Make sure there’s an SD card in the little drawer on the right side.
Turn on by sliding the on button down, just for a moment. It will boot up.
By default, the pair (stereo) condenser mics are enabled. The “MIC” light on the left front should be lit.
Plug the SM58 into an XLR cable. Plug the XLR cable into input #1 on the bottom of the Zoom.
Plug your headphones into the headphone jack on the left side. Listen to the ambient noise in the room.
Press mic button 1 on the left front. Lights #1 and #2 should be lit; “MIC” should now go dark. Also the ambient noise in your headphones should go down.
Speak into the mic. Watch the recording level bars on the little screen. You want the bars to be bouncing up between -12 and -6. You should not hear any distortion. Experiment with the distance between the mic and your mouth, the loudness of your voice, and the “mic level” buttons on the right side (note: it will ask you to choose mic 1 or mic 2). The default for the XLR input is 100%; you might want to lower it to 75 or 80 and go from there.
Press the big red “recording” button. It is now “armed.” When you’re ready, press the Play/Pause button, and you’re recording. When you’re done, press the Stop button (the square icon).
If you press the Play/Pause button now, you’ll hear your recording played back.
You can manage your recording files by pressing the little “File” button just under the screen. It’ll show you any recordings you’ve made. Use the thumb dial on the right side to choose the file from the list, and then use your thumb to roll down to “delete” or whatever it is you want to do. Press the dial in to choose.
PLug the USB cable into the zoom, and your laptop.
Press “menu” and then rotate the dial down to “USB” – and choose “storage.” The Zoom recorder should mount on your laptop just like a USB key. You can drag the .wav files onto your computer, and then open them up in Audacity or whatever DAW you’re using.
Just like a USB key, you should “unmount” the drive before you unplug it.