Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum

If I only have one condenser mic connected in stereo mode, with phantom power on there is a high pitched whine on the empty channel if however I have two condenser mics connected there is no whine, the H4 works perfectly, some interference must be caused if one channel is left open, in four track mode with only one input selected this is not an issue

Thank you, rnms - that is exactly what my H4 does

I just bought two MXL 909 condenser mic's from musiciansfriend.com. I've only tried one of them in channel 1 in Stereo Mode. Big time whine on batteries. No whine on external power.

I'm really happy with the mic's @ $59.99 each. I tossed on a Karaoke style track from iTunes and stood next to the stereo speakers. From about 2 1/2 feet away, the mic picked up the sound and my vocals really well. I'm anxious to really get involved in 4 track recording now.

As I'm really starting from scratch on equipment, I was also happy to find their On-Stage Stands MS7510 Mic Pro Pak. $19.99 for a stand, 20' XLR cable, and a mic with a clamp-style mounting bracket. A word of warning, though. It is very, very easy to strip the threads on the mic stand by cross-threading a mic clip.

Brian

Since a condensor mic is essentially a capacitor, I wonder what would happen if one plugged a mic into one input and put a capacitor from the +48V wire to ground on the other? Of course it would have to be a cap that can handle +48 V.

Along those lines, it might be useful to put that capacitor into a small capsule that simply plugs into any XLR socket - a "dummy mic" used to terminate inputs and avoid this kind of problem.

Regarding the whine disappearing in 4 track mode. In 4 track mode the H4 defaults to mono, which may explain why the whine goes away. If this guess is true, the H4 would whine in 4 track mode if you put it into stereo link mode.