Zoom Q4 vs Sony HDR-MV1

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

The digital camera market is so vigorous that it seems like every niche gets exploited. There are even video cameras aimed at musicians of all people. I call them “music cameras” and the basic idea is a small, light, simple camera with fairly high quality stereo audio.

The first music camera was the Zoom Q3, their latest is the Q4, an HD version with an articulated monitor screen that I’ve written about in past Homebrewed Music articles. Several other vendors have produced music cameras, but both the Tascam DR-V1HD and the Olympus LS-20M are discontinued. Zoom might have the niche all to themselves except that Sony took an interest and produced the HDR-MV1. I’ve been curious about this camera for a while and finally convinced myself that I “needed” one for an upcoming project.

I’ve had an interesting time using these two cameras alongside each other and comparing their features and performance. Here’s a video looking at the differences in operating the cameras.

First Impressions Count

When you hold each camera the first impressions are very much what one would expect. The build quality of the Sony is immediately more impressive than the feel of the Zoom. But after a closer look it might be that the more flexible features of the Zoom are at least part of the reason that camera seems a bit less solid. On the Zoom both the display screen and the microphone array are moveable. The articulated display is a very handy feature of the Q4 and it’s even more flexible because the screen can be removed if it’s not needed after configuring the camera. The Zoom mics fold into the body for protection and stick up above the top of the unit where a the provided wind screen can easily cover the mics and reduce wind noise in exterior shoots.

The Sony mics are very attractive, metal finish instead of plastic, tucked away behind little “nerf bars” for protection, and mounted just below the lens. But this arrangement means that wind protection will be tricky to implement without blocking the lens. And the Sony monitor display is bigger and brighter than the Zoom, but it’s fixed to the side of the body of the camera, a location which is much less than ideal. The screen definitely can’t be seen from the front, and using it from the side to frame the shot will take some practice.

Micro-SD Card – A Scourge Upon the Land

As they have done so often, Sony came up with their own proprietary format for solid state storage, the Memory Stick. The format hasn’t taken over the world, but Sony obviously feels compelled to continue to support it, so the HDR-MV1 uses the latest version of the Memory Stick, but it also allows the use of a standard format Micro-SD card. Standards are good, but folks, the micro-SD card is not my favorite way to store bits and bytes. It’s hard to maneuver and easy to lose, and in the case of this camera it must be installed in just the right (counter-intuitive) way because the same opening is used for the Memory Stick option. Believe me, it’s a very good idea to read the manual before trying to insert a memory card into this camera.

The Zoom on the other hand uses a very normal and handy SD card, thank you Zoom engineers, thank you sooo much.

Buttons and Bows

The control interface is quite different between these two. The Zoom has more external control, with headphone volume, mic sensitivity, auto-gain, and low cut settings on physical switches. Sony has all these settings in their menu, except that Sony doesn’t offer any auto-gain or limiter function. The menu interface is another real difference. Sony uses a shiny little joystick-like button for all menu navigation, and it’s very easy to make a mistake when navigating with this device. Zoom has four soft function buttons on its articulated display. One is used to enter and exit the menu, one moves forward or down while the next moves backward or up, and the fourth makes a selection. It’s quick, easy to learn, and reliable, and the menu structure is easier to grasp on the Zoom as well.

The Zoom also has external indicators for input level clipping, memory card capacity remaining, battery remaining, and charger/external power. None of these are visible on the Sony except through the display screen. The lack of an external power indicator is particularly annoying, there’s no way to tell if the camera is charging without turning it on.

Setting the Stage

While the Sony requires menu diving for its settings, it compensates somewhat by offering many more video and audio options than the Zoom. While the Zoom provides only three “scenes” for camera adjustment, Sony provides a wide range of settings and adjustments. I would definitely recommend that one read through the MV1 manual to get a grasp of these settings and how they impact the shot.

In scenes alone the MV1 can be set to Auto, Night, Sunrise-Sunset, Fireworks, Landscape, Spotlight, Beach, or Snow. I suspect that we’re seeing firmware carried over from a more conventional Sony camera, along with the sensor chip from that cam.

