Zoom Q3 Experiments (Round 1)
For this round, I wanted to see how useful the three gain settings on the Zoom Q3 (aff. link) are. Low gain, it seems, is worthless. Too quiet, unless you were recording a very loud rock group or something. High Gain and Auto Gain are usable, but pretty much the same. I think auto gain picks up a bit less background noise.
Low Gain:
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High Gain:
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Auto Gain:
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Other Settings
These recordings were made on the PCM 96khz/24bit recording quality. They record as .wav files. After I finished I imported them to Audacity to trim the ends and export them as mp3′s with no EQ or reverb added.
I’m going to follow the same process of using audacity to edit for the rest of my experiments.
The unit was placed about two feet in front of my, right in front of the sound hole.
Posted on January 29, 2010 in Recordings, Zoom Q3 Experiments
If you’re using the Q3 as a camera, low gain does not work because you’re usually too far away from your subject. However, as a mic it works fine if you’re close enough and the volume is decent, and low gain does a much better job of eliminating background noise.