# Zoom Q3



## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

??advice?? 
I just bought it for $40 with all the accessories!! Wohoo. 

All advice much appreciated 


Ciao for niao


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2017)

Use it to the max and post results often.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are on it. I've been looking at the Q2/3/4 lately as a solution for videos. I'm pretty happy with how my iPhone captures video, but the audio isn't great. I'm hoping to use a Zoom as a the main static cam and audio and use the iPhone for a 2nd shot/mobile cam.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Im on a mission


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Strangely enough I picked up a used Q2HD from L&M yesterday, for a lot more than $40 I might add. Anyway I just plugged it in and recorded this, haven't read the manual yet so it might get better. As you can see i went to great lengths to dress appropriately and set up a nice exotic background (not). Also had no clue what to play so ignore all of that shit and listen to the recording. Reinhardt 18 combo and just cycling through my pedalboard. Strat Ultra with lace pups btw. Arthritic hands and brain.


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2017)

That came through surprisingly well.
Would you say that the sound from the vid represents what you heard in your room?


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

Your ensemble was awesome! Your such a fashionista. 

Seriously, even though you were just checking things out with your new toy, your tone, vibrato and playing were really interesting and so soulful! Nice playing!


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

laristotle said:


> That came through surprisingly well.
> Would you say that the sound from the vid represents what you heard in your room?


Yep, I was pleasantly surprised, best live recorder I've used. Video is not great but that's not why I wanted it. Hopefully will try it with the band in a couple of weeks.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Cool man. Promising. 

I'll report back as well.


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## Lola (Nov 16, 2014)

davetcan said:


> Strangely enough I picked up a used Q2HD from L&M yesterday, for a lot more than $40 I might add. Anyway I just plugged it in and recorded this, haven't read the manual yet so it might get better. As you can see i went to great lengths to dress appropriately and set up a nice exotic background (not). Also had no clue what to play so ignore all of that shit and listen to the recording. Reinhardt 18 combo and just cycling through my pedalboard. Strat Ultra with lace pups btw. Arthritic hands and brain.


That riff at 0:40 just grabbed me! It took me on a journey and then some! Just wicked!


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Lola said:


> That riff at 0:40 just grabbed me! It took me on a journey and then some! Just wicked!


Thanks, I don't usually think about what I'm doing, it just comes out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't  I like playing that riff over some Coco Montoya stuff, this one in particular.






here's the pedal board. Nothing fancy.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

davetcan said:


> Strangely enough I picked up a used Q2HD from L&M yesterday, for a lot more than $40 I might add. Anyway I just plugged it in and recorded this, haven't read the manual yet so it might get better. As you can see i went to great lengths to dress appropriately and set up a nice exotic background (not). Also had no clue what to play so ignore all of that shit and listen to the recording. Reinhardt 18 combo and just cycling through my pedalboard. Strat Ultra with lace pups btw. Arthritic hands and brain.


Sounds pretty decent. Looking forward to seeing how it works with the band. This is the model I was looking at as well.

My issue with my iPhone is that the audio sounds decent, but the limiter on the phone's mic is VERY aggressive, so if there's a quiet intro with just guitar, it sounds nice and full, but when the band kicks-in, the limiter aggressively reduces gain so the mic won't clip and there's a noticeable volume drop in playback. I was wondering how the mics on the Zoom stuff handle big volume transitions at club levels.

I've used the old H4n audio recorder many times and liked it, but based on price, I imagine the mics on that are better than whatever is on the Q series. Maybe not.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> Sounds pretty decent. Looking forward to seeing how it works with the band. This is the model I was looking at as well.
> 
> My issue with my iPhone is that the audio sounds decent, but the limiter on the phone's mic is VERY aggressive, so if there's a quiet intro with just guitar, it sounds nice and full, but when the band kicks-in, the limiter aggressively reduces gain so the mic won't clip and there's a noticeable volume drop in playback. I was wondering how the mics on the Zoom stuff handle big volume transitions at club levels.
> 
> I've used the old H4n audio recorder many times and liked it, but based on price, I imagine the mics on that are better than whatever is on the Q series. Maybe not.


I have an old H4 kicking around here somewhere, I'll try to record something with both. From memory I much prefer the audio quality on this Q2HD.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

davetcan said:


> I have an old H4 kicking around here somewhere, I'll try to record something with both. From memory I much prefer the audio quality on this Q2HD.


