Audio Popping/ Cracking???

D.R. Gates said:
Panasonic needs to be looking into it NOW because it's affecting the mic that comes with the camera. It's silly to say it's no big deal just because you can always attach another mic to it.
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Yes, I agree. They should definitely be looking into it now. I was just trying to encourage people to still buy this camera and that should not be a deal breaker for anyone considering purchasing it.

I think it's about time we got audio quality equal to the video quality on these cameras. I never experience this problem with my DVX100.
 
keentave said:
Yes, I agree. They should definitely be looking into it now. I was just trying to encourage people to still buy this camera and that should not be a deal breaker for anyone considering purchasing it.

I think it's about time we got audio quality equal to the video quality on these cameras. I never experience this problem with my DVX100.
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That's incorrect because multiple people have reported the issue with external mics via the XLR input as well.. seems like there is no way to escape this if you experience the issue?

I hope folks in the power seat won't stay quiet for too long.
 
For my move to HD, my choices came down to the Sony FX1000 and the HMC150.

I have to tell ya though, if the disadvantages are between rolling shutter and Snap Crackle Pop, I'm drifting back to the Sony.
 
booggerg2 said:
That's incorrect because multiple people have reported the issue with external mics via the XLR input as well.. seems like there is no way to escape this if you experience the issue?

I hope folks in the power seat won't stay quiet for too long.
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Yes agreed, this issue seriously impacts the usefulness of this camera...seriously. Hoping those who may have a stronger voice or those in the know speak up.
 
This must be fixed... if not, there will be a class action lawsuit. I just hope a fix is already underway and will come before my first gig with this cam..
 
D.R. Gates said:
For my move to HD, my choices came down to the Sony FX1000 and the HMC150.

I have to tell ya though, if the disadvantages are between rolling shutter and Snap Crackle Pop, I'm drifting back to the Sony.
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As I agree that this is a big issue that needs to be fixed, I do not agree that this is a deal breaker on buying this camera. I would still purchase this camera even knowing beforehand about this issue.

As far as I am aware (correct me if I'm wrong) this issue has only occurred while recording music or some kind of really loud audio. It has not done this just recording dialogue or anything of that sort. Many people will not be recording bands or music.

For those of us that are, like me, I hope someone who has some pull speaks up to Panasonic!

I think this is a big issue not a HUGE issue. A huge issue would be if it occurred during any audio recording not just loud music. BUT maybe if people are less inclined to buy this camera because of it, this will make Panasonic do something about it.
 
keentave said:
BUT maybe if people are less inclined to buy this camera because of it, this will make Panasonic do something about it.
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They need to take care of the cameras that have been sold, not just future sales. Many people chose this camera over the FX1000 for the XLR inputs, i.e. audio quality. This is also a lower level pro camera. In other words many people purchased it to make money and part of Panasonic's marketing was as an event camera. It must have good audio.

That being said, I've not yet experienced it, even through a shotgun mic at a wedding. But I've not listened to every bit of audio either, and I hope I will not encounter it.

Hopefully Panasonic will find the issue, recall the cameras, and get them fixed.
 
DaFireMedic said:
They need to take care of the cameras that have been sold, not just future sales. Many people chose this camera over the FX1000 for the XLR inputs, i.e. audio quality. This is also a lower level pro camera. In other words many people purchased it to make money and part of Panasonic's marketing was as an event camera. It must have good audio.

That being said, I've not yet experienced it, even through a shotgun mic at a wedding. But I've not listened to every bit of audio either, and I hope I will not encounter it.

Hopefully Panasonic will find the issue, recall the cameras, and get them fixed.
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DaFire: My concern is taping live audio at the reception, especially at the wedding party announcement, it's not always that I'm able to get a feed from the DJ mixer but even with that, I still need to tape live audio for the guests' reactions.. Very often, the wedding party walks in to loud hip hop music and I'm concerned of these pops.. my first gig this year is in May so I'm hoping they'll have a fix for this, if not, I'll have to depend on my digital audio recorder, which is absurd because such fundamental feature in a $3K camera should work!
 
