HD-FX1??

[Guest]

I am in the market for a me mini DV camera and am considering the Sony HD-FX1 consumer model but my main concern is the sound issue with the consumer version since there are no XLR inputs. What do people do about sound with the consumer version with this camera. Is it the right one to buy or should I wait and see what the pro version has to offer. Sony says there 45 differences between the consumer and prosumer version of this camera. Any advice/help in my decision will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!!! Please e-mail if you can with comments.

Brian Fass
brifast@aol.com

[sumosamuri]

If you are hoping for good sound quality by far wait for the professional version. Nothing can beat a good xlr input. However, if you are looking for price's sake, you can easily take the consumer version and pimp it out with a beech box, giving you as many xlr inputs as you can find available.

[alpi69]

as always it depends. i have a VX1000 and it has limitations like the FX1 esp. you can´t control the channels separately. if you want to record sound directly to tape then the FX1 might have a dealbreaker there...

[Gary_McClurg]

I can't remember if I read you can jam sync a dat to the time code of the Pro Model or not? *If anyone knows let us know, thanks.

[zenbarai]

XLRs or no XLRs,if you shoot HDV, you're forced to use compressed audio.

I'm the owner of a post audio facility that works on the sound for several feature films each month. In my professional opinion, compressed audio is not a viable way to record your production sound.

If you shoot HDV, capture the sound on DAT at 16 bit 48kHz uncompressed. Sync the uncompressed audio to your picture using the camera audio as a guide, or better yet, use a slate and time code.

[Aejaz]

So does it mean the HDV format... in the professional audio capturing capability....has a basic flaw?...at least for the moment?

[Jan_Crittenden]

HDV, regardless of version, all uses compressed audio. Dual system sound would be the only way to overcome this shortcoming.

Hope that helps,

Jan

[Aejaz]

If it is a shortcoming than could we presume that with the advancement of the HD technology, there would be parallel major breakthroughs or advanacements in the compressed audio technology as well?.... so that it could match the potential and the promise of the HD video, without the need to resort to Dual system sound?

any expert views?

[Barry_Green]

I have no expert view yet as I haven't tested the camera for audio yet. However, I have to say that given the audio hardware we can see on it (a 1/8" unbalanced stereo minijack, no way to control individual audio channel levels, and no way to turn off the automatic limiter) I think it's safe to say that the audio system wasn't given the same priority as the video. It may have hi-def video, but it doesn't look like it has hi-def audio.

More to come in the next few weeks, hopefully.

[Guest]

Would that require using somthing like a Tascam DAT recorder. I think this product has XLR inputs.

What about the Sony Sony PCMM1? This unit does not appear to have XLR input or time code. Would this device work?

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You said:
I'm the owner of a post audio facility that works on the sound for several feature films each month. In my professional opinion, compressed audio is not a viable way to record your production sound.

If you shoot HDV, capture the sound on DAT at 16 bit 48kHz uncompressed. Sync the uncompressed audio to your picture using the camera audio as a guide, or better yet, use a slate and time code.[/quote]

[xander76]

This raises an interesting question that I've been trying to understand. On another board, someone told me that prosumer cameras like the DVX100A (and presumably the FX1) do not necessarily keep exact, crystal-locked time.

(http://www.uemforums.com/2pop/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=ProductionAudio&Number=611 44&Forum=f11&Words=&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=611 44&Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=1699&daterange=1 &newerval=1&newertype=y&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyp rev=1#Post61144)

He said that these cameras will drift with respect to a crystal-synced recorder, and that individual units of the same model will drift differently.

Is this true? If so, it seems to me that recording dual system audio with HDV could be difficult.

[zenbarai]

Tascam, Fostex & HHB make good location sound recorders. There are other options as well. What you choose to use depends on your needs. If you aren't trying to make broadcast-quality projects, then maybe the built-in audio on the FX1 or Z1 will do the job. Otherwise, you would need to get a DAT recorder (or even the Marantz flash card recorder) with XLR inputs and record the sound separately.

If you get the Z1, and if it comes with a time code output, you could get a time code-enabled DAT machine and record the camera's time code on the DAT machine's time code track when you shoot. You could then digitize the video and use the time code information to sync up the DAT audio. If your camera doesn't have external time code capability, you can sync up the DAT sound manually, as long as you have a slate to use as a sync point for each take.

Having to sync up separate sound is going a step backward to what you have to do when you shoot film. But if HDV turns out to be a superior enough image source over DV, it may be worth it to you.

[Aejaz]

Having to sync up separate sound is going a step backward to what you have to do when you shoot film. But if HDV turns out to be a superior enough image source over DV, it may be worth it to you.

May be.....worth it...but not without additonal costs...of purchasing additional equipment to get broadcast quality audio....besides the hassel of synchronising it through timecode or even worse...manually.

So a serious cost-benefit-analysis consideration does come into play...if someone wants to use the camera more professionally....at least untill... as I said earlier...a breakthrough audio technology to match the HD video potential comes to the fore.

just loud thinking


bye the way how much a DAT recorder costs?

[Guest]

If you're in a hurry to buy it and need to get work done with it... get it. But otherwise, if you can hang out and some extra duckets... you might decide on something else or think abuot extra accessories you can buy (lens, Mic, XLR adaptor,wide angle lense, batteries, filters....)

But you'll have problem playing tape back on other machines. I only know 1 guy who has it... and he has to capture straight from his camera(ouch).

[Aejaz]

For the time being I am more than happy with my DVX100a. :D ;D ;)

While the HD format , as far as the video is concerned, still has to pass the acid test of approval by the average user, I did not know beofre coming to this thread that it has such a basic 'handicap' attached ...if I may call it ...i.e. the compressed audio issue. For me that point alone is sufficient to piss any serious professional off this camera....for the moment at least.

And I also sincerely hope (for those who will be investing in this technology)that this time Sony does it better than their MICROMV stunt cams....and does not end up selling 'gadgets' worth thousands of bux, which are redundant within months of being launched.