Recording Music with the Zoom H5

The Zoom H5 is a very popular handy recorder in the film industry where it is often used in recording speech dialogue or panel discussions. This compact device provides four channels multi-track or stereo mixdown recording into an SD (up to 2GB) or SDHC card (up to 32GB). The recorder is able to record in either MP3 or WAV (BWF compliant) format, which is also commonly used in music production.

Initially, when I bought the Zoom H5, it was to record seminars / conferences I have attended so I can refer back to them in the future. The recorded audio quality is clean (with the included X/Y stereo microphone) and recording time will usually last far longer than needed (averages around 6 hours in my own experience with Panasonic Eneloop batteries).

Zoom H5 with the XYH-5 X/Y Stereo Mic attached

I was particularly interested in an optional accessory—the EXH-6 XLR/TRS combo mic preamps for the H5. With this particular accessory, I can transform the H5 into a 4 channels, portable multi-track recorder. Though I have observed zoom devices (e.g. H4, H4n or H6) being used in many different applications, I was curious in how the H5 would fair in recording musical numbers.

EXH6 attachment, two channels preamps

As compared to my usual portable recording rig that requires an audio interface and laptop, a Zoom H5 with the EXH-6 can essentially perform the task if the preamps can perform relatively well. Disclaimer: I am not saying that the setup I have with the H5 can completely replace your portable recording system. For example, it does not provide any additional outputs for your musicians to monitor themselves. However, if you understand the limitations of the H5, this might be a viable solution for a recording rig with far better portability and recording time (depending on the number of batteries you prepared).

Zoom H5 with EXH6 in action

Pursuing the subject, a recording was done to test the recording quality of the device. In this case, I have passively split the signal into both the H5 and the on-site sound system. The recording is a multi-track project of an upright bass, keyboard, and vocal track. The project is recorded in WAV format (24bit / 48KHz) and no EQ processing was done (e.g. High Pass Filter). On-board dynamics processing has been inserted into all the tracks, namely a Limiter (Studio) for the bass and keyboard tracks with a 8:1 ratio and Comp (Vocal) on the vocal tracks with a 16:1 ratio. This is to compensate the lower dynamic range of the H5 as compared to other audio interfaces designed for music production.

The Band Layout

Here are some samples of the individual recorded tracks.

This is a sample song I've mixed from the recorded tracks. Credits go to Carol Gomez for performing the wonderful number.

To conclude, the Zoom H5 is a very versatile handy recorder. Although the product is designed for film production purposes, the H5 does have some merits in providing multi-track features in a portable package. Although the dynamic range can be a little low (as you can hear from the vocal), it can be a viable solution for recording projects that need to be mobile or on the budget.

*The On/Off recording of ambient noise was a gated inserted by accident.

YWFU

Do cables really matter? (Part 2)

In this post, I would like to focus on my views in buying high-end premium cables for your audio system. As previously mentioned, cables act as a medium to transmit signals between hardware. Hence, a good quality cable will retain signal integrity for the system.

Premium cables such as the Audioquest Angel 3.5mm to RCA cables are easily priced at around $1000 USD for a 1m cable. As a comparison, a similar type of cable from a generic brand such as Cable Matters would cost around $10 USD. That is a huge sum of money to be invested in a single cable and that calls for a more in-depth review to justify purchasing the high-end version.

Left: Audioquest Angel 3.5mm to RCA cable, Right: Cable Matters 3.5mm to RCA cable

When it comes to evaluating the quality of a certain cable, there are a few aspects we can look at. As mentioned in my previous post, a balanced cable is resistant to unwanted interferences even in long cable distances, as the signal will go through a differentiating process to cancel out the induced noise. Regardless of material superiority, whether the cable is being made of gold or copper, an unbalanced cable (such as the 3.5mm to RCA cable) is susceptible to unwanted interference.

Do take note that if a balanced cable is used in an unbalanced output, the cable will still be carrying an unbalanced signal and vice versa. Using the correct type of cable for the right application is therefore important, as it will cause unnecessary problems if not followed through.

Audio cables are passive, meaning there is no active circuitry built inside to improve signal quality. It is a transmitting medium that carries signal from one point to another, where the signal loss will be a factor that affects signal integrity (in this case signal strength) relative to distance. Unless the cable is using some proprietary transmission protocol, premium cables do not improve any signal quality, as it is basically a passive medium.

In addition, even when only premium cables are used in connecting different audio hardware together (e.g. from DA to speakers), one would have to be mindful that the internal wiring of these audio hardware does not utilise these "premium" cables in its circuitry. Thus, the premium cables have pretty much no influence in terms of signal integrity improvement, as the rest of the hardware does not make use of them. Although you can try and redo all the wiring schematics in your beloved audio gears with premium high-end cables, I am fairly sure that this will not have any significant enhancement towards your system performance.

