lock switch on the SD card to disable write-protection.

• If “Invalid Card !” appears on the display, the card is not formatted correctly. Format the card or use a different card.

Installing batteries and an SD card

 Installing batteries

After turning the power off, open the battery

compartment cover and install batteries.

 Installing an SD card

After turning the power off, open the SD card slot

cover and insert an SD card.

To remove an SD card, push it further into the slot and then pull it out.

Open while pressing up

Left side of bottom section SD card slot

Turning the power on/off

Slide toward to turn the power on.

When the power is off, keep sliding toward until the ZOOM logo appears.

Page 5

HINT

• Sliding to toward HOLD will disable button and touchscreen operations.

Setting the language (first time starting up)

HINT

The display language can be changed later using Home Screen > LANGUAGE.

HINT

The date and time setting can be changed later using Home Screen > SYSTEM > Date/Time > Set Date/Time.

The first time you turn the power on after purchase, set the touchscreen display language when the language setting screen opens.

Tap the language you want to set.

Setting the date and time (first time starting up)

When the date and time setting screen opens after the language settings screen, set the date and time.

Swipe the date and time items to set them.

Tap Enter.

Page 6

Screen appearance

On the H8, tap, swipe and slide on the screen to make settings and select functions to adjust.

 Home Screen

The Home Screen appears when the H8 starts up. From the Home Screen, three recording applications, various setting screens and other functions can be launched.

Swipe to change

• Tap an icon to launch that app.

• Press

to return to the Home Screen.

FIELD app

Use this when field recording with the XY mic. This app is also good for capturing sound for movies and videos as well as recording live concerts, for example, using external mics.

MUSIC app

Use this when making music. In addition to punch-in/out functions for vocals and instruments, this app can also mix down multiple tracks with volume and panning settings.

PODCAST app

This app is good for preparing audio materials for podcasts as well as live streaming. Sound pads can be used to play jingles and special effects, for example, with a single touch.

Page 7

H8 folder and file structure

Files assigned to sound

(FIELD app recording)

(MUSIC app recording)

(PODCAST app recording)

When recording with the H8, folders and files are created on SD cards in the following manner. All three apps (FIELD, MUSIC and PODCASTS) can be used with projects that have been made. (Recording and playback of 96 kHz/16-bit and 96 kHz/24-bit WAV files is only supported by the FIELD app.) The

manages recording and playback data in units called projects.

Project folders are created with names like“[date]_001” and“[date]_002”. (The date format is YYYYMMDD.)

FIELD app recordings MUSIC app recordings PODCAST app recordings

Root

F200101_001

M200101_001 P200101_001

pads in the PODCAST app are copied here.

SOUNDPAD

Mic12.wav

Stereo ﬁle recording of signals from MIC IN

Mic12_BU.wav Stereo ﬁle backup recording of signals from MIC IN at a level 12 dB lower

Tr12.wav

Stereo ﬁle recording of input 1 and 2 signals

TrA.wav

Mono ﬁle recording of input A signal

TrLR.wav Stereo ﬁle recording of built-in mixer L/R output

F200101_001.h8prj

Project ﬁle

Mic12.wav

1st stereo ﬁle recording of signals from MIC IN

MIc12_01.wav

2nd stereo ﬁle recording of signals from MIC IN

Tr1.wav

1st mono ﬁle recording of input 1 signal

Tr1_01.wav

2nd mono ﬁle recording of input 1 signal

M200101_001.h8prj

Project ﬁle

Tr1.wav

Mono ﬁle recording of input 1 signal

Tr2.wav

Mono ﬁle recording of input 2 signal

TrA.wav

Mono ﬁle recording of input A signal

Tr34.wav

Stereo ﬁle recording of sound pad track

P200101_001.h8prj

Project ﬁle

opening.wav

bgm1.wav

Page 8

Input and output settings

HINT

When connecting an ordinary mic, set the PAD switch to 0dB.

NOTE

• When connecting devices that are not compatible with phantom power, do not turn phantom power on. Doing so could damage the device.

• When connecting a dynamic mic, phantom power does not need to be supplied.

HINT

In addition to +48 V, phantom power can also be set to +24 V.

Setting input sources

Set according to the devices connected to Inputs 1–4/A/B.

 Connecting a mixer or other device with a +4 dBu standard output level (Inputs 1–4)

Set the corresponding PAD switches ( ) to –20dB.