Beyond the scene options you can choose White Balance with four options including a calibration option, Exposure manual or automatic, Low Lux, Fade between clips, Backlight, and Face Detection. I haven’t tested these options to see how well they work but having these settings really puts the MV1 in a different category than the Sony Q4 if they do improve our shooting.

Setting the Sound

The Audio settings of the Sony are also more impressive. The Zoom mic sensitivity is shared by the on-board mics and the external mic connector, and the sensitivity can be adjusted in just three steps, High-Medium-Low and that’s it folks. Although tucked into a menu, Sony provides 17 steps of mic gain that ranges both higher and lower than the Zoom. When I compared the audio recordings at maximum mic sensitivity using a test tone the Sony was about 8 dB louder than the Zoom, a very noticeable difference. And there are separate settings for the on-board mics and the external connection. And the external connection can be configured as either a mic or line level input. I’ve been able to work with the Zoom’s more limited audio settings, but the extra gain range and ability to fine tune the gain level looks like are real benefit for the Sony’s audio.

The Screening Room

I would say that I graduated from the music camera scene when I invested in the Panasonic Lumix G series of system cameras and lenses. I was willing to record audio separately and sync in post in order to gain the extra increment of video quality. But when the Zoom Q4 came along with its wider angle lens and articulated monitor screen I convinced myself to try one. I’d say the experiment was a qualified success, I got some nice video that I would have missed without the Q4, but the articulated screen turned out to be pretty small and difficult to see in some kinds of light.

The Sony screen certainly doesn’t offer the kind of selfie help that the Q4 articulated screen delivers, but Sony has a different and perhaps better way to accomplish framing of a video selfie. The MV1 supports a WiFi connected smart phone or tablet as a monitor and remote control. To me this is a better way to go, I have more flexibility and better viewing quality, along with the ability to start and stop video without leaving my position in the scene. The Sony Playmemories app, at least as connected to the MV1, offers very limited control of the camera – no settings or adjustments are possible, but the ability to see the framing and start and stop the camera are sufficient to make this feature very useful.

Fields of View

The Zoom Q3HD that I used for several years had a fairly narrow field of view, so if I wanted the picture to include the guitar and my head I had to place the camera several feet away from myself. The problem with this was that the mics were then too far away from the guitar to get the best quality sound. My solution was to use an external mic setup along with some kind of preamp to feed the audio into the Q3HD.

The Q4 offered a wider angle lens, a wider field of view, so this allows closer placement for the same framing of the shot. This is definitely a good thing, except that the Zoom lens has a rather severe fisheye or barrel distortion effect, causing straight lines to turn into curves. This distortion is one of the things that makes the Q4 less useful to me.

The Q4 does have a digital zoom option that narrows the field of view and reduces but does not eliminate the barrel distortion, but then we’re faced with moving the camera farther from the source, so unless we’re using external mics this option is not the best.

The Sony MV1 has a wider field of view than the Q4’s wide mode, 18mm full frame equivalent compared to 22mm FF equivalent for the Zoom. That brings the camera mics closer than the Zoom for the same framing. And at the same time there is less barrel distortion with the Sony, so the wider framing is more useable, a definite win-win situation.

Odds and Ends

If you’re planning to use one of these cameras outdoors with the onboard mics, you need something to protect the mics from the wind. Even on a still day the little puffs and gusts will wreck most recording sessions. This is a big win for the Zoom, since it includes a wind sock in the basic camera package. On the contrary, the Sony mics look like functional wind protection would be hard to attach without obscuring the lens, and I have not been able to find any wind protection specifically designed for the MV1.

