Category: Audio

Apple AirPods Not Showing up on Apple Mac Computer [SOLVED]

by Greg Johnson, posted in Audio, Tech Tips

Using AirPods with your Mac

If you already set up your AirPods with your iPhone and your Mac is signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID, they might be ready to use with your Mac. Place your AirPods in your ears and click the bluetooth icon in the menu bar on your Mac. Then choose AirPods from the list.

If you don’t see the AirPods listed as available in the bluetooth menu, you’ll need to pair the AirPods with your Mac following these steps:

  1. On your Mac, choose System Preferences from the Apple () menu, then click Bluetooth.
  2. Make sure that Bluetooth is on.
  3. With your AirPods in the charging case, open the lid.
  4. Press and hold the setup button on the back of the case until the status light flashes white.
  5. The AirPods should now be listed.
  6. Select your AirPods in the Devices list, then click Connect.
  7. Test the AirPods to make sure they are working.

Use AirPods with a non-Apple device

You can use AirPods as a Bluetooth headset with a non-Apple device. You can’t use Siri, but you can listen and talk. To set up your AirPods with an Android phone or other non-Apple device follow these steps:

  1. On your non-Apple device, go to the settings for Bluetooth and make sure that Bluetooth is on. If you have an Android device, go to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth.
  2. With your AirPods in the charging case, open the lid.
  3. Press and hold the setup button on the back of the case until you see the status light flash white.
  4. When your AirPods appear in the list of Bluetooth devices, select them.

More

This document is a close replica of the Apple support document found here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208718. It is being offered here for our site followers to make it easier to find. Some wording above has been changed to make the document more readable.

Zoom H2n Firmware Update 2.00 Installation

by Greg Johnson, posted in Audio, Tech Tips

There is a firmware update for the Zoom H2n recorder. Recently purchased recorders may have the 1.20 update. To install the new update, follow these instructions.

  1. Download the H2n System Version 2.00 software. (here)
  2. The downloaded file will be named H2n_v2.00E.zip
  3. Double-click on that file to expand it.
  4. This should result in a folder named H2n_v2.00E.
  5. Within that folder, there should be a file named H2NMAIN.BIN
  6. Power off the H2n recorder.
  7. Remove the SD card from the H2n recorder.
  8. Most laptop computers and some desktop computers have SD card readers built-in. If you don’t have an SD card reader built-in, you’ll need an external SD card reader [view on Amazon] such as the Sabrent SuperSpeed 2-Slot USB 3.0 Flash Memory Card Reader or the IOGEAR 12-in-1 USB 2.0 Pocket Flash Memory Card Reader/Writer. When you plug in the SD card reader, and insert the card, the SD card will be available to your computer.
  9. Copy the H2NMAIN.BIN file to the SD card, not putting it in any particular folder, but just directly in the SD card.
  10. When removing the SD card, in Windows click on the eject icon for USB devices. For Apple Mac, use the eject feature. Otherwise files can be corrupted.
  11. Put the SD card in the H2n recorder (it should be off at this point).
  12. Turn on the H2n recorder while holding down (pressing in) the Play control button.
  13. When the H2n recorder turns on, you’ll see a message on screen indicating “VERSION UPDATE” showing your current version and the version of the update file with an option to press OK or CANCEL.
  14. Push the Play control button up to switch from CANCEL to OK, then push the Play button in to begin the update. The progress will be indicated on screen. When done, you’ll be prompted to turn the unit off.

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The above instructions are surprisingly nowhere to be found on the Zoom website or anywhere else on the Internet, so we’ve written them up and provided them here.

Enable Speech on iPad or iPhone to Hear Text

by Greg Johnson, posted in Audio, Tech Tips, Tech Tools, Uncategorized

When you turn on the Siri text to speech feature, it’s possible to listen to web pages, emails, text messages, and other text. This is a huge time saver and lets you go about your work with hands and eyes free as you listen.

To enable speech on an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Tap on Accessibility
  3. Tap on Speech
  4. Turn on Speak Selection by moving the slide button to the right until it has a green indicator.
  5. Tap on Voices
  6. Tap on English (or your language of choice)
  7. Select a voice to use. The enhanced voices will sound much more natural and may be easier to understand. These require a download.
  8. Once you’re done with the above steps, you can select text in any app on the device, and once the text is selected you’ll see an option to Speak. However, don’t exit the Voices selection yet.
  9. You will want to try out a few of the enhanced voices to see which you prefer. To do so, press the Home key twice to switch to another app. Or, press it once to go to the home screen and start an app such as email or Safari to browse the web. Now you can press home twice to toggle between the two screens — the app you want to read from and the Voices selection screen.
  10. Change to a voice and then switch back to the app to select text and choose Speak. Each time you’ll hear the voice you’ve just selected in settings.
  11. You will also want to adjust the speed of speech to see what speed is best for you. This is found under General > Accessibility > Speech. The Speaking Rate is illustrated by a turtle or a rabbit. When you adjust the speed, the default voice will read a sample. To hear how your selected voice (from step #9) sounds with the speed setting, you can go to a document as described in step #9 above.

Portable Digital Linear PCM Stereo Audio Recorders: Tascam, Sony, Zoom

by Greg Johnson, posted in Audio, Hardware

This is a short list of high quality portable digital stereo audio recorders. These would be suitable for music, voice, or other audio sources, and would be useful for recording audio to accompany video recordings. Not all shown below are linear PCM recorders. Click view to see details for each recorder.

  • Sony PCM-D100 Portable High-Resolution Recorder, 3.9 stars / 13 reviews, retail $1,000 / sale $800 [view]
  • Sony PCM-M10 Portable Linear PCM Voice Recorder, 4.6 stars / 69 reviews, retail $400 / sale $250 [view]
  • TASCAM DR-05 Portable Digital Recorder, 4.3 stars / 619 reviews, retail $180 / sale $80, [view]
  • TASCAM DR-100mkII 2-Channel Portable Digital Recorder, 4.4 stars / 116 reviews, retail $600 / sale $300 [view]
  • TASCAM DR-40 4-Track Portable Digital Recorder, 4.4 stars / 376 reviews, retail $137 [view]
  • Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder, 4.3 stars / 591 reviews, retail $160 / sale $100 [view]
  • Zoom H2n Handy Recorder, 4.4 stars / 229 reviews, retail $225 / sale $260 [view]
  • Zoom H4n Handy Portable Digital Recorder, 4.5 stars / 641 reviews, retail $250 / sale $200 [view]
  • Zoom H5 Four-Track Portable Recorder, 4.7 stars / 79 reviews, retail $340 / sale $266, [view]

Product Images

Some product images are below.