I just purchased the Zoom H5 sound recorder, with the intention of using it both as a sound recorder, and also as a audio interface under Linux. My OS is Debian stable. Currently 9/stretch.
Unfortunately, there is hardly any documentation on how to use it under Linux. I managed, by looking at the manual, to get my OS (Debian stable/stretch) to at least recognize the device.
However, right now I'm not sure how to go with either Stereo or 4
Track. In both cases I end up with a screen that shows USB AUDIO I/F
XY5
, along with L, R, 1, and 2. But I see no motion in any of these.
However, right now I'm not sure how to go with either Stereo
or
Multitrack
. In both cases, it is clear that I need to go with the
Bus Powered
option. As mentioned in various places, if I choose
Stereo
, Debian thinks it is the H4, but with Multitrack
correctly
identifies it as the H5.
In both cases I end up with a screen that shows USB AUDIO I/F
, along
with L, R, 1, and 2. But I see no motion in any of these.
lsusb
is showing the following:
Bus 006 Device 006: ID 1686:01c5 ZOOM Corporation
The syslog is printing a bunch of complaints:
May 28 21:38:01 orwell kernel: [1505026.660071] usb 11-1: Warning! Unlikely big volume range (=4294967295), cval->res is probably wrong.
May 28 21:38:01 orwell kernel: [1505026.660076] usb 11-1: [2] FU [Mic Capture Volume] ch = 2, val = 1/0/1
May 28 21:38:01 orwell mtp-probe: checking bus 11, device 3: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb11/11-1"
May 28 21:38:01 orwell mtp-probe: bus: 11, device: 3 was not an MTP device
May 28 21:38:01 orwell systemd-udevd[28202]: Process '/usr/sbin/alsactl -E HOME=/run/alsa restore 2' failed with exit code 99.
May 28 21:38:02 orwell pulseaudio[6363]: [pulseaudio] alsa-mixer.c: Your kernel driver is broken: it reports a volume range from 0 to -1 which makes no sense.
The H5 is also showing up in pavucontrol
. The configuration section
offers various options. I'm not sure which one to choose - the options
are:
Analog Stereo Output + Multichannel Input
Analog Stereo Output
Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output + Multichannel Input
Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output
Multichannel Input
Off
If I choose Multichannel Input
, then it shows up in pavucontrol
under Input Devices
, but the volume level (or whatever it is called)
for that device stays at zero. As it happens, I have another, regular
mic plugged into my main (PCI Express) sound card (Xonar DX) right
now, and that is responding fine. Also, I assume a working mic makes
some noise, and the mics on the H5 are completely silent.
I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, so help would be much appreciated, bearing in mind my knowledge of things sound-related is very limited.