One last difference really frustrated me. I’m planning to use these cameras for a hula show that will run for around three hours. I had hoped to be able to power both cameras with external power so I wouldn’t have to worry about battery life. Both cameras accept a variant of the USB connector for their power input, but only the Zoom works with any generic USB power source. If I attach the Sony to a USB power plug or USB port on my computer the camera refuses to go into record mode. It seems that I would be required to buy the proprietary Sony AC adapter if I want to record using external power, and that’s just mean.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I tried shooting the cameras side by side in two ways. Most of the clips were shot with the cameras set to approximately the same framing. As a result of the wider lens of the Sony it was mounted about four inches closer to the subject when the subject was about two feet away. This means the Sony mics were about five inches closer, due to the difference in the mounting of mics on each camera.

Indoors – Equal Framing

The first clip is indoors in good natural light with the same framing. This clip includes some poorly framed footage from an iPhone 6 as well. The iPhone was over 12″ behind the two music cameras, but its longer lens meant I was still framed too tightly. And the mono omnidirectional audio of the cell phone just can’t compare to the stereo sound from the coincident directional mics on the music cameras. The iPhone also reacted to the movement of the reflection on the guitar, changing the exposure during the shot, while the music cameras appear to lock exposure during recording, something I’ll have to check in future testing. This indoor test was shot in a little alcove with no sound treatment so you can hear how the cameras handle typical small room early reflections.

Outdoors – Shade

Next is a quick bit of narration shot outdoors in the shade. I would expect this to be pretty ideal lighting for these cameras, bright but not contrasty and glaring. Besides showing the cameras at their best this clip demonstrates the importance of wind protection for the mics when shooting outdoors.

Outdoors – Full Sun

The next shot is outdoors in full bright overhead sun, and that’s a scene that’s hard on any camera. In all these clips I had both cameras on full automatic, it will be interesting to try this shot again using Sony’s video controls to try to save the shot. Notice the wind noise again, without the wall to break the wind it really ruins the shot.

Indoors – Equal Distance

The last clip is back inside, this time with the two cameras placed at the same distance instead of attempting to match framing. Naturally the Sony makes the subject appear farther away. I included a look at the Zoom digital close up feature in this clip so you can judge how it impacts video quality.



This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2015 at 7:32 pm and is filed under Comparisons, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


34 Responses to ' Zoom Q4 vs Sony HDR-MV1 '

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  1. Aaron Alter said in post # 1,

    on March 6th, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    Thank you very much for your thoughtful and thorough review. I thought that the Sony had a more natural color reproduction than the Zoom. The sound was equal. I like the windscreen in the Zoom, but I like the WiFi on the Sony, so there’s a tradeoff. I have to make a decision on one of the cameras in about two months.

  2. Fran Guidry said in post # 2,

    on March 6th, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    Aaron, thanks for dropping by and commenting.

    I’ve pretty much decided to make the Sony my main music camera. It’s a little easier for me because my stolen camera backpack had the Zoom wind sock in it, even though the camera was safe somewhere else. I’m hoping I can come up with a solution for using the Sony outdoors.

    I prefer the Sony for its reduced fisheye effect and for the WiFi and I think the audio quality is a bit better as well.

    Depending on your budget you may find the Zoom coming down in price as the new Zoom Q8 gets into circulation.

    Fran

  3. Franz Morales said in post # 3,

    on April 13th, 2015 at 5:17 am

    Hi, just got my Sony Hdr-mv1 a few days ago and was researching on the wind sock issue (as well as tips on home recording since this will be my first time, your site has been a huge help btw).

    Anyway, here is a good solution I found. It’s in Japanese, but you’ll get the message 🙂 there are two ways in the video, one is DIY and the other is using a Tascam WS-2i (if I remember correctly) and trimming a little off the top so the fur won’t block the lens.
    https://youtu.be/jK1c2CRTvGc

    Hope this helps!

  4. Fran Guidry said in post # 4,

    on April 14th, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    Hey, thanks for that. I’ll definitely look into that Tascam device.

    Have fun with your cam!

    Fran

  5. Rich Chaffee said in post # 5,

    on May 2nd, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    Fran, love your site and your videos (and of course your playing). I just bought the Sony based on your review and it’s on it’s way. You do such a great job on giving tips – I hope you keep it up with this camera. Thanks for all the time you spend sharing your experience.

