Topic: Zoom Q2HD

[UnknownVT]

Possible bargain of sorts - Zoom Q2HD -



L-PCM digital recorder that records audio at:
PCM (Quantization: 16/24bit, Sampling Frequency: 44.1/48/96kHz)
AAC (Bit Rate: 64 to 320kbps, Sampling Frequency: 48kHz)
notice NO MP3 (but obviously one can easily convert)
Also lacks any line-in/external mic input.

Built-in Mic - Mid-Side stereo (MONO / 30°/60°/90°/120°/150°)
Maximum Sound Pressure Level: 120dB SPL
Input Gain： +1 to +39dB

Audio section seems similar to the Zoom H2n

Video Resolution - HD1080p 30fps、HD720p 60fps、HD720p 30fps、WVGA 60fps、WVGA 30fps

Sam Ash has it for $79.77 no tax & Free shipping.

Hope that helps someone.

[UnknownVT]

Received it -



SQ Test, Guitar -

Paulo du gato excerpt  - Badi Assad - CD - Rhythms - played on home sound system.

4E.mp3 - Download (2.67MB)

Zoom Q2HD internal mics set at 120deg - 24bit 48kHz L-PCM original > 44.1k vbr3+MP3Gain.

Video is "acceptable" -
on par with the best of pocket "Flip"-like camcorders (eg: Samsung W200 - which got great review from CamcorderInfo.com)
but noticeably beneath video from Panasonic GF5 (micro 4/3 ILC)

[UnknownVT]

Video tests:

Aimed 3 camcorders at TV (32" fullHDTV) playing 1080p video of Led Zeppelin's Song Remains the Same.



Zoom Q2HD
Panasonic GF5 (micro 4/3 ILC, one of the best consumer grade video)
Samsung W200 (one of the best of breed ultra compact pocket camcorder)

very short (~12secs) clips - all at 1080p fullHD
Although I did record the Q2HD audio with 24bit 48kHz L-PCM - none of the video editors I had would allow me to trim a short clip and save with the original audio format.
In the end I had to convert the audio to HE-AAC v2 at 320k (highest quality limit) before trimming and saving to MP4 container.
Videos off the Q2HD are .MOV - which is QuickTime but not very common, very few editor can handle that.

Q2HDc.mp4 - Download (17.02MB)

GF5c.mp4 - Download (36.29MB)

W200c.mp4 - Download (24.91MB)

Stills - frame capture:

Panasonic GF5 (micro 4/3 ILC)


Zoom Q2HD


Samsung W200


The Panasonic Lumix GF5 is in a completely different league - capturing some of the top consumer equipment  videos
The Review at Imaging-Resource.com goes into much more detail.
The audio is just acceptable with its internal mics.

The Zoom Q2HD is very much on par with the Samsung W200 pocket HD camcorder which gandered very good Review at CamcorderInfo.com
both are just acceptable - bit more than just better than nothing -
Samsung's sound quality in this company is the worst and it is Mono -
but again better than nothing.

[UnknownVT]

FWIW - some more information -

Zoom Q2HD can record video with L-PCM - I've done it with 24-bit 48kHz.

MediaInfo -

General
Complete name                            : G:\DCIM\100_ZOOM\ZOOM0004.MOV
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt 
File size                                : 3.67 GiB
Duration                                 : 59mn 5s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 8 881 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13
Tagged date                              : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13
AMBA                                     :


Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=15
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 59mn 5s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 6 571 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 9 900 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.238
Stream size                              : 2.71 GiB (74%)
Title                                    : Ambarella AVC / Ambarella AVC
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13
Tagged date                              : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, Sign                    : Unsigned
Codec ID                                 : in24
Duration                                 : 59mn 5s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 304 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay relative to video                  : -33ms
Stream size                              : 974 MiB (26%)
Title                                    : Ambarella AAC / Ambarella AAC
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13
Tagged date                              : UTC 1980-05-10 03:43:13

Maximum File Size -
This is for the maximum file size (due to FAT32 format limit)
video with 24-bit 48kHz PCM audio gives just under 1 hour.
This particular file name was: ZOOM0004.MOV
the Q2HD automatically created and continued a file named: ZO010004.MOV

Usability -
The Q2HD always defaults to video recording -
to record audio only have to specifically set it via the menu.

Battery life -
I got 3hours 8mins from using just under 1900mAh -
so that is about the time limit for video using say 2000mAh eneloops
or just under 4hours using 2400mAh eneloop XX or Duracell Ion-Core (re-badged eneloop XX)

Video Compatibility -
Even though the resultant video could be played with WMP (Windows Media Player) and Media Player Classic
it was not easy to edit/trim - none of the video editors I had could do it
(including VirtualDub, AviDemux).

Video Editing -
I had to use MediaCoder to convert the audio to an acceptable format for MP4 - like AAC at 320k (highest quality limit) and save to .MP4 container
before the video could be edited with the likes of VirtualDub or AviDemux.

Extracting Audio -
Again had to convert the file to .MKV using MediaCoder (copying both video and audio streams)
then used MKVextractGUI2 to exact the audio.
Note: even though MediaCoder can extract audio - it converted the audio to 16-bit regardless of the requested output format -
even if "Original" bit-depth or 24-bits were specified.

[UnknownVT]

FWIW - some more information -

Zoom Q2HD can record video with L-PCM - I've done it with 24-bit 48kHz.

Video Editing -
I had to use MediaCoder to convert the audio to an acceptable format for MP4 - like AAC at 320k (highest quality limit) and save to .MP4 container
before the video could be edited with the likes of VirtualDub or AviDemux.

Discussing with someone with a Zoom Q3HD - I figured out the problem with the video editing may have been from recording audio with 24-bits.

I just tried videoing with audio set to 16-bits and 44.1kHz and 48kHz -
and found I could trim both versions with VirtualDub and use the simple Direct Stream Copy of both video and audio -
this saved .AVI files that retained both the original video and audio formats fine.

It was similar with AviDemux both versions could be trimmed and using both COPY of video and audio -
but I had to mux to .MKV container.
(for some reason muxing to .AVI seems to play the audio without the video even though the file thumbnails show a frame and MediaInfo show there is video -
I haven't investigated enough yet to find out why)

So it seems I can quite easily edit and trim the video .MOV files with either VirtualDub and AviDemux as long as I use 16-bit audio.