 Connecting guitars and other devices

with high output impedance (Inputs A/B)

Set the corresponding Hi-Z switches ( )

to Hi-Z.

PAD switches (1/2)

Hi-Z switches

PAD switches (3/4)

 Connecting condenser mics and other devices that require phantom

power (Inputs 1–4/A/B)

Tap these in the following order:

• FIELD app screen >

• MUSIC app screen > select track >

• PODCAST app screen >

Tap Phantom.

Tap On/Off to set to On.

> select track

Page 9

Enabling tracks (and stereo linking)

HINT

While pressing a track button, pressing the adjacent button (1 and 2, 3 and 4, or A and B) will stereo link those tracks, making a stereo track and creating stereo files on the SD card. Do the same thing to end a stereo link.

Select which tracks to record from MIC IN, 1–4 and A/B. The MIC IN, 1–4 and A/B tracks correspond to the MIC IN, 1–4 and A/B inputs.

Launch the recording app, and press the track buttons ( ) for

the tracks to record so that the corresponding LED indicators light red.

Adjusting input levels (trim)

Adjust the input levels to record with high audio quality.

Turn for the selected tracks to adjust their input levels.

Adjust so that their peak levels stay around –12 dB on the level meter.

Adjusting headphone and speaker levels

Use headphones, for example, to monitor input/playback sounds and adjust levels (volume).

Tap / at the top right of the screen.

A speaker icon will appear when headphones are not connected.

Slide to adjust the volume.

When done adjusting, tap the volume value at the top

right of the screen.

Page 10

Using the FIELD app

NOTE

• When recording is paused, a mark is added at that point.

• A maximum of 99 marks can be added in each project.

• If the recording file size exceeds 2 GB when recording with the FIELD or PODCAST apps, a new project folder will be created automatically and recording will continue. Sound will not be interrupted between files.

• Track indicators (LEDs) will blink and clip indicators will appear lit when loud sounds are input. Adjust the input level so that the clip indicators do not light.

Recording/playback project name

Status icon

Level meters

Track numbers

REW/FF buttons

Recording

Press on the FIELD app screen.

 Operations during recording

Progress barTime display

Remaining battery charge

(Red) Empty

Headphone/speaker volume button

Clipping indicators

Settings button

Track settings button

Recording format button

Full

Function Control operation

Pause/resume recording (add mark)

Stop

Press

or .

Page 11

Playing recordings

Press on the FIELD app screen.

 Operations during playback

Function Touchscreen/control operation

Select playback project/move to mark

Search forward/backward Press and hold

Pause/resume playback

Stop Press

Tap

Slide left/right.

Press

Other functions

Function name Details

Automatic recording Recording can be started and stopped automatically in response to

the input level.

Pre-recording This function enables recording for up to 6 seconds before

pressed.

Sound markers Half-second tone signals (sound markers) can be output from the

PHONE OUT and LINE OUT jacks when recording is started and stopped. Since sound markers are also written to recording files,

when recording audio for video with the signal to the camera input can make synchronizing audio and video easier.

Backup Rec When using a mic capsule with up to two channels on the MIC IN, a

backup recording file can be recorded at a level 12 dB lower than the set input level. This can be used to replace the regular recording file if its recording level was too high, causing distortion, for example.

H8, sending its output

L/R track recording A stereo file recording of the L/R outputs from the built-in mixer can

be simultaneously created.

Page 12

Using the MUSIC app

NOTE

When a new project is created, all recording tracks will be off, so change settings as necessary.

Time display Progress bar

Recording/playback project name

Status icon

Clipping indicators

Level meters

Faders

Track buttons

Low/Mid/High equalization

Creating new projects

Tap to change screens

Remaining battery charge

(Red) Empty

Headphone/speaker volume button

Track display switching button

Settings button

Track settings button

Effect settings button

Effect sends Pan

Full

In the MUSIC app, a project must be created before starting recording.

On the MUSIC app screen, tap and select > New Project > Rec Format

in order.

Tap a Rec Format setting value to select it, and tap .

Tap Create, and input the project name.

Tap Enter.

Page 13

HINT

• The recording formats that can be set are 44.1 kHz/16-bit WAV, 44.1 kHz/24-bit WAV, 48 kHz/16-bit WAV, and 48 kHz/24-Bit WAV.

• Effects can only be used when the recording format is 44.1 kHz/16-bit WAV or

44.1 kHz/24-bit WAV.

• To open an existing project, select it from > Projects.