  6. Fran Guidry said in post # 6,

    on May 3rd, 2015 at 1:39 am

    Rich, thanks for visiting and commenting. And thanks for subscribing to the YouTube channel.

    I’m starting to fool around with finding a wind protection strategy for the MV1, and I’ve been shooting a bit with it, so I hope I’ll have some more to say about the camera. In the meantime I hope you have good success with yours.

    Fran

  7. Rich Chaffee said in post # 7,

    on May 3rd, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    Are you using linear PCM or AAC? I found this site with help converting the audio, but I haven’t worked with video much so it’s a bit above my head.
    http://www.inreview.com/archive/topic/46744.html

  8. Fran Guidry said in post # 8,

    on May 3rd, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Howdy, Rich,

    As a rule I use uncompressed audio when I can, so PCM for me. Occasionally I’ll run into a player or editing program that doesn’t like PCM for some reason and then I’ll switch to AAC or MP3.

    The link you provided talks about the MTS format in the Sony MV1 but when my camera is creating .MP4 files, not MTS, so I’m not sure what that site is addressing.

    Fran

  9. Rich Chaffee said in post # 9,

    on May 3rd, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    Thanks, Fran – it confused me, too. Apparently they don’t know the camera very well.

  10. Trevor said in post # 10,

    on June 1st, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    Thanks for the review Fran. I’m currently trying to decide on the best option for me and my budget. I am mostly looking to do solo acoustic/vocals but I would like to do some location shooting outside and sometimes I’ll be playing at a bar and sometimes I’ll be playing with a band (I listed these in order of priority for me). I looked at a lot of flip cam style stuff (like the bloggie, for example) and they just don’t see to have the video or audio quality I want. I have an iphone 4 at the moment so I want something that is an upgrade on that.

    The Q4 looks intriguing but I can’t get past the fisheye style effect. The MV1 is a bit more expensive and the non-USB charging option could be tough for me. Also I have an H2 that I love, so familiarity with Zoom is a plus as well. I’m thinking my best option might be to try and find a used T2i or another camera and record the audio separately. Any suggestions for that on a best bang for buck basis?

  11. Fran Guidry said in post # 11,

    on June 4th, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    Trevor, thanks for stopping by. Like you, I find the extreme wide angle limits the usefulness of these cameras. I actually do almost all my video on a Lumix mirrorless camera, these days a GH4.

    If you’re comfortable with separate audio and video, this is the way to go in my estimation. I haven’t used other cameras than the Lumix series, but one reason I’ve chosen them is the unlimited shot length (in non EU countries). Some of the Canons and others have issues with overheating sensors, file size, or whatever that limits shot length which is especially troublesome for shooting gigs.

    Right now the Lumix G6 has just been replaced with the G7, so it should be possible to find a good deal. The G6 has an excellent reputation for performance and reliability, and there’s a great selection of lenses for the micro 4/3 system.

    There are also some pretty darned decent video cameras out there, I understand. I haven’t used them so I can’t offer any recommendations, but I think your budget will get you more with a conventional video cam and separate audio than with either of these music cameras.

    Fran

  12. Gerard said in post # 12,

    on September 2nd, 2015 at 4:31 pm

    Hey Fran, I have really enjoyed your reviews. In your reviews you seem to lean toward the Q4 as the way to go. In the latter part of your blog you state that you are using the MV1. Can you say which you would recommend over the other.

  13. Fran Guidry said in post # 13,

    on September 10th, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    The ability to remotely monitor the MV1 made it the winner between these two unless I would be shooting a lot where wind was an issue.

    I sent my Q4 off to my nephew and kept the MV1 but since then I’ve been using my iPhone 6 with an iRig Pro audio interface and an external mic and prefer that to the MV1. And honestly, I do nearly all my video with a pair of Panasonic Lumix GH4 cameras. So the MV1 gets almost no use and will probably get sold soon.

