The Sescom Microphone Attenuation Cable does what it’s supposed to do. It reduces the headphone output of the Zoom h1 to a level that the Camera’s microphone input can handle, but the price has always seemed somewhat unreasonable at $27.  That’s a quarter of the price of a new Zoom h1 itself.

Many of you have asked me if there was a lower price alternative to the Sescom cable that would provide you with the same effect. Well here it is, the Koss VC-20 headphone volume controller.

The Koss VC-20 actually does something better then the Sescom Microphone attenuation cable, It provides a volume control wheel that allows you to dial the volume level from the Zoom h1 into the camera from 100 % all the way down to 0% (no audio reaching the camera at all) and everywhere in between.  This means you can control your audio levels from the Zoom h1 on the fly. But the best part is the price. At $7.77 (as of this writing) the Koss VC-20 is a much more affordable and useful option then the Sescom cable.

You will still need a cable to go from your camera to the Koss VC-20 volume controller but you can pick up a low price 3.5mm cable for $1.60 on amazon which still keeps the price under $10. Most of you will probably have one laying around the house. Above I have the Koss VC-20 clipped to my personal advanced Zoom h1 shock mount using the little shirt clip on the back of the VC-20 and a twist tie around the extra cable. My Shock mount is blue so that I don’t accidently sell it.

One thing to keep in mind is that it’s better to use as short a cable as you can on the output of the Koss VC-20. Once the signal has been reduced by the volume control, the cable is more likely to pick up noise the longer it gets. The cable and setup is on my video review list, so stay tuned.


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