First Look: Zoom H1 Handy Recorder Unboxing

One of the products that I'm looking at for a future review is the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder that was just released in August and sold out almost immediately! I finally got a hold of mine after having my pre-order shipped, canceled, and then back-ordered. So I figured that I'd do an unboxing video to demonstrate how easy the Zoom is to set up and get using out of the box. At least that was what they told me. Actually Zoom has a very good reputation for portable audio and the H2 and H4 models are very respectable portable recorders.

This is my first unboxing video, so I have to apologize for some of the shakiness. It was a last minute decision, but it was actually kind of fun to put together. I deliberately left it as a single take so that you could see that even with my stumbles and flubs the H1 is very easy to get started with without even reading the instructions. It is fairly intuitive. The recorded audio at the end isn't as good as it should have been, but that is no fault of the H1! I was holding the recorder wrong and was speaking to the camera instead of to the mike. Something I figured out when I was splicing the audio in. Ok, enough of me. On to the video!

To really get a feel for the changes in audio quality, use headphones when listening to the video.

I'll be playing with the Zoom H1 for the next month or so to determine if it deserves a full review, but I must say that right now it is looking good. I'm also going to see about consulting with some friends of mine who represent audio experts and audio professionals and enlisting their aid in determining how good the H1 is. When the review comes out there will be at least one audio clip to demonstrate what you're getting with the H1. There may be a few clips to show the different quality levels it is capable of, and maybe some audio recorded with professional equipment in order to compare and contrast the H1's audio. For now, I get to play!

Hope you enjoyed the video. Come back tomorrow for Follow Friday!