Copying audio files from Zoom H2n/similar to iPhone?

[BJG145]

Our drummer is currently in the Philippines and we're not sure when he's coming back. This is inconvenient, but we'd still prefer to capture some of his kit drums on a cheap field recorder than get someone local to do it. So...

He has an iPhone 7. He's previously got some good basic recordings off a Zoom H2n, thought we'd need to provide him with one of those, or similar. He's not technical, so it needs to be fairly simple. I was looking at options like the IQ7...



...but I'm not sure how that would compare to a dedicated recorder like the H2n. If he got one of those though, I'm not sure of the best way to transfer recordings to his iPhone to send them to us online...? He doesn't have a computer/laptop. I'm not sure if you can copy WAVs off a micro-SD card from an H2n straight onto an iPhone via a simple adaptor like this, or if it would be easier to connect them up with an audio cable, and whether that would make much difference to the audio quality under the circumstances. (We want to include stuff on final tracks, but it can be lo-fi or whatever.) Any thoughts or ideas welcome...!

[The Elf]

Anything you record on an iPhone can be shared (the box with an arrow coming out of it) to practically any destination. Dropbox would be a fairly simple option.

I don't know if an iPhone 7 would be on the latest iOS, but if it is it should be pretty simple - I don't recall when the easy share options arrived on iPhone.

[Sam Spoons]

The SD card adapters usually only allow images to be shared (Apple call it the 'camera kit' for a reason) not audio or docs. As The Elf says once it's on the phone sharing is easy enough, so a Zoom mic for the iPhone might be the simplest option.

[ManFromGlass]

I use the camera kit and SD adapter to get audio from my H2N to my ipad. I just upgraded to iOS 14 on the ipad so now I can copy from H2N SD card to ipad.
The trick is the ipad (and assuming iPhone) doesn’t always have enough juice to power the SD card reader so I bought the camera kit that also has an ipad lightening charger input beside the SD card reader input.
I’ve also had great success using a portable USB hard drive and thumb drives with the ipad, but for that I need to connect a powered USB hub to the camera kit. Then any usb drive connects to the hub.
Definitely a bit more involved than keeping it all inside the iPhone.

[BJG145]

...right...so if I get a Lightning to USB 3 Camera adaptor...

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/M ... ra-adapter

...and the iPhone 7 is updated to iOS 14, then I can copy WAVs straight off an H2n micro-SD card onto the iPhone without a computer...?

[The Elf]

...right...so if I get a Lightning to USB 3 Camera adaptor...

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/M ... ra-adapter

...and the iPhone 7 is updated to iOS 14, then I can copy WAVs straight off an H2n micro-SD card onto the iPhone without a computer...?

In theory, yes. I can only say that it works with most (but not all!) USB flash drives I've tried. Give me 10 minutes and I'll try with my camera kit adapter, card reader and an SD card...

[The Elf]

This combo works. You can see that the phone has picked up the presence of the card in the USB card reader - and it is reading/writing to it fine. It needed the lightning power cable to be connected, though, so don't be tempted to go for one of the cheaper USB-only adapters I've seen. The one you've linked to seems to be the right one. Oh, and the cheap ones don't usually work either - don't ask me how I know!

[BJG145]

Perfect...we'll go with that. Thanks all.

[ManFromGlass]

One confusing part about the transfer. There is no progress bar for when a transfer is happening or notice of how long it takes so I give files extra time. Maybe I don’t need to but I’ve transferred files up to 2GB in size and still don’t know how long it takes or when it’s safe to disconnect the SD card. For 2GB I gave it about 2 -3 minutes. No idea if this is overkill.

[BJG145]

We've sent the drummer some cash and he's ordered an H2n. We're trying to do this on a shoestring budget though. I know that original Apple equipment is the most reliable, but if there's a known/good/cheaper alternative for this then links would be good.

(It's apparently Thailand now. Last communication was that he was "travelling all night to a paradise island" in search of gigs. I'd be surprised if he finds any, but, whatever. He's quite high maintenance, but a great drummer, so he's worth a bit of effort.)

[The Elf]

I know that original Apple equipment is the most reliable, but if there's a known/good/cheaper alternative for this then links would be good.

I really wouldn't. They're at best flakey and at worst they never work from day one. I hate giving Apple over the odds for their over-priced accessories, but this is one where I've bought at least twice...

[CS70]

Totally unhelpful, but I dig that Mark III

[ManFromGlass]

A drummer with sheet music in front of him. Don’t see that too often.
Less so with guitar players!!!
Flame suit on!

[Kwackman]

A drummer with sheet music in front of him. Don’t see that too often.
Less so with guitar players!!!
Flame suit on!

People with glass instruments shouldn't throw stones......

[ManFromGlass]

We tried sheet music once - it wasn’t all cracked up to be what it was supposed to be . . . . . .

[BJG145]

The H2n has turned up, Geoff's tried it out and he's really pleased with it.

Apparently he's a bit distracted at the moment, by a beach festival in Thailand...but when that's finished he'll focus on recording some drums for us! I expect...