    Fran

  14. Ben said in post # 14,

    on November 14th, 2015 at 8:58 pm

    Great review – thanks very much. I’ve got an MV1 a few months ago because it specifically fitted my purposes, which is not so much music right now as keeping it in a fixed place to monitor a child’s activities and speech patterns in a room. The mics are great for that, as is the wide-angled lens. I want to get another camera for another room and was eyeing the Zoom but given your comments and seeing the videos, I’ll probably go for another MV1. Your review is very accurate. I managed to resolve the problem of external USB power to a certain extent by getting a Cheero Power Plus 3 external battery – I live in Japan and bought it through Amazon here – but it’s still an extra expense and more bits to fiddle with and maybe lose. By now I’m used to the “joy button,” menus (all in Japanese for items sold here – if you don’t read Japanese, beware!), and the position of the monitor screen. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy with them. Same goes for the micro SD card, which is a pain. I find the WiFi somewhat flakey – is there anyway to keep using it straight for longer than 30 minutes? Maybe I should read the manual again. In any case, I really appreciate your attention to detail with this.

  15. Ben said in post # 15,

    on November 14th, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    Great review – thanks very much. I got an MV1 a few months ago because it specifically fitted my purposes, which is not so much music right now as keeping it in a fixed place to monitor a child’s activities and speech patterns in a room. The mics are great for that, as is the wide-angled lens. I want to get another camera for another room and was eyeing the Zoom but given your comments and seeing the videos, I’ll probably go for another MV1. Your review is very accurate. I managed to resolve the problem of external USB power to a certain extent by getting a Cheero Power Plus 3 external battery – I live in Japan and bought it through Amazon here – but it’s still an extra expense and more bits to fiddle with and maybe lose. By now I’m used to the “joy button,” menus (all in Japanese for items sold here – if you don’t read Japanese, beware!), and the position of the monitor screen. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy with them. Same goes for the micro SD card, which is a pain. I find the WiFi somewhat flakey – is there anyway to keep using it straight for longer than 30 minutes? Maybe I should read the manual again. In any case, I really appreciate your attention to detail with this.

  16. Fran Guidry said in post # 16,

    on November 15th, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Ben, I’m glad to hear my review was useful. I’m sorry to say I have no solution for your issue with WiFi.

    Fran

  17. Fernando said in post # 17,

    on January 15th, 2016 at 1:59 pm

    Gostaria de comprar a HDR MV1 mas não encontro no Brasil. triste!

  18. Fran Guidry said in post # 18,

    on January 15th, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    Fernando, sorry to hear it is not available. But it is worth using a separate audio recorder and some other camera, then join the audio and video when you edit. The result is better this way.

    Fran

  19. Ray Butler said in post # 19,

    on April 9th, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    I purchased a zoom4 in order to have audio and video synch smooth.
    I havent taken it out of box yet as im reading your comparison reviews about the barrel distortion effect which one are you recommending now or is there an alternative . I only taking videos of my classical guitar pieces from my home at this point. The other issue is i need to use some video editing program such as imovie as i want to do more interesting panning , zooming , ken burns effect in the editing program. I also want to be able to do the recording in segments if possible to record those passages perfectly, as its unlikely that i can play these difficult pieces perfectly all the way thru. I think it will be too difficult to redo just the audio portion at parts, as it will look like “lip synching” do you recommend an external mic for the acoustic guitar, closer to the guitar. I would either use one on,the floor or a boom. Type. I dont want the mic to show on,the video. I was also thinking of using two video cameras at thw same time for different angles. For example right side of the guitar that will capture fingers and and fretboard shots .
    I would appreciate your advice i have never done this before. Ray

  20. Fran Guidry said in post # 20,

    on April 9th, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    Ray, there are so many options and choices to consider that there is no way to give really meaningful advice. But that’s never stopped me in the past (grin).

    If you’ve watched my slack key videos like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzTmsfcNe7s I do use two cameras for different angles, but I record the audio separately as well and merge all three in my video editor.

    I rarely use either the Zoom Q4 or the Sony MV1 because I have several cameras that capture much higher quality. If I were to choose between those two I would choose the Sony, but if I were starting from scratch I would start with other cameras and a separate recorder. This requires a bigger budget, of course.

