For dialog I have found the zoom mic is very good so far. I used it on my STD infomercial and you can hear the results. I did not aim the mike at the participants half the time and yet the voices were still understandable and clear. For singing I do not rate the zoom mic as highly. I can plainly detect my onboard GL2 mic as picking up the higher frequency sounds, making the audio more crisp. The Azden sounds more muffled. Despite others being not satisfied with the onboard GL2 mic I am very satisfied and can't imagine how it could fall short of any other camcoeder onboard mike. Just my opinion. I will probably use the Azden on one of my GL2's for my upcomming wedding. I can then choose what I feel is the best soundtrack for the situation at hand.

The problem with the onboard mic is that it is omni-directional. The sound quality is good... it just picks everything up resulting in a noisy recording if you are shooting in an uncontrolled area. I am using the on-board mic most of the time because it is more convenient. However if audio quality is very important, I put on my Nady Shotgun or use my Nady Wireless to have greater control on what I want my camera to pick up.