Yamaha C24 or Zoom H1

[Colin Rowe]

I normally like to check out equipment for myself, but the nearest dealer that stocks both these recorders is nearly 100 miles from where I live. Can anyone who has experience of both these recorders offer me some pointers. The primary use would be to connect a lav mic and pop the unit into the speakers pocket, as you would with a radio mic set up. Either unit would do the job, but are there any glaring differences between the two? I appreciate the Yamaha is much smaller, and am leaning toward it for that very reason
Thanks

[Peter Riding]

Colin, I have several H1's and I looked at the Yam in detail after Nigel's recent recommendation.

I decided that there was no great advantage in adding the C24's because

1) the C24 is smaller but the H1 is perfectly pocketable anyway. The H1's dimensions are "inflated" by its mic protection assembly at one end (something I wish my H4n's had) so on paper it seems bigger than it actually is.

2) the C24 uses AAA batteries. I prefer all my equipment to be able to use AA so that having spares and backups is simpler

3) the C24 does not have a standard 1/4" x 20 tripod screw whereas the H1 does - all be it plastic rather than metal (but so far so good!). Rather it has a convoluted sling and clip arrangement which may not work at all if you need to mount it on upside down e.g. above the couples heads. I prefer to be able to mount H1's in all sorts of unlikely places using standard 7" friction arms with wide clamp mouths. I think that the C24's clamp is not going to open wide enough to be of use on furniture and fixtures in many public buildings. You could of course clamp the clamp but that is extra time and effort plus is not going to look great when in shot.

However the C24 is probably more robust particularly with its card slot. The H1 has a very flimsy slot and I have fastened all mine down with one side of sticky velcro so that they never need to be opened. The H1's act as card readers for my 8gb cards all be it they are slow even though they are supposed to be USB2.

Again the C24 looks better :- ) However I use small pouches with the H1's when to go in pockets so thats not an issue, and grooms are often quite taken with the idea of wearing a "wire". One recently commented mid-fitting "ooohh I feel like Jason Bourne" :- )

If you ever use assistants or if you ever want to avoid that sinking feeling when some piece of equipment is misbehaving for no apparent reason moments before showtime then there is a lot to be said for using multiple identical products. I have all my various product manuals stored on my smartphone as PDFs :- )

Pete

[Noa Put]

I have both the zoom h1 and yamaha c24, for use inside a pocket the yamaha is better because it's a few cms less in height but 50% thinner, only negative is that the mic plugin is on the side where I prefer it to be on top, it just takes a bit more space in the width if you plug the microphone cable in.

I just set the soundlevels to auto and leave it at that, battery usage is also very good, I have had recordings up to 8 hours on a aaa battery and it was still not empty, I also use it without a lav (using the build in microphones) to place it on a desk, it's very small so it doesn't notice like a zoom h4 would. And by far the best usage is when I strap it onto the handle of a wireless handmicrophone if I don't have an option to get sound eslewhere.

I don't have tested the soundquality from the h1 and yamaha side by side when using a lav microphone but I feel the h1 has cleaner sound, when recording using the build in microphones only I feel the yamaha is better.

[Colin Rowe]

Peter, Noa
Thanks for all that information. It was mainly the size issue that was enticing me toward the Yamaha, think I will probaly go with the Zoom. Once its in an inside pocket, who cares what it looks like.
Much appreciated

[Noa Put]

It's not what it looks like, it's the size, if looks where not important you could use a zoom h4 inside a pocket, in size the h1 is bulkier then the yamaha, same width but enough difference in height and thickness that it might feel a bit uncomfortable for the person having it in it's pocket or it might show a bit outside the vest.

[Colin Rowe]

Thanks Noa, yea, I meant size, as well as looks. Many years ago I used Radio mics that were 2 or 3 times bigger than the Zoom, so to me both units look very compact. I personally prefer the level increment setting of the Zoom, rather than the low medium and high settings of the Yamaha. Not a lot to choose between the 2 models. Just wish I was nearer a dealer, so I could check them both out.

[Noa Put]

Yes, the zoom has more control on setting the levels, combined with a lav mic it gives very clean sound, with the build in microphones it's not that good, the zoom h4 delivers much better quality then. Build quality from both is also not that good, feels a bit like a toy.

[Greg Miller]

Colin,

You might take a quick look at the Tascam PR-10. It's similar in size to the Yamaha, thin and flat. The mics barely protrude from the case, it's essentially rectangular.

It has incremental gain settings (as well as auto if you resort to that). It can record 24-bit .wav files.

Here in the states they're on sale for $49... I really don't need one (I have several similar recorders) but it's tempting anyway...