Really? That's encouraging! I'd be very interested to hear a side-by-side comparison.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

the zoom pad is consistent therefor the eq and subsequent need to tweaking is the same throughout. I usually eq the whole track the same and then normalize and boost output all in audacity and then. ta da. gold certified album


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Not sure if there is a good way to compare the Q2HD and my old H4. Prior to conversion and compression the Q2 seems to be a tad brighter and louder. Nothing that can't be adjusted during the processing though.

If anyone like the tone of the guitar these are Vineham Classic B pups, I personally love them. Middle position alone is worth the price of admission.

Here's the very short Q2 video and I'll try to find a way to post the H4 file.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

here's the H4 audio file.I just dumped it into cakewalk and exported out without any processing at all.


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fdavetcan%2Fh4-test


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2017)

They both sound good, however, the H4 really stands out in comparison.
btw, nice rendition of 'nature's way'.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

laristotle said:


> They both sound good, however, the H4 really stands out in comparison.
> btw, nice rendition of 'nature's way'.


Yep, I was abe to upload the H4 as a Wave file, not sure if that was the difference. The Q2 was converted to youtube and I'm pretty sure that messes with quality. In native format the Q2 sounds much better but I think I still slightly prefer the H4.

I wasn't sure anyone would recognize "Natures Way", it's been years since I've played it, LOL.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2017)

davetcan said:


> The Q2 was converted to youtube and I'm pretty sure that messes with quality.


Can you upload a wave file of this one too? for a consistent comparison?


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Not sure. It's recorded as a MOV file I think, anyone know how to convert a video to Wave? I recorded the Q2 in 24-bit/96k PCM high resolution audio, not sure how that compares to Wave.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2017)

TBH, I'm lost there too.
Sorry, can't help.
Maybe this site?
Convert MOV to WAV (Online & Free) — Convertio


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## StratCat (Dec 30, 2013)

I have a Q3. Have had it for a few years and like it. It's not about the video, it's about the sound. The speaker on it is not great but plug a set of head phones in and I think the sound is pretty good.

Be careful with the switch on the side that sets video+ audio or just audio. I have sometimes accidentally put this on audio only just as my son is about to start playing!

For $40 bucks, you got yourself a nice take on the fly recorder.

Below was recorded with Gibson LP Studio (stock), 1985 Mesa Boogie Studio, Boss Rc2 Looper. Lots of mistakes but the sound is pretty accurate. I don't think you will be disappointed with your Zoom.


perhaps this will work


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I can't get it to play, I think you may need to get it onto youtube. Alternatively we could download it and play with Quicktime I guess.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I see it.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

sambonee said:


> I see it.


Plays fine on my office computer, I'll need to figure out why it won't in the music room


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

davetcan said:


> Not sure. It's recorded as a MOV file I think, anyone know how to convert a video to Wave? I recorded the Q2 in 24-bit/96k PCM high resolution audio, not sure how that compares to Wave.


If you drop the .mov file into a DAW, you should be able to export just the audio as WAV. I used to do this with Sonar all the time.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I tried that with SONAR first but couldn't get it to take the file. I'll give it another go.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

OK here is the Q2HD video exported to WAV thru a free 3rd part software. No idea how it will have impacted quality. You'll need to adjust the volume between this and the H4.


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fdavetcan%2Fq2-wav


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## Mezrael (Nov 17, 2021)

Has anyone used another converter for video? I need to convert from the not too popular VOB format to mp4. Many programs convert mp4 to different formats, but VOB practically does not convert to any other formats. Well, I haven't found any programs that can do this.


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## GoldenSeptimiy (Nov 20, 2021)

You can use the console to convert video , using the ffmpeg library, but I don't know for sure if vob video formats are converted in it. Open the console, install the library on the PC if you use Windows and start using it. There is documentation on the use on the official website.


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## Mezrael (Nov 17, 2021)

I would like to find something simpler, I'm not good at PCs. I can install programs on the computer at best. I've never used the console, so I'm afraid it won't work. Without an interface, it will be somehow difficult to figure out what to do and how to do it. I have read the documentation, there I need to go to the folder through the console, select a file, and then start writing code and convert the video.


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## GoldenSeptimiy (Nov 20, 2021)

Use any video conversion program, you can even convert vob to mp4 in free programs. Of course, not all programs convert videos, but it won't be difficult to find them. If you need a simple interface, you can use the movavi video converter. They have an article detailing how to convert vob to mp4 click . You can use it, just like handbrake is a good program, but there is a complex interface, you will need to figure it out before you understand how it works.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

The Q3 is a bit better than the Q2, but nowhere as good as the Q4.


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