I picked up a Zoom H1n recorder recently earlier this month as a way of encouraging myself to do more impromptu field recording.
While I like the Zoom H4n + H2n recorders I already own, I wanted to get something smaller and less bulky for use as convenient everyday recorder that I can always have on me to capture any interesting sounds I find whenever I’m out and about. The Zoom H4n is quite a big unit which makes carrying it around all the time not that practical for everyday use, and while the Zoom H2n is smaller in size, I find it picks up an awful lot of excessive handling noise, which isn’t that useful when it comes to making on-the-fly dynamic recordings.
I haven’t had the Zoom H1n that long to get a proper feel for its strengths and weaknesses yet, but I’m already really enjoying using it. Here’s some field recordings I made of some small babbling brook streams at a local park:
I’m quite pleased (and surprised) with how these recordings sound, especially considering I was recording outdoors without a windshield, without a grip or stand, and also in close proximity to splashing water!