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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Is there a way to record to the Zoom H4n and to the Scarlet at the same time?

C

Carl Elster

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I'm looking at using an H4n recorder as my backup audio for my Scarlet. I'd like to be able to use one microphone and have it record to the Zoom and to the Scarlet camera body with minimal equipment and setup time. That way if there are any issues with the single system Scarlet audio "onboard audio" I can use the Zoom audio as a backup only.

I'm thinking that there must be a way to record to the Zoom and then go out the headphone jack into the camera but I'm not sure if this will work with the Scarlet (i.e. balanced vs. unbalanced etc.). I'm also concerned that the headphone jack might not have the best audio quality to record from into the camera.

Does anyone have a workaround for this?

Am I better off just having two microphones... One going to the Zoom and one going straight into camera?

Thanks for the help,

Carl
 
What other outputs on the zoom do you have more than the headphone jack?
Using 2 microphones is usually a better option than using one. so can you not let the zoom go into one jack and an additional microphone into jack 2...
pro I/O gives you XLR in, but that you probably already know.
 
Carl,

What you want to do works fine. I have used this exact set up. And it has been discussed on the forum before.
 
I think the only output on the H4n is the headphone jack, so the way you have it will work, it just might not be ideal. The only other solution I can think of is a splitter going to the H4n and Scarlet simultaneously... however that wouldn't allow you to use the h4n's phantom power or the camera's phantom power (it'd probably blow something).

I would do what you are thinking; mic -> h4n -> h4n headphone jack to scarlet 3.5mm... and then try my best to monitor off the camera (which, unfortunately, is incredibly low volume.) You're gonna wanna test the levels of the entire pipeline to find out what the best settings are. Obviously phantom power to the mic would be from the h4n, which means it'll be off on the camera jack... but in terms of balanced or unbalanced, and determining what to set the cameras input db at as well as the h4n's output db at should be figured out before the shoot via testing.

But as Bjorn said, it's not an normal audio solution.
 
Tom, do you need a special cable to go from the H4n headphone jack (yes this is the only output on the Zoom) into the Scarlet? Or do you just use a stereo mini to stereo mini?

My friend, who is a audio engineer but has no experience with cameras suggested I get a 3.5mm stereo mini to dual mono 3.5mm and split the stereo channels to each of the Scarlet inputs....?
 
This is actually my setup. XLR mic/line into the Zoom H4N. Zoom H4N headphone out to stereo splitter cable. Splits left & right in to Scarlet 3.5mm jacks and then headphones for monitor out of Scarlet.
 
I was thinking of doing the same except with a Roland R-26. Hopefully that will work as well. I haven't bought it yet though.

I was also thinking about getting the new Rhode Videomic Pro Hd with the built in flash recorder. Apparently it is based on the NTG3 mic.
 
I just let the sound guy the producer hire do that part. :) we're solidly out of the DIY world when we own a RED.
 
Thanks Arnold but the company I work for refuses to hire a sound person for their shoots even though I've requested it. So either I get sound working or I lose the steady work that they keep sending me.
 
HI Carl, I have not tested what you are proposing, but if you do attempt a DIY solution I think this particular project is not too difficult.

also, If you can just run 2 microphones then it simplifies the project, and may actually produce better results. Since your original question is regarding "if something happens to the Zoom", then logically you wouldn't want to rely on the Zoom for a bypass signal. For example, if the Zoom were to "skip" or "distort" then it would pass that signal to the Scarlet as well, so the audio would be equally as useless.

If time allows, I sometimes run 2 independent sets of recording. One set goes into the Epic and one set goes into the Zoom. Usually for studio shoots this is what I do. For run and gun or field work, forget about it. Too many wires all over the place.
 
As people have pointed out, this is a less than ideal situation. Perhaps ok when in studio, but it means a lot of cables with flimsy connections. Does it work? Absolutely.

Here's what I do when in this situation:

2 mics (lets say Lav + Boom) going into the h4n. Set your record levels here on the quiet side - give yourself a smidge more headroom than normal.

Get a cheap stereo headphone splitter. Plug in headphones into one channel and a stereo mini-jack cable into the other.
Plug that into a stereo to (2 channel) mono splitter cable (should be easy to find). Now plug in 2 mono-mono cables into each channel of your splitter, and then into each channel of the camera.
You'll need to set your IN levels quite low on the camera, but you should get a nice clean signal. Make sure you are consistant in which mic is assigned to which channel (left vs right) on both H4N and Cam.

So you have 2 discreet audio channels on both your H4N and your Cam track. Your cam track should be recorded a little hotter (louder) so you have a nice strong track for your edit. If its good all the way through (no peaks) then great, under most circumstances this can be your master audio track. If you find that you have problems with clicks caused by all the audio connections, or, if you peak from time to time, sync it up with the master (H4n) audio using pluraleyes or something similar (Since its essentially the same audio in both cases, syncing with pluraleyes should be easy peasy.


Make sense?
 
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