A twisted pair (balanced) cable is almost as good as it gets when it comes to retaining signal integrity, as the twisted pair conductors improve CMRR and the balanced cable is resistant to interferences. The introduction of a Star-Quad Cable was to further improve the immunity to interferences and it has shown real-world improvement. These four conductors shielded configuration can be thought of as two twisted pairs twisted together. Using four small conductors in place of two conductors allows the loop area of the cable to further reduce and improve rejections towards electromagnetic interference. Star-Quad cables seem to be used mainly in live sound applications where long cable runs are common.

Canare L-4E6S Star-Quad Cable

As a bonus, LinusTechTip has also reviewed a $1000 HDMI cable recently and the cable does not show any significant improvements in terms of signal quality.

The Wireworld Platinum Starlight 7 HDMI Cable is probably the best thing we've ever seen come through the office. Just kidding...

Investing in good quality cables is important, as their serviceability will easily justify the cost. I will advise not to spend the unnecessary cash in buying high-end premium cables, as it does not have any influence in your signal quality improvement. I would rather save up the money and invest in another important audio gear such as the power conditioner.

YWFU

Do cables really matter? (Part 1)

 

It is very common for people to pay little attention to cable quality when building electronic systems. Cables play a huge role in your system potentials, as they are the medium for transmitting data or power. If the cables are inefficient as a transmitting medium, the performance of the system will suffer as there is a high level of signal losses.

Before we continue with this topic, we must first recognise the difference between a wire and a cable. In simplified terms, a wire is a conductor (e.g. copper) whereas a cable is made up of multiple conductors. For instance, a speakon connector cable will usually have a pair of conductors in order to transmit amplified signals to the respective speaker cabinet.

A 4 pole speaker cable

As a result, good quality cables are definitely important when it comes to building a system. In this post, I would like to address a few considerations for any practitioners building an audio system. All audio cables are screened (shielded), meaning that an outer conductor wraps around the others conductors to shield them from electromagnetic interference. The outer conductor may be made of various materials such as wire braid or metal foil.

The components inside a cable

In most cases, the outer conductor is connected to ground so that any induced currents (due to interference) will flow directly to ground rather than being mixed with the audio signal. However, this is not a perfect solution, which is why balanced signals were introduced.

In an unbalanced cable, there is a single inner core (conductor) that carries the audio signal while the outer screen act as the ground cable. The screen also doubles as the signal return path, hence any interference induced will cause the audio signals to be mixed with the interfering currents. These unwanted interferences are more prominent in long cable distances or where there are nearby sources of strong interference (e.g. dimming circuits).

Even in long distances, balanced cables are resistant against such interferences. As compared to its counterpart, a balanced cable has two inner conductors, commonly known as positive and negative. Similar to an unbalanced cable, the screen conductor is grounded but no signal will run through this path. Balanced audio transmission relies on Common-Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR) to cancel out any interference picked up in the cable. A differentiating process will be implemented at the input stage of the receiving end to cancel out any noise. If any interference makes it through the screen conductor, it is likely to have the same influence on both the positive and negative conductors, thus the CMRR will reject any interference common in both conductors (positive and negative).

As mentioned, CMRR is based on the premise that unwanted external interference is being induced into both signal conductors equally, but is there any way to minimise the susceptibility of interference pickups to maximise the benefits of CMRR? Decreasing the distance between the two conductors by twisting them together helps to equalise the coupling effect of the interference with the audio signal.

A "loop antenna" is formed when two conductors have a spaced gap between them. Therefore, the farther apart the two conductors are, the large the antenna will be, thus picking up more interference along the line of transmission. Minimising the area between the two conductors helps to reduce unwanted hum and buzz from this type of interference, which the cable shield is almost ineffective against. The distance between the twists is called the lay of a pair. Shortening the lay by increasing the number of twists will improve not only the CMRR but also cable flexibility. Do take note that by shortening the lay distance, it would require more material (wire) and machine time, thus increasing hardware cost.

Understanding the characteristics of a good quality cable is vital in system building, as it determines the signal integrity carried through the medium. As a rule of thumb, if there is no option for a balanced output, I will usually not have any unbalanced cable of more than 5m, any more than that would require a Direct Injection (DI) box to transform the unbalanced audio to balanced. The above characteristics have been proven to help sustain signal integrity in real world practices and investing in a bunch of good quality cables is certainly wise.

YWFU