Recording with Zoom H2, Windows 8.1 and Audacity

UkingViking

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Hello UU,

I am looking for some help with a recording setup.

I have been lurking around the S.O.T.U. forum, contemplating when to post something - but besides my own hesitation, the recording setup is also holding me back.

I am not planning on buying a lot of stuff for the purpose, but just to get the best out of what I have at hand:

- Windows 8.1 PC
- The Audacity software (Feel free to recommend other free options)
- A Zoom H2 microphone/recorder. (Not H2n, the older one)

I also have some magic USB to microphone cable from T-bone, but the sound I get with that stuff in in mono and very low, so I would like to use the H2.

The problem is that the H2 is not working with my PC. I could probably go buy a card reader and record to the stick and transfer, but I prefer working directly on the PC.

- I followed the guides I can find on to how to do, and the H2 gives me a "please wait"-forever message.
- I installed drivers on the PC and tried again - the zoom was then content, but the PC would still not recognize it as a microphone.
- I tried again, and now it says "please wait" again!

Does anyone have an old H2 recorder and has found a workaround?

I am considering looking up a 3.5 mm jack to 3.5 mm jack cable and connecting it through that (Line out-line in), but will that give a decent sound quality? And which settings should I use for that?
 
Thanks,

But I allready found that thread, and it doesnt seem to help.

I doubt my problem is with Audacity, it might be windows 8.

As I described, at one point I had the H2 connected, with the display if the H2 saying I was good to go.
The PC recognized that some usb device was attached, but it was not on the sound unit list in the controlpanel nor in audacity. This was after installing drivers intended for win8.

I guess i must try with a jack connection.
 
Why not just record on the H2 and transfer the audio afterwards that is what several people do, when combined with a video of yourself (which is sort of required for SoTU ;-)), you start with a clap which is recorded on both the video and audio. You can then later on line them up rather easily in your video editor (I'm assuming that you can do that in Windows Moviemaker, as I have seen movies of people that had this setup).
 
Why not just record on the H2 and transfer the audio afterwards that is what several people do, when combined with a video of yourself (which is sort of required for SoTU ;-)), you start with a clap which is recorded on both the video and audio. You can then later on line them up rather easily in your video editor (I'm assuming that you can do that in Windows Moviemaker, as I have seen movies of people that had this setup).

Frankly, because i am such a bad uker that I expect to need a lot of takes.
Managing these takes just seems less cumbersome with the nice big screen of my pc, rather than the display on the h2.
And should I want to use more tracks, it is also simpler to do it directly. I am kind of curious as to how that will work out.

Anyway, guess I will just try different workarounds. Was just hoping that someone had solved the problem before.
 
Howdy. I have Windows 7, Audacity and the older H2 working fine.
If your drivers have loaded, then you're almost there.
Plug the H2 into the USB port; go through the H2 menu to the I/O (input / output) vs Storage option; choose I/O. Open Audacity and start a new project. Inside Audacity, the H2 should now show up as a choice under both the input and output boxes.
Boom. Success is yours.
 
I allready tried that, and installing drivers made the H2 look as though it was ok, with level measurements rather than just the "wait" message.
The H2 didnt show on any Sound device list, not in Audacity nor Windows Control panel.
The next time I plugged it in, I didn't even get that far, it was as though the drivers were gone again.

I gave up and bought a ShureMV5 usb mic. That will have to do.
 
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