As a blind person, thank you for covering the voice feature. Very few devices consider accessibility, which is unfortunate, and we certainly would benefit from higher quality portable recording options.
Thank you curtis... I own an Zoom F3... and I LOVVVVEEEEE IT!!! the sound is just fantastic... also I have many other sound divices that I use in wedding as back ups but my Zoom F3 is my favorite.
Many thanks for the review. I was tempted to get a h1 xlr for 32 bit field recording, but the noise floor is way too high to be acceptable Therefore thanks to you to help me avoid to spend my own money on it
I am curious. You have now, basically, panned this product from Zoom. Other audio youtubers have panned each of the Zoom essential series. This means that the entire line of most current products from a big audio recording company have been panned. It seems that most of the audio youtubers (yourself included) are very meh about 32 bit float recording, but it certainly looks like it is becoming a standard. Who's missing the boat here? Zoom must feel there is a good sized market for the essential series, and the H1 XLR, that bypasses all this criticism.
The audio youtubers didn't like the zoom h1e but having got one seems perfectly decent to me but then I'm a visual guy first and audio is a distant 2nd, I just want something that will give me noticeably better than on camera audio and won't go wrong on me (because hey how many other things are we worrying about during a shoot) and these seem to do just that
I think @godsakes nailed it! For some people, the H1 XLR is good enough. I actually think it is probably a fine place for someone to learn audio recording. But if they get serious about audio recording, they'll need to upgrade. And that's probably exactly what ZOOM expects and why they made this device.
I get the same DC offset with my H1essential - I suppose this is something related to "new" 32 input in essential "input block". I think H1 XLR and whole essential family have a lot of similarities in this area...
Interesting and thorough. Thank you. Will you review the new mics and cone-editing audio options in the iPhone 16? I know, I know, not pro, but as Apple inches toward giving us pocketable media beast machines it might be interesting to see where they stand technically. I'm not expecting miraculous sound - but perhaps "editable" audio is now available with a phone?
Thanks Curtis. This move to audio tech that's *just good enough* to hit price points is dangerous, particularly for a cost-conscious consumer (like me). I appreciate so much that you and others drill down into these products. Zoom just keeps getting bitten by this temptation to just-good-enough. I bought the F3 soon after it came out, and was initially irked when I saw the Essential series show up... but now I'm okay with it! Paying more payed off. Thanks again.
Completely agree with you. The quality is cheap… cheap. Purchased one for work to test and the 3.5mm jack had intermittent functionality oob (tested using dozens of headphones, including the lowest impedance headphones we could find). On top of that the second input easily had double or triple the self noise than the first input’s pre. Returned without issue, but you definitely get what you pay for. We’re sticking with the F3’s for checkout, but it still would be nice if Zoom added combo jacks and finally fixed the flimsy plastic battery door. Maybe there will be a Rev 2 before they kill it.
The H1 XLR and F3 clearly do not have the same preamps or converters (or both) based on the results we shared in this video. It is less clear whether the F3 and F6 preamps/converters are identical. They might be.
Thanks, Curtis. Despite all the work they've put into accessibility I would never purchase these because of the poor quality preamps and inability to choose bit-rate. This is only at the level of carry-around voice recorders which would seem to provide better solutions at this point. in fact, making me choose between accessibility and quality is somewhat insulting.
It depends on what one is doing. I learned audio recording on the original ZOOM H4 which had preamps even worse than this. So I suppose there's a place for the H1 XLR. Also, not everyone has the same expectations that I have. I'm arguably spoiled. My primary mixer is a Sound Devices 888. But for someone who doesn't have that level of expectation, I guess the H1 XLR could be a good place to start.
The biggest benefit of the X1 XLR vs F3, is that it can send USB audio while recording to its SD card. Very few recorders can do this, none at the price point.
I feel the text to voice should be a standard feature companies are working in all of their products. The speaker is cheap to have. No reason to not include this.
As a blind person, thank you for covering the voice feature. Very few devices consider accessibility, which is unfortunate, and we certainly would benefit from higher quality portable recording options.
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Was waiting for your review, thanks!
Excellent video, as always. I am curious what your thoughts would be of the Zoom M4 MicTrak vs. the Zoom F3...
Thank you curtis... I own an Zoom F3... and I LOVVVVEEEEE IT!!! the sound is just fantastic... also I have many other sound divices that I use in wedding as back ups but my Zoom F3 is my favorite.
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As always a complete video! Thank you!
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Many thanks for the review. I was tempted to get a h1 xlr for 32 bit field recording, but the noise floor is way too high to be acceptable
Therefore thanks to you to help me avoid to spend my own money on it
You should make a tier list for field recorders \uwu/
We do, about every three years or so - audio recorders for filmmaking.
