Cracking audio...

[wseng]

Have some problems with the internal mic. hope you guys could help me.
Have been using DVX102B for quite some time now. Mostly using it for weddings and also events. Was using the internal onboard mic most of the time.

Somehow lately, my of my recordings came back with many cracking audio and a lot of distortion. Even though the audio level I set was way low not even touching the red bars. It was going at average -18db on the left channel and -12db on right channel. Would like your help to listen to the short clip HERE

Just couldn't understand where the problem is ?? Prior to this, I just changed the whole mic unit.

I do understand that many would advise me to use an external mic, below are my reasoning on why I prefer internal for my case:
- when setting to same audio level for 2 channels, I can get natural audio panning.
- minimise on audio editing work (if audio comes out without cracks/distortion), don't have to mix external and internal mic

Lastly, If i don't have the option other than buying an XLR mic, is shotgun my best bet for my application ? any recommendations ?

 

[wseng]

Maybe what I was writing wasn't clear enough...
"Just couldn't understand where the problem is ?? Prior to this, I just changed the whole mic unit."

I was trying to say that .... the problem occurs with the original mic unit and also with the new mic unit. The cracking sound was heard before and after I change the mic. NO improvement

 

[Steve House]

I gave it a careful listen and I couldn't hear any crackling such as you mention. The guitar is distorted, the vocalist is just plain bad, and the music is ugly but I don't think any of that is the fault of your recording. What I do hear is a temendous amount of the room, the typical "recorded in a cave" distant hollow sound caused by placing the mic too far away, recording from your camera location in other words. Note I didn't say "due to using the internal mic." Internal or external, $25 Radio Shack or $2500 Schoeps CMIT Shotgun, the camera location will almost never be the place to put a mic that will allow it to pickup sound properly. Unless you're putting the camera within 2 to 4 feet of the sound source or are shooting something big and loud like a marching band, the camera position is just too far away for any mic to work properly.

 

[wseng]

the picture attached shows what was generated in audition. Many vertical lines are peaking to the max. I believe i recorded it somehow in a low level around -12db / -18db. But you will hear those distortion / crack sounds when u turn it on louder.

 

[Steve House]

the picture attached shows what was generated in audition. Many vertical lines are peaking to the max. I believe i recorded it somehow in a low level around -12db / -18db. But you will hear those distortion / crack sounds when u turn it on louder.

I see the lines you're talking about - loaded it into Audition 3 and see a virtually identical display to that you've shown. But aside for one crack just as the track starts I don't hear crackling - I hear guitar hits and futz in time with the lines in the display. I hear distortion on the vocal at about 0:05:725 but that may be his voice cracking or his amp overloading. Listening on an Echo Audiofire interface through a Mackie 1642 board into both Sony MDR7506 phones and a pair of JBL LSR4328 monitors calibrated to 85dBSPL. No crackles, just really buzzy guitar hits. I'm getting a little long in the tooth but I still have pretty good high-frequency hearing. If you're hearing crackles I wonder if you may be hearing an artifact in your playback or your monitoring system?

 

[wseng]

thank you steve for spending the time to study my problem..

I hear distortion on the vocal at about 0:05:725 but that may be his voice cracking or his amp overloading.

Yes, that was the part of distortion that I was talking about. I was present at the scene and what I heard from my ears was perfect without any sort of distortion. I wasn't monitoring through earphones... just listening with my ears. The PA system was ok.

And this kind of distortion happens in many parts of my recorded video. whenever I move closer to the speakers the effect amplifies.

I'm kind of worry if there's anything wrong with my machine. or is it a limitation of DVX102b ?

Any of you guys ever had this problem before ?