Original WAV Files From Zoom H4n Do Not Play

Peter Riding wrote on 5/9/2014, 3:10 PM

I hope someone can help me with this issue which I've had ever since I've owned a Zoom H4n.

If I import WAV files directly into Vegas I get highly distorted sound - it appears to stop and start even though it is playing the whole time. In other words short gaps appear.

However if I first bring the WAV files into Audacity and then export them at the same settings - which are 48-16 the files play fine.

That has been my workaround and I've lived with it as I haven't used the H4n frequently. But I am increasingly using the H4n to record three Sennheiser wireless receivers at the same time - one into the plugin on the back and the other two into the XLR sockets - so I'd like to resolve it.

Here are some samples, rendered to MP3 to keep the file sizes low. The audio quality is a non-issue as this was simply an exercise to test the battery duration - which using all three Sennys into the H4n with the H4n on 4 Channel mode and phantom power switched off as not required gave me a fantastic 354 minutes before the 8gb card was full up :- ) The H4n batteries were refreshed Sanyo Eneloop 2450's before you ask :- )

This is the original file:
http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/images/sample-original.mp3

And this is the version thats been through Audacity:
http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/images/sample-audacity.mp3

BTW I also have 4 Zoom H1's and their WAV files don't cause me any issues, nor do any of the audio tracks from my video cams. Its just the H4n.

Thanks.

Pete

Comments

wjauch wrote on 5/9/2014, 5:33 PM

I had a similar sound problem with Zoom H4n files that were on a usb external drive, that went away when the same files were copied to c: drive

musicvid10 wrote on 5/9/2014, 10:46 PM

I have the original h4, and have never had a problem, fwiw.

DeadRadioStar wrote on 5/10/2014, 8:12 AM

I have both the H1 and the original H4, and have never had a problem with either. Just a guess here, but I seem to remember one of the new features of the 'n' was the ability to record in broadcast wave format. Check whether this is the case and try changing the recording format as a test.

I record BWF with the H1 and it works in VP12 without problem, however the H4n would have been the first product in that line to offer that feature, so perhaps the implementation was less than perfect -- as I say, just guessing.

You could also try upgrading the firmware in the H4n: Version 1.72

musicvid10 wrote on 5/10/2014, 8:40 AM

BWF in itself should not cause problems.
It's identical to vanilla WAV, just has some extra metadata.

John_Cline wrote on 5/10/2014, 5:06 PM

I've had the H4, H4n and now the H6, I recorded literally hundreds of hours of .WAV files on the H4n and never had a problem importing into Vegas. Perhaps the fact that you are recording in the 4-channel mode has something to do with it, maybe there is some sort of interleaving problem as each file gets recorded sequentially back and forth. What speed is your SD card?

Peter Riding wrote on 5/11/2014, 6:24 AM

Thanks for the suggestions folks, appreciated but I'm no further forward :- (

Tried using the C drive, no difference. Looked up the Broadcast Wave Format in the H4n manual; thats what it does now, there isn't an alternative so I can't bypass it even if somehow it was causing the issue. I've recorded in both Stereo and 4 Channel modes on multiple occasions and the issue arises in both.

Today I copied the sample project over to a latop and the issue did NOT arise either in Vegas 13-310 or Vegas 12. But it continues on my main desktop in both 13 and 12. I also played the project on my desktop networked from my laptop as a long shot and I did get the problem.

So it has to be something in the confiruration of my desktop. I wouldn't know where to start. Oh well, thanks again everyone.

Pete

Former user wrote on 5/11/2014, 8:02 AM

Have you opened the files in something like Mediainfo to see if there is a difference between the WAV file directly from the H4n and the file after you have run it through Audacity?

Peter Riding wrote on 5/11/2014, 9:20 AM

Hi Dave, there is no obvious difference to me. As I say the original file plays fine on my laptop anyway plus 48-16 WAVs from other devices are fine (and my default project settings are 48-16 in Vegas), so I probably have to tackle some setting on the desktop. Both PCs are running Windows 8.1 latest but this issue has been with me for a long time - certainly Windows 7 and maybe even Vista.

Pete

Just for completeness here is the Media Info log:

ORIGINAL FILE FROM H4n:

General
Complete name : H:\tests_battery+card_2014-05-08\H4n 4 Channel, 3x Senn\FOLDER01\4CH000M.wav
Format : Wave
File size : 2.00 GiB
Duration : 3h 6mn
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 1 536 Kbps
Producer : ZOOM Handy Recorder H4n
Encoded date : 2008-01-01 02:04:57
Encoding settings : A=PCM,F=48000,W=16,M=stereo,T=ZOOM Handy Recorder H4n

Audio
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 3h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 2.00 GiB (100%)

AUDACITY FILE:

General
Complete name : H:\tests_battery+card_2014-05-08\H4n 4 Channel, 3x Senn\wavs conveted to wavs in Audacity\4CH000M-AUDACITY.wav
Format : Wave
File size : 2.00 GiB
Duration : 3h 6mn
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 1 536 Kbps

Audio
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 3h 6mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 2.00 GiB (100%)