Introduction
The Zoom iQ6 is a small and handy device that makes your smartphone record better sound. In this review, we’ll explore the good and bad points of this tiny microphone, including how it looks, how well it works, and if it’s worth the money.
Design: Sleek and Portable
- Compact and lightweight design.
- Fits easily in your pocket.
- Sturdy build quality.
- Easy plug-and-play setup.
- Compatible with iOS devices.
Performance: Crisp and Clear Sound
- Improved audio quality for videos and recordings.
- Two high-quality condenser microphones.
- Adjustable microphone angles.
- 48 kHz / 16-bit audio resolution.
- Versatile XY and MS recording modes.
- Perfect for interviews, vlogs, and live music.
Ease of Use: No Fuss Recording
- Simple attachment to your iPhone or iPad.
- No additional batteries required.
- Intuitive control interface.
- Includes a headphone jack for real-time monitoring.
- Works seamlessly with popular recording apps.
Pros
- Enhances audio quality for your mobile recordings.
- Compact and travel-friendly design.
- Versatile recording modes.
- No extra batteries needed.
- Convenient real-time monitoring.
- Affordable price point.
- Ideal for content creators and musicians on the go.
Cons
- Limited compatibility (iOS only).
- Somewhat susceptible to handling noise.
- May not fit with phone cases.
- Requires a lightning adapter for newer iOS devices.
- Not suitable for professional studio recordings.
Conclusion
The Zoom iQ6 is a great add-on for people looking to make their smartphone recording better. It’s small, easy to use, and makes your audio sound better. It’s handy for YouTubers, reporters, and musicians. Even though it has a few downsides, the good things about it are much more, so it’s worth getting one.
Mapa –
The sound is very good for a phone mic. Remember to put your phone on airplane mode. I forgot to, and got an awful noise on top of a classical concert I recorded.The mic is made of plastic. Hope it lasts.
Sam –
People complain about random static noise, you must put you phone an airplane mode, that will solve all issues
Chris –
Plugged it in and nothing happened. Had to download and install the companion app from Zoom and have it recognize the mic. Also using Zoom (video app) the mic did not sound any better until I turned on ‘use original sound’ which turns off Zoom’s app auto compression.With IOS camera videos the sound is great, with facetime and YouTube the sound is great. With ZOOM I do not notice as much of a difference.Also it is necessary to make sure you have the capsules oriented correctly to your source, and the gain needs to be set it doesn’t clip.
teejay –
I will update this review after this weekend when I get to really test it out.But so far, I like it, with a few qualifiers:The Good:the sound is great. I’ve had some older Zoom model recorders, and they’ve generally had great sound. As the mic is the most important part for that, this appears to be no different.This is more convenient than a regular recorder however since you can record with it and immediately email the file out to the cloud or a computer. This outweighs the negatives, which I will now elaborate on.The Bad:1st. The biggest negative IMO is that it’s not terribly well designed for attaching onto an iphone 7, or any i-device for that matter. the entirety of the mount is strictly the lighting port itself. given that this is a stress point, i don’t know how long this is going to last in the long run. you would think they would have accounted for this somehow but nope. This also means there’s no real good way to mount the device in a mic stand or anything.Also, forget having your phone in any kind of a case and attaching this thing. it won’t attach tightly enough (if at all) if there’s any kind of case around the connection. Poor physical design overall, IMO. The best possible solution would probably be getting an extension cord or something, but then you have the mic head piece just dangling off the end. meh.2nd. The software is problematic. it’s not *terrible*, all the basic functions work, BUT it’s buggy:For example, i had bluetooth headphones running when i plugged this thing in. recording worked fine, but when it would go back to playback there was silence. it seemed to me that it wanted to play out of the headphone jack attached to the iq6, not the iphone. when i unplugged the iq6 it would ONLY play out of the iphone’s speaker, so if i wanted to playback the audio, i’d probably need to either plug in a speaker to the audio jack, or email it to my cloud and play it from there. Overall this is pretty annoying. i guess the alternative is using a conventional recorder which would involve jacking the recorder into my computer, which is far less convenient, but the whole point was to take advantage of the software and i wasn’t impressed.so: forget wireless speakers for monitoring. forget *monitoring* unless you plug into the zoom’s headphone out jack.
Osmodious –
I have made two recordings at two different concerts, and the sound quality is pretty impressive. Mic placement is critical, though…try to have an unobstructed ‘view’ of the PA or musicians (if acoustic). The rock concert I held the mic toward my lap using an extension cable and the sound was quite muffled and dead sounding. The other was a symphony orchestra, with the mic/phone left on the railing in front of me with a clear shot to the musicians, and the sound was far better, though ultimately still a little muted. Those saying it is the same as the Zoom recorder must not have used one of those, as I have and can say that it is quite up to that standard (part of that may be the iPhone DAC, will have to test playing the recorded file on my computer with the pro-level DAC in my hi-if system. Anyway, it is way better than the built-in mic (which is surprisingly not-awful) in terms of quality. It does, however, make the phone a bit unwieldy…adding a couple of inches in length and quite a bit of girth to your phone (not to mention it is twice as thick as the phone, so sticks out in all directions as a consequence. Directionality is also challenging…which mic is ‘left’ and which is ‘right’? No idea. Do you compromise sound quality a lot holding the phone vertical, or does it have to stay horizontal (which is a rather unnatural way to hold a phone, not to mention you can’t just leave it in your pocket to leave your hands free.The software they have you download is…decent. There are a bunch of options, none of which are explained at all. Navigation isn’t terrible, but not great either. The two biggest issues are 1) you cannot listen over Bluetooth, only the built in (pathetic) speaker or connecting through the headphone port and 2) getting your files off the phone is a bit challenging.So, 5 stars for sound quality and 3 stars for ergonomics…resulting in 4 stars.
Scott Thornton –
This is really nice. doesn’t fit a lot of phone skins thoughI was really surprised after spending $140 that I still had to spend another $2.99 for the pro app…. really? but whatever… the app is good, the hardware fits my phone with the skin removed (yes even with the black spacer thing removed)
Frank Bergdoll –
Great audio – interface needs an adapterThis is great quality audio and very useful and handy. Even with the included spacer – I did have to get an adapter to extend the lightening port. This is to allow connection to my phone which is in a thicker case.However, this is a minor inconvenience- the audio is the goal – and that is great
Rod –
It’s alrightIt feels like a toy, the recording quality is just ok in my opinion. I still prefer my Zoom H4N Pro.
Aasif –
The product is easy to use and i have a median reviewThe product is good no doubt. The product has some limitations like the no control on the volume of the output into the monitoring headphones that’s a big issueOften blaring sounds noise comes into the headphones nad its terrible –I wanted to return the product as it has hurt my ears much time while recording due to no control on the volume on the output.The Sell should include a Lightning cable extender (male to female to support this product for ease of use with all iPhones — without that it’s a bit cumbersome for my use when I need it closer to the mouth for low volume singing. I purchased a few cables male to female lightening ones they all are not good to hold the connection they often lose the connection with the male pin on the iQ7
Gustavo Moreno –
NOT BADSound is slightly better than a iPhone 7 or plus, specially at loud volumes like drums, it records decently and without distortion.Disappointed that, all the recording application settings, work only for audio but not for video.