Main-stream Media is Guilty

Democracy Now! offers a great alternative to those news organizations that are nothing more than mouth pieces for those in power.  Non-profit and marvelously informative, Amy Goodman provides a valuable service to all that might question the information we are fed day after day by "big" media!  http://www.democracynow.org/

Zoom H4N Review and AMD Chipset Workaround

 The Zoom H4N is an awesome field recorder.  You can look at it as the Swiss Army Knife of portable recorders.  Here is what comes in the box:

• owners manual
• pop filter
• protective case
• Cubase Light Edition
• USB cable
• 1GB SD card
• AC adaptor
•  Mic stand adapter (used to attach the H4N to a standard mic stand)
• plastic protective case

I've been using the H4N as a field recorder for my job.  It's done an excellent job as far as sound quality and ease of use.  This product just feels like quality from all perspectives.  I started just recording on it and transferring to my PC via a USB connection.  That worked fine and I was very pleased with the results.  Here are some of the features of this recorder:

• Built-in X/Y stereo mics record at either 90° or 120°
• Four channel simultaneous recording using built-in and external mics
• Digitally controlled, high-quality mic preamp for improved audio quality
• Large 1.9-Inch LCD screen and improved user interface for easy operation
• 24bit/96kHz Linear PCM recording for pristine recording
• MP3 recording for increased recording time
• Built-in reference speaker to check recordings
• Shock resistant rubberized body for improved chassis protection
• Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) compatible time stamp and track marker
• Records on SD/SDHC media of up to 32GB for maximum recording time
• Auto-record and pre-record feature so you never miss a moment
• Variable speed playback capability for “phrase training”
• Stamina mode enables 10 hours of continuous battery life
• Onboard mid-side matrix decoder for additional miking possibilities
• Built-in mounting joint for tripod and mic stand mounting
• USB 2.0 port for faster file transfer
• XLR inputs with phantom power allow recording with any mic
• Supports plug-in power type external mics
• Hi-Z Inputs for recording guitar and bass
• Studio effects onboard, including guitar and bass amp modeling
• USB audio interface capability
• Low-cut filter to reduce noise
• Normalizing and file splitting functions
• Mono mix function
• Onboard tuner and metronome
• Optional remote control (RC4) available

Source: Amazon.com

Everything has been fine for this recorder except for one glitch.  As you can see above one feature is that the H4N can be used as an audio interface so you can record directly to your PC.  I couldn't get it to work on my AMD chip set PC and then I noticed this on the Zoom web site where they admit this problem.  I contacted zoom tech support and there advice was only to switch to an Intel PC.  Of course, this is crazy and totally unacceptable.  It's quite shocking that a product of this quality wouldn't work with a popular product like AMD chip set motherboards!  These are not esoteric at all.  Anyway, I found a workaround which unfortunately Zoom's support had no idea about.  The workaround was too easy:  If you have an AMD chipset motherboard and want to use the Zoom H4N as an audio interface just go out and buy an add-on USB controller.  I bought a cheap USB controller (PCI) with a VIA chip set. Something like this should work.  Fortunately, I had an empty PCI slot.  After connecting the H4N to this USB controller all is well!  Works perfectly!   Besides this problem, I would highly recommend this product for field recording or as an audio interface in your home or professional studio.

Education in the U.S.

We always here the politicians complain about how badly the teacher's are doing.  Here's a little truth that might help the teachers' unions fight back against  the union-busting (most are already busted) pols!

http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/jan2011/tc20110112_006501.htm

Flying Batman!

You gotta love flying like this!
http://www.airspacemag.com/video/The-Wingsuit-In-Flight.html