@@curtisjudd Ayooo nice :D
So, how about F3 vs R4? R4 over here have a slightly higher price tag than the H1 but packs more versatility in software and hardware IMO
I am curious. You have now, basically, panned this product from Zoom. Other audio youtubers have panned each of the Zoom essential series. This means that the entire line of most current products from a big audio recording company have been panned. It seems that most of the audio youtubers (yourself included) are very meh about 32 bit float recording, but it certainly looks like it is becoming a standard. Who's missing the boat here? Zoom must feel there is a good sized market for the essential series, and the H1 XLR, that bypasses all this criticism.
The audio youtubers didn't like the zoom h1e but having got one seems perfectly decent to me but then I'm a visual guy first and audio is a distant 2nd, I just want something that will give me noticeably better than on camera audio and won't go wrong on me (because hey how many other things are we worrying about during a shoot) and these seem to do just that
I think @godsakes nailed it! For some people, the H1 XLR is good enough. I actually think it is probably a fine place for someone to learn audio recording. But if they get serious about audio recording, they'll need to upgrade. And that's probably exactly what ZOOM expects and why they made this device.
What about h4 essential's preamp? Is that same?
thanks you curtis for this video i iwas going to buy the zoom h1 xlr after seeing this video i am sticking with my zoom f3 its a nice audio recorder.
I get the same DC offset with my H1essential - I suppose this is something related to "new" 32 input in essential "input block". I think H1 XLR and whole essential family have a lot of similarities in this area...
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting and thorough. Thank you. Will you review the new mics and cone-editing audio options in the iPhone 16? I know, I know, not pro, but as Apple inches toward giving us pocketable media beast machines it might be interesting to see where they stand technically. I'm not expecting miraculous sound - but perhaps "editable" audio is now available with a phone?
Just got an iPhone 16 Pro so we'll consider it!
Thanks Curtis. This move to audio tech that's *just good enough* to hit price points is dangerous, particularly for a cost-conscious consumer (like me). I appreciate so much that you and others drill down into these products. Zoom just keeps getting bitten by this temptation to just-good-enough. I bought the F3 soon after it came out, and was initially irked when I saw the Essential series show up... but now I'm okay with it! Paying more payed off. Thanks again.
Indeed - in most cases, paying a bit more is worth it.
Completely agree with you. The quality is cheap… cheap.
Purchased one for work to test and the 3.5mm jack had intermittent functionality oob (tested using dozens of headphones, including the lowest impedance headphones we could find). On top of that the second input easily had double or triple the self noise than the first input’s pre. Returned without issue, but you definitely get what you pay for.
We’re sticking with the F3’s for checkout, but it still would be nice if Zoom added combo jacks and finally fixed the flimsy plastic battery door. Maybe there will be a Rev 2 before they kill it.
I'd love to see a new F3 with everything you noted.
Does the H1 xlr have the same preamps as the F3?
Does the F3 xlr have the same preamps as the F6?
The H1 XLR and F3 clearly do not have the same preamps or converters (or both) based on the results we shared in this video.
It is less clear whether the F3 and F6 preamps/converters are identical. They might be.
Thanks, Curtis. Despite all the work they've put into accessibility I would never purchase these because of the poor quality preamps and inability to choose bit-rate. This is only at the level of carry-around voice recorders which would seem to provide better solutions at this point. in fact, making me choose between accessibility and quality is somewhat insulting.
It depends on what one is doing. I learned audio recording on the original ZOOM H4 which had preamps even worse than this. So I suppose there's a place for the H1 XLR. Also, not everyone has the same expectations that I have. I'm arguably spoiled. My primary mixer is a Sound Devices 888. But for someone who doesn't have that level of expectation, I guess the H1 XLR could be a good place to start.
The biggest benefit of the X1 XLR vs F3, is that it can send USB audio while recording to its SD card. Very few recorders can do this, none at the price point.
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Snarky Curtis: approved!
Just trying to be real. 🤪
0:00 This video is sponsored by me!
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I cannot turn that "stable volume" no matter what. Tried like 20 times. TH-cam app for Android.
☹️ Silly TH-cam.
A cheap buy - could be expensive !
In the long run, indeed!
Muchas Gracias por el vídeo . Yo prefiero un mejor producto a un precio mayor , antes que botar el dinero en un equipo mediocre
Yo también.
I feel the text to voice should be a standard feature companies are working in all of their products. The speaker is cheap to have. No reason to not include this.
It was too good to be true. The noise and plastic quality is a big let down and a no go. Not even as a back up.
"thanks to B&H so I don't have to spend my own money" LOL. Translation: Avoid the H1XLR like the plague. Save your money. LOL
"Buy the F3 instead."
You are right.
For a 2024 device, this is garbage