Microphone problem

[sulabh]

Hi Guys,

I am bit of newb to videography. I have two Sony XR500E consumer camcorders which have 3.5 mm microphone jacks and not xlr jacks.

I use a wired 2 feet long 3.5 mm wire microphone with an extension cable connected to it, so that it can reach the people in front while connected to the camera. But the problem is, there is lot of digital noise and hum being captured as soon as i plug the mic in. Also as soon as i plug in the charger, the noise becomesunbearable, nothing gets recorded.

Can anyone help me out here. how can i reduce if not eliminate this digital noise. Or any 3.5 mm microphones reccomendations? any good lapel ones? i need them to record speech/interviews.

OR any good program that removes digital noise from recordings?

[Charles]

What is your editing software? Premiere Pro has a noise reduction panel in the effects tab under audio. As for why you are getting the digital noise, sorry, I have no idea.

[sulabh]

I am using Sony Vegas 10, and use audacity for audio noise reduction, but that does not give me clean audio, it muffles it up a little. Plus sometimes i use floorfish plug-in, in vegas for hum reduction. But that is good for light hums, it does not do much for constant electronic noise… i think i need a good microphone..

[Luis Maymi Lopez]

3.5 mm microphones are most likely to experience digital noise, mostly because they are unbalanced (check this Videomaker article “Audio for Video Production Balance vs Unbalanced”). Although you can find good 3.5 mm microphones, I strongly advise you to invest in something like the BeachTek DXA-2T. With this device you will be able to connect XLR microphones (which gives you a balanced signal) giving you a better audio quality. Its a little expensive, but it will give you a lot of more options.

[birdcat]

There are the Rode VideoMic’s (mono & stereo) which do a good job.

[Rocky]

The fault condition you describe sounds most likely like an audio earth-shield wire or cable is open circuit or disconnected. That is reinforced by your description of increased hum/radiation from the charger, when it is connected. You have two cameras, if you get the same problem with both cameras then theproblem lies withmicrophoneits cabling orits connections.If you get no hum from the cameras internal microphone the problem lies outside the camera body.

Locating the problemshould be easy with a Sony XR500E as you are able to monitor the audio whilst recording through headphone jacks. If the problem is in the cable, by gentlytwisting/bending the cableswhere the cables join the connectors (both ends) you will be able to monitor if the noise/hum stop. Alternatively the problem may be a disconnected shield/earth wire internal in the microphone, swap with any another microphone if necessary, to confirm.

[sulabh]

Thanks for the advice guys, appreciate it, rocky will check and come back to you, i think i need new better cables, which are a little hard to find in India.

[Author]

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