Hauppauge, NY-based Samson Technologies, the U.S. distributor of Zoom products, says its authorized dealers across the United States are now accepting orders for Zoom's H1 Handy Recorder that ships on August 20.

In Canada, Zoom is distributed by Omnimedia Inc. in Montreal, which says it's slated to get the H1 for shipping during the first week of August, a tad earlier than its U.S. counterpart.

The H1, Zoom's smallest recorder yet, features the same mic capsules as the current H2 (which it dubs "the most popular handheld recorder in the world") in an even more compact form factor.

Zoom's new portable resembles other handheld recorders, and can be used to record lectures and the like; but the H1 also targets serious sound enthusiasts on a budget (it's target retail price is around C$115).

Like all Zoom recorders, the H1's onboard microphones are configured in an X/Y pattern with both mics arranged on the same axis, and equidistant from the sound source.
This provides good localization and minimum phase shifting, although Zoom's published data show the mics rejecting sound pressure coming from the rear, so the X/Y pattern can't be configured as a "Blumlein" pair. (Purists characterize the Blumlein technique as providing the best in sonic imaging, but unwanted noise can be a problem.)

Besides its directional pickup pattern, the H1 has an onboard low-cut filter to further reduce unwanted background noise and focus the recording. There's also an optional windscreen for outdoor use.

The H1's built-in preamp can be set to record at levels ranging from 1 to 100, or recording can be made using an AUTO LEVEL function.

Journalists and other professional media should note that it records in Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), in which each recording is stamped with the date and time of its creation, and up to 99 track markers or cue points can be added.

For high fidelity applications, it records linear PCM (WAV) files at 24-bit/96 kHz. Where the recording time or file size needs to be limited, the H1 records in MP3.
Captured audio is stored on microSD cards, which top out at 32 GB: good for about 50 hours of audio in 16-bit/44.1 kHz WAV format, or 555 hours in 128 kbps MP3.

Zoom claims that 10 hours of continuous recording can be attained with a single AA alkaline battery as the sole power source. With the optional AC adapter, the sky's the limit, and the H1 can also operate on USB bus power when the card reader function is activated.

For more information, visit www.zoomfx.com/H1

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