Using External Microphones - Zoom H5 Handbook

3. USING EXTERNAL MICROPHONES

Okay, so that was pretty easy, right? So let's
explain those XLR points we were talking about
earlier. Without going into too much detail, XLR
is a type of audio cable most commonly found
on microphones, mixers and instruments. You can
recognize them by their metal jackets and three
pins (or three holes). The Zoom H5 has two chan-
nels for use with XLR-cables (the channels 1 and
2) located on the bottom of the device (1). The
number of the channel can be found above the
respective channel.
If you have an external microphone (like a
clip-on mic or a dynamic mic) you can plug the
attached XLR-cable into the Zoom H5. Depending
Please note that
you can also plug
jack 6.3 into the
XLR inputs!
on what channel you
plugged it in you can
now open that channel
in much the same way
you opened the L/R
channel on top.
In our case click the button that says 1. Once
it goes red, the Zoom H5 is picking up sound
through the attached device and you can start
recording. Obviously, this same method applies to
all other channels as well. Use the control knob of
the corresponding channel to adjust the sensitiv-
ity. Again, make sure the indicator doesn't jump
into the red or fall too far into the yellow.
The great thing about the Zoom H5 is that it
can record three (four, strictly speaking) channels
simultaneously. To do this, just repeat the previous
process for each channel used. The Zoom H5 will
subsequently save each channel as a separate file
allowing for full control over the various tracks
upon editing. Please note that this only works
with WAV-format files.