To get a little more formal testing done, is it possible for some current owners to find a time when nobody will be bothered, and crank your stereo system?

Maybe we'll find a pattern, for instance - what if it only happens for cameras manufactured in a certain month, or in a certain factory?

It's worth a shot. The more information we can give Panasonic, the better.
 
Tiger: good suggestion.. I'll try to do a test this week.. although I need to get a SDHC reader first! None of the SD readers I have are SDHC compatible lol!
 
booggerg2 said:
DaFire: My concern is taping live audio at the reception, especially at the wedding party announcement, it's not always that I'm able to get a feed from the DJ mixer but even with that, I still need to tape live audio for the guests' reactions.. Very often, the wedding party walks in to loud hip hop music and I'm concerned of these pops.. my first gig this year is in May so I'm hoping they'll have a fix for this, if not, I'll have to depend on my digital audio recorder, which is absurd because such fundamental feature in a $3K camera should work!
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I understand what you are saying, its a major concern. I just rewatched/listened to the clip of the grand entrance (which was pretty loud) at the reception, and I can't detect any of the popping/clipping noises from the camera's audio. As I have time, I will review some of the louder sections of the reception and see if there are any problems that I can find. I'll also find the interviews and see how they sound. I had one audio channel set to the shotgun mic and the other to the onboard mic. For everything else, I had my audio recorder set up with a lav mic taped just under the speaker where all of the happenings played through, it turned out pretty good.

Everything else was a nightmare, outdoor wedding with 20-25 mph winds, extreme backlighting of the ceremony (camera facing the 4:30-5:30 pm sun going down), extremely dark reception (which the HMC handled very well).

I will try some tests as TigerFX suggested and see if I can cause the audio problem. I just have to get my wife to leave the house, unless she will let me tape her singing........


Edit: Ha, she did let me record her singing, although she won't let me post the clip. No problems noted in the recording.
 
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booggerg2 said:
LOL: How loud is her singing? Can it compete with a loud percussion?
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It was pretty good volume, but not what you'd get from a band. She's a good singer, but she doesn't have lungs like some out there. She was holding back too, as it's almost 9 pm where I live. I've been recording various stuff around my house over the last hour or so, from a semi-loud TV (up close) , my kids, etc., and so far no audio issues.

Tomorrow, I'll see if I can find something loud. I don't really have a good stereo. Those that I do have will distort before the camera's audio would. I guess I could try the stereo in my truck.
 
Just in case I'm falsely contributing to a false alarm, I want to clarify two things:

1) As I said earlier, I heard some crackling when using external audio where the camera's reported audio level was not near peaking. However, I have not yet ruled out completely issues in the external audio system; the issue SEEMS to occur with some external audio systems but not others; and the crackling was not apparent in the RECORDED audio, just in the live headphone output.

2) When the HVX had an audio problem reported by users, Panasonic was very responsive, determined a fix, and fixed all the cameras that had the issue. I'm sure that will be the case if there IS a problem with the HMC.

-Barry
 
What was the audio problem with the HVX? And how long did it take for words to circle on the web before Panny took action?
 
If someone is testing, I would request to test with ALC on and OFF.
So far, I have seen most issues seem to be reported with ALC off.

If that is the case, we can temporarily turn it on, but it still needs to be fixed.

It happened to me only once (at one event, not one time total) at a live event with ALC off.
 
Hey Hornet! I was using the onboard mic, had the -60db on, with levels practically off and still got clipping. The ALC was on "all the time". I'm not sure if the -50/-60db cut works for the onboard mic. I didn't see anything in the manual about it.

I was recording a loud band, and I was monitoring the vu meters. I never saw them go more than half way. I'm puzzled that the clipping is getting through all these defenses.

Which leads me to think there is another problem somewhere.
 
The only time I have used the -60 setting is when I got crappy audio. Everything has been fine with the -50 setting... go figure. I thought sure the -60 would mean less input through the camera, but when I used that setting my audio was horrible - including the popping/crushing sound. I've just settled with -50 and having the dials set to almost nil in that setting. Thanks for mentioning that ronedee... I had completely forgotten that one bad day.
 
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