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Too noisy!
Reading all reviews prior to purchase left me believing M3's only real weakness is not-so-sturdy all-plastic construction.
I've read a lot of praise for the sound quality, and maybe that has given me unrealistic expectations.
I am pondering returning the unit or even trying to get a replacement, because the self-noise of the device is quite stunning.
The side mic is especially noisy, but even the mid "shotgun" generates a lot of hiss. I feel like I'm recording to a cassette tape again. Yes, it won't clip if you scream or pop a baloon next to it, that works as advertised and is definitely a killer feature.
Maybe outdoors where there's usually some noise from the environment, the noise floor of this device is not going to be so problematic, but when recording quiet dialogue in a quiet room from 0.5 meters away I feel like I left a radio tuned to static next to my head.
I tested side-by-side with Rode VideoMicro that I was hoping this will be an upgrade to, but at least as far as self-noise goes it's a definite downgrade of ~6 dB.
Of course it's not comparing like-for-like. A more reasonable comparison would be Rode VideoMicNTG, but I don't have one.
Also the shockmount is a joke. It is designed to resemble Zoom's logo, and it would be cool if it worked, but IMO the plastic springs are too short and too stiff to effectively isolate handling noise of the camera.
I have put the M3 on a Rode VideoMic's mount - it was tilting a little bit as the mount was not designed for M3 + batteries + Zoom's deadcat total weight, but when I did a test recording, there was a very clear difference in the amount of low frequency sound transmitted from lightly tapping on the camera body to the mic. With Zoom's shockmount it's TAP TAP TAP, with Rode's it's tap tap tap. Makes me wonder if I could design and 3d-print a better shockmount myself given a couple weeks.
The cable clamps are a nice touch, but they do nothing because the whole shockmount doesn't work. I tested with HyperX Cloud2 headphones (they have a thick cable in a fabric braid). The cable fits snugly in the larger cable clamp holes, but then when I tapped at the cable before the clamps and tapped it with the same force between the M3 unit and the clamps - I heard no difference. All this neat design detail can do is help prevent cables from flapping in the breeze, which maybe could create audible noise - but you'd probably have bigger problems by that point.
Zoom's windscreen is not that great either unfortunately. It's a single-layer deadcat with no foam padding inside.
In comparison Rode VideoMicro's deadcat has foam inside that makes it dual-layer and hence much more effective for not that much more volume.
Zoom's deadcat also comes with a rubber strap, that in my opinion is just dead weight. The port is so stiff I can't tighten it any more suing that clamp, and loosening the string doesn't really make it easier to take the wind shield off.
All in all I think M3 is a neat device and does some incredbile things especially in it's price point but it's no miracle. It's strengths are:
- 32-bit float + raw M/S gives options in post
- low weight
- low profile
- low cost
- configurable stereo image
It's downsides:
- very high self-noise, especially if you want wide stereo - get ready to do a lot of post-processing to clean this up for scenes with quiet dialogue
- placebo shockmount mostly rises the profile so the mic doesn't show up in the camera frame, but doesn't provide any acoustic isolation.
- the chassis is all plastic, it does seem rather thin and I've heard reports of it breaking. I suspect a plastic interference tube is also probably more permeable than a metal one, so it's probably less directional in the mid range for it (should test and measure really)
Best used for:
Cheap on-camera stereo audio for a flycam setup that gives you options in post and backup recording.
Best avoided for:
Quiet indoor dialogue scenes.
I've read a lot of praise for the sound quality, and maybe that has given me unrealistic expectations.
I am pondering returning the unit or even trying to get a replacement, because the self-noise of the device is quite stunning.
The side mic is especially noisy, but even the mid "shotgun" generates a lot of hiss. I feel like I'm recording to a cassette tape again. Yes, it won't clip if you scream or pop a baloon next to it, that works as advertised and is definitely a killer feature.
Maybe outdoors where there's usually some noise from the environment, the noise floor of this device is not going to be so problematic, but when recording quiet dialogue in a quiet room from 0.5 meters away I feel like I left a radio tuned to static next to my head.
I tested side-by-side with Rode VideoMicro that I was hoping this will be an upgrade to, but at least as far as self-noise goes it's a definite downgrade of ~6 dB.
Of course it's not comparing like-for-like. A more reasonable comparison would be Rode VideoMicNTG, but I don't have one.
Also the shockmount is a joke. It is designed to resemble Zoom's logo, and it would be cool if it worked, but IMO the plastic springs are too short and too stiff to effectively isolate handling noise of the camera.
I have put the M3 on a Rode VideoMic's mount - it was tilting a little bit as the mount was not designed for M3 + batteries + Zoom's deadcat total weight, but when I did a test recording, there was a very clear difference in the amount of low frequency sound transmitted from lightly tapping on the camera body to the mic. With Zoom's shockmount it's TAP TAP TAP, with Rode's it's tap tap tap. Makes me wonder if I could design and 3d-print a better shockmount myself given a couple weeks.
The cable clamps are a nice touch, but they do nothing because the whole shockmount doesn't work. I tested with HyperX Cloud2 headphones (they have a thick cable in a fabric braid). The cable fits snugly in the larger cable clamp holes, but then when I tapped at the cable before the clamps and tapped it with the same force between the M3 unit and the clamps - I heard no difference. All this neat design detail can do is help prevent cables from flapping in the breeze, which maybe could create audible noise - but you'd probably have bigger problems by that point.
Zoom's windscreen is not that great either unfortunately. It's a single-layer deadcat with no foam padding inside.
In comparison Rode VideoMicro's deadcat has foam inside that makes it dual-layer and hence much more effective for not that much more volume.
Zoom's deadcat also comes with a rubber strap, that in my opinion is just dead weight. The port is so stiff I can't tighten it any more suing that clamp, and loosening the string doesn't really make it easier to take the wind shield off.
All in all I think M3 is a neat device and does some incredbile things especially in it's price point but it's no miracle. It's strengths are:
- 32-bit float + raw M/S gives options in post
- low weight
- low profile
- low cost
- configurable stereo image
It's downsides:
- very high self-noise, especially if you want wide stereo - get ready to do a lot of post-processing to clean this up for scenes with quiet dialogue
- placebo shockmount mostly rises the profile so the mic doesn't show up in the camera frame, but doesn't provide any acoustic isolation.
- the chassis is all plastic, it does seem rather thin and I've heard reports of it breaking. I suspect a plastic interference tube is also probably more permeable than a metal one, so it's probably less directional in the mid range for it (should test and measure really)
Best used for:
Cheap on-camera stereo audio for a flycam setup that gives you options in post and backup recording.
Best avoided for:
Quiet indoor dialogue scenes.
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