    It is possible to use one of these music cameras for audio and video then add a second camera for video only, I’ve done that a number of times. But iMovie will not give you that capability, at least as I understand it. I believe iMovie can only work with one video stream. So you’ll need to upgrade to Final Cut Pro X or some other video editor.

    Playing in sections and joining them seamlessly is possible but tricky, since lighting and camera angles must match between shots. It takes experience, patience, and time.

    I never “lip synch” my videos but many people do. Remember, you can record the audio, edit it to your preference, then play along with your recording as a guide while you capture the video. I would think that this would be a reasonable approach in the case of classical guitar where you’re attempting to replicate the performance precisely.

    I hope these ideas help.

    Fran

  21. Kostas Papadakis said in post # 21,

    on May 6th, 2016 at 5:38 am

    Hey there! Great review. I’m a bit confused. Can you record audio only with the q4? Thanks

  22. Fran Guidry said in post # 22,

    on May 6th, 2016 at 9:29 am

    I just checked the manual again and I found no indication that there is an “audio only” recording mode for the Q4.

    Fran

  23. Kostas Papadakis said in post # 23,

    on May 6th, 2016 at 9:52 am

    Thank you for your time!

  24. TJ said in post # 24,

    on June 4th, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    Great review! I’m looking to purchase the Q4N to record 30-45 minute concerts. Does the AC/USB adapter power the camera while it is filming? Also, will that concert footage be chopped up into, say, ten minute chunks (like a GoPro)? I wouldn’t want there to be gaps within the music… Thanks!

  25. Fran Guidry said in post # 25,

    on June 4th, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    The power supply did keep the Q4 going, I would expect the Q4n work the same way. The Sony _did not_ work with a generic power supply, it was very annoying in that way.

    It’s very very common that high resolution video files are stored in chunks because video takes a lot of data and the FAT32 file system only supports a maximum of 4 GB files.

    But there should be no gaps between the files when they are assembled in a non-linear editor. I don’t recall gaps in my GoPro footage (but I no longer have one to confirm that) and there were no gaps between chunks in my Q4.

    Fran

  26. Fausto said in post # 26,

    on July 1st, 2016 at 11:45 am

    Hello

    I’m starting to now record and would like to know if it is better to buy a recorder with camera or record separate and join later.

  27. Fausto said in post # 27,

    on July 1st, 2016 at 11:48 am

    to buy separate a tape recorder and a good microphone with $ 400. which microfone and tape Record models indicate me?

  28. Fran Guidry said in post # 28,

    on July 1st, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    There are so many variations that it is difficult to offer a useful suggestion and without knowing prices and products available to you it’s even harder.

    Based on US prices and availability I would be inclined to choose the Zoom H5 recorder with its included microphone module. It gives very good quality and has many functions. Then I would use the remainder of the budget for the camera. Recording separate audio and video is very slightly more difficult for editing but offers much more flexibility and quality.

    Of course someone else might make a totally different suggestion based on their preferences and experiences.

    Fran

  29. Fajar Nurrahman said in post # 29,

    on September 22nd, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    Hi Fran, i read your comment above that now you use lumix gh4 and an iphone with irig for audio. I think that GH4 also has its own audio mic input, so why you prefer the iphone for the audio?
    i own gf2, while its video quality is good, but it doesnt havr mic input 🙁

  30. Fran Guidry said in post # 30,

    on September 23rd, 2016 at 6:35 am

    Sorry if I gave the impression that I use the iRig and iPhone in conjunction with the GH4. In fact, I have used the iRig only a couple of times. My main audio chain is a Zoom H6 with its XY module or with a guitar pickup plugged into the recorder. Then I sync the audio to the video in post using Edius. I don’t know if you’ve visited my slack key guitar site http://www.kaleponi.com but if you stop by there you can get an idea of the kind of video I shoot.

    I’m not sure why I am so fascinated with other tools like the MV1 or the iRig and iPhone. Realistically the Lumix cameras and external recorder give me better video and audio with more control and more flexibility.

