Zoom q3

Acquired this junk (ZOOM Q3) from someone in S.O.F.T.
Ordeal since. So often, when power on, the set just hanged with the red record LED flashing.
Have to reset by removing the batteries.
Was told by city music that repair cost may be more than a new one. Gone case.

Looking at another one Zoom H5 but no confident.
Wonder "freezing" is part of ZOOM's product let down.

Anyone can comment?

I used zoom h1,h2,h4,r16,q2hd,q3hd,r16. NEVER encountered any problems and I sold most of it off (reason : upgraded gear. like audio interface + DSLR video) and the buyers are still using it. sorry to say, someone really did turned gem into junk and sold you for it.

drop by citymusic and try it out? try to replicate the freezing problem?

HI, Your encouraging words make me rethink to acquire the H5 I so loved.
But will drop by City Music and see what they can do. If I upgrade to H5, I will not sell my Q3 unless the problem is resolved. I bet no buyer will not mind the the odd reseting method. Once booted up it just work fine.

Well you could still utilize q3 as a little recorder when inspiration strikes. What I did was bought wide angle lenses (for phones) and stuck them on using 3M scotch tape to get a better angle coverage. It would be difficult to sell them now because so many new nice toys are out

Yes I use it to record my karaoke sessions. Sound is clear and rich. But another set-back is that I could not play my recordings continuously. It stops after every song. I have to forward and press the play button again.

Hi,
May I ask whether you have tried Tascam and compared.
You said you used many Zoom products and
I am very eager to find out whether the Zoom H5 is wonderful in sound production.

Yeah well sorry to hear your inconvenience with the q3, it is an old model/product after all.

I haven't tried Tascam before, even though it is a reputable brand. I was mainly going for something cost effective and usually convenient to buy from CityMusic. Especially during the year end sales. The other brand recorder I once had is korg d888. Stable and sold it to a friend before I changed to zoom r16. That korg d888 is still working till today (7 years).

I recommend bringing your own micro sd card (+adapter), go CityMusic and ask whether can test out all their recorders that's within your budget and purpose. Bring home that sd card then listen on your hearing medium then you can compare and decide.
If you have Zoom q3, isn't that a video cam too? Shouldn't you consider zoom q4? Unless you just want audio then h1/h2n/h4n/h5/h6 ?

I actually bought the TASCAM DR 07 MKII 2 weeks ago. It has wonderful features but does not sound as rich as my old Q3. I am looking at selling it to buy the ZOOM H5. What's your opinion.

1) I don't have any experience with tascam but you do. Sound is very straightforward, either it sounds good to you or it doesn't. I don't have the zoom h5 but I once used the old zoom h2 and h4. I have h1 currently. It should be improved by now. So gain the experience by bringing a microsd card with standard sd adapter (in case) then ask CityMusic nicely to try out their display sets to test record at their location with your card. Bring it home to compare with your q3 / tascam audio make sure it's much better and worthed to upgrade.

2) if you feel that tascam is not as good as your old q3 which you didn't like it as well. You would be trying to sell both q3 and tascam. Can you recover most of the costs of the price you bought? It would be a terrible waste if you bought it new 2 weeks and have to sell it at 60% 2nd hand

3) if you're not making money off your recordings or the recording devices (like what I do for freelance, I sold those q2hd, q3hd cams because I have DSLR video. But to have good audio, I bought a zoom h1.) then just go ahead and use whatever is worth of the tascam/q3. It's the music, not the recording. Unless your recording is really terrible sounding which I doubt.