Im having trouble eliminating background hiss. I am recording accoustic guitar and vocals through an external mic (not top of the range quality but not a toy either). Using the built in mic patches means that it sounds pretty good but there is a constant background hiss (of varying degrees). Is this just a function of the sampling rate or is a really good mic likely to eliminate it?
Even when the mic is off, if you switch the Zoom to one of the mic gain patches you'll hear more hiss. This means the built in preamp is a bit noisy. Not a real surprise. A good external preamp will probably do more to reduce hiss than anything else since you can lower the gain on the Zoom. Changing mics probably won't make much difference. What kind of mic are you using?
Simon Thomas
Also..
October 3 2001, 1:50 AM
What value have you got for mic gain in the utility menu - hi or lo? Try both to see and see if that helps. Also your problem might be related to the Zoom Noise Reduction(ZNR) module try some different settings on that and even try it bypassed altogether. The hiss you hear may sound unnatural because of this module. Finally find out if it is your equipment and not the Zoom. Do you have the same problems on a normally quiet amplifier. If you don't have a good quiet amp go to your music shop with the guitar and mic and ask to try out their best amp( they won't know that you're actually trying out your equipment)