    I’ve gotten in the habit of recording my audio separately and syncing in post and it doesn’t add much time to the edit these days. But I should do a test with the GH4 mic input and see how it compares to the Zoom for audio quality.

    Fran

  31. Sergio said in post # 31,

    on November 6th, 2016 at 2:20 pm

    I’m using the HDR-MV1 for recordings of seminars. I can use a power bank as power supply to use the cam for many hours without problems.
    I have the Zoom H4 too.
    I prefere this cam for the seminars because if i place the cam near a corner I can catch all the room vith the 120 degrees of horizontal field.
    And using the app on a tablet or smartphone (or the remote of the HDR AS100VR) it is very handy to start and stop the recording beind away from the cam.
    Usually I record with a camcorder and I use the HDR-MV1 as “backup” because the audio is very clear and the video is wide.
    Sadly I have a problem with that cam. If I use the linear audio recording the cam act not well. The recording can stop withouth reason. I tried to use differents SD cards but withouth success. Sometimes when it happen I need to remove the battery to start again the cam. This is quite nasty, so I use only the compressed audio. May be that this happen Just to me because I’ve not found information about this problem.

  32. Fran Guidry said in post # 32,

    on November 6th, 2016 at 7:53 pm

    I’m sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with your MV1. It sounds like you have an excellent use for the features of the camera. Hopefully the compressed audio is of sufficient quality, I would think that it would serve the purpose well.

    I have used my camera very little so my experience probably isn’t useful to you, but in those brief sessions I don’t recall any problems with uncompressed audio. I do use fairly high end high speed cards however.

    Fran

  33. Rajesh said in post # 33,

    on May 16th, 2017 at 12:59 am

    Dear Fran,

    This is really very thoughtful of you. Thank you very much for posting this online. I was unaware of Zoom as as option in India, but you opened the door to new possibilities.

    Thank You

  34. steven said in post # 34,

    on July 10th, 2017 at 9:10 am

    A lot of thanks for all the information on this very interesting Blog

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About the Blog

    Howdy, my name is Fran Guidry and this is my Homebrewed Music blog.

    I play Hawaiian slack key guitar and recorded my solo acoustic CD at home. Most of the recording information I find on the internet seems focused on bands, drums, multitracking, and so on but my main focus is recording solo acoustic guitar. Lately I’ve been enjoying video recording along with audio, so that shows up in the blog as well.

    I’m also a guitar nut. I love big ones and little ones, handmades and factory guitars, cheap ones and expensive ones. So I’ll be sharing the fun of exploring guitars as well, along with the challenges of amplifying acoustic guitars for live performance.

    Welcome!

Philosophy

    My recording philosophy is pragmatic, skeptical, not super critical. After all, the performance is by far the most important component of a track, and every aspect of any recording is a matter of taste.

    But I do like to know “about stuff.” Back in hifi days I learned about double blind testing. I learned that we humans can easily hear differences that don’t really exist. The more I’ve learned about our human auditory system, the more I’m skeptical of what people say they hear, especially if they claim that a particular microphone or preamp or cable has some magical property.

    I’ve only been recording since 2001, and when I started I found the usual places on the internet. I sought advice and accepted it, thought I would improve my recordings by using more expensive equipment. It didn’t work.

    Two things that did seem to lead to better recordings were experience and room treatment. Getting an appealing sound is the combination of many small details, and learning those details only comes from experience. Amd the sound of the recording space is obviously a big factor.

    I’ve only recorded seriously using digital technology, but I remember trying to record rehearsals and gigs back in analog days. I don’t have any nostalgia for analog recording and playback systems at all. I think even low end digital systems can capture marvelous recordings. So when I look at gear, I look for good specs: low noise, broad flat frequency response, wide dynamic range, low distortion. I’m not interested in colorful components, mics and preamps with a sound, I want the sound to be the sound of my guitar.

    But the last word is that I’m just learning and I hope you find something useful in my posts.