mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

The latest Zoom firmware for the H1 Essential has this so-called 'AI Noise Reduction' thing going on, so I thought I'd test it in a noisy environment which I call 'The Cupboard Of Doom!'
It's where all the water, heating and electricity comes into the house, so it's of course ideal for lovely, high-quality recordings.

In the first clip, noise reduction is off, then in the next clip which is back-to-back, it's on.
My scepticism about this whole thing is on full display here...
You be the judge. Useful or useless?

reshared this

in reply to Borris
mastodon - Link to source

JamminJerry

@BorrisInABox like I just told andre, to me all it sounded like it did was remove higher frequencies, and nothing more. it sounded as loud, or damn near as loud other than that, but I don't ahve the really good ears like you and him do.
@Borris
in reply to Andre Louis
mastodon - Link to source

Toni Barth

Yep, that is one of the features I wouldn't have wanted on my device. Next time you're trying to figure out which feature people might want, just add proper preamp gain control instead of... whatever this is.

Andre Louis reshared this.

in reply to Andre Louis
mastodon - Link to source

Double Tap

I just tried it yesterday with the new Podtrak P4Next and it was pretty amazing in my setup. I did notice if I spoke or made any sound at all the results were quite different - less good basically. But overall I was quite impressed. Not sure if I want it active at an event next week but I would probably use it in my home studio. Interesting times. Very accessible little machine though - I'm finally able to use the menus!
in reply to Andre Louis
mastodon - Link to source

Double Tap

To be honest, I would do the same. I prefer to create the best environment and then capture the best I can get and deal with it later. But I'm thinking for a few friends of mine who are less techy and could do with a decent live solution this might work. Wasn't expecting much to be honest.
in reply to Allison Meloy
mastodon - Link to source

Andre Louis

@technocounselor @doubletap I do have the F3 but haven't checked to see if it has firmware updates or not, though I wouldn't use that particular feature if it did, other than for testing purposes. I should take a look.
@Double Tap @Allison Meloy
in reply to Andre Louis
mastodon - Link to source

Simon Jaeger

It cut out the part of the noise that was interfering with speech frequencies, which could be useful. But I don't know why anyone would want this on a recorder. This doesn't seem to have been marketed as a point and shoot device, but rather a device that gives you clean audio of exactly what it hears. So this seems like a solution looking for a problem. If they put a proper limiter in and add FLAC support, then they're making it point and shoot. Until then, some postproduction will always be necessary, so just reduce the noise there. In short, weird thing for them to work on.
in reply to TheFriedChip
mastodon - Link to source

Andre Louis

@flyingpenguinMwauthzyx If I could find it I would. I didn't retain it, but will see if it's in my history somewhere. I did repost a link recently, as in a couple of days ago though. Maybe perform a mastodon search for 'Zoom Firmware' which should turn up something, probably including this conversation.
@TheFriedChip
in reply to Andre Louis
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

ondrosik

well, it will maybe make more sense if you can combine it with mp3 recording. e. g. mostly people who prefer mp3 wants to have resulting file immediately. I can imagine use this noise reduction during some live shows which I sometimes do for my friends but it doesnt work in usb either.