The new Samson – Zoom – Q3 has just recently been made available stateside.  Those who aren’t familiar with great Zoom audio recorders might think this is just another overpriced pocket video recorder.  They would be wrong.

The video is VGA level 640 x 480 just as with the iPhone, and most standard resolution pocket video recorders.  The difference is that this baby records audio at 24bit/48KHZ resolution!

What really urks me about the audio from not only most pocket cameras and phones, but even some pretty expensive camcorders, is that it is just aweful!  Tinny compressed sound will take the wind out of a good quality video any day.  I would always opt for better sound, even if the video is less than HD.

I’ve owned a Zoom audio recorder for over a year now, and have been impressed with the audio quality.  While this recorder may only support VGA quality SD video, it’s a clever touch.  The alternative at this price range is crappy audio and perhaps entry level HD video.  Personally, I might choose the former.