basspig
Veteran
This is so monumental that I had to make a separate post about it:
Last night, I bit the bullet on my just-out-of-warranty EX1 (the first of two that I purchased) and followed up with a battery of tests.
My initial concern was the frequency response. I can report that it remains unchanged from the original.
What HAS changed is the pathetic audio limiting effect that used to threshold around -4 bars on the meter. I am pleased to report that Sony fixed the gain staging--it is now completely perfect. There is NO sign of compression, right up to maximum drive level to tipping the redline, with the gain pots set at 5.
I tested with RightMark Audio Analyzer. These test results are accessible from my tests page:
http://www.basspig.com/CameraAudioTests.htm
The NEW indicator is the FW upgraded results. Bear in mind that the old test was comparing Left/Right channels, whereas the new test is comparing Mic/Line signals, so some differences are to be expected.
I did further tests today to see how it sounds, musically.
In prior firmware, when the audio level approached input stage clipping by more than -6dB, a non-defeatable limiter came into action and it had a very poorly-responding ballistic, causing a problem we veteran broadcast engineers knew as "suck out"--where a peak, such as a snare drum beat, resets the gain to such a low level that the overall volume drops severely, resulting in an annoying pumping effect to the volume.
FW 1.11 fixes this. It appears that the input can now be driven to full level and then some, before compression becomes evident--and now the compression sounds much more musical--merely limiting peaks, not sucking down the record level to extremes after each transient. In fact, you can overdrive by 6dB and lower the Rec Level pots and still record without clipping, but you will have limiting, so I don't recommend it as it won't be high fidelity.
I found that I can drive the inputs to maximum level and have "0VU" on the meters with the Rec Levels at 5. I can increase the record levels and overdrive somewhat, and the distortion is not that ugly, crackling sound we are so familiar with from earlier firmware--it's just like how my high end digital audio interface in the studio handles it--gracefully.
The summation of this is that you no longer have to use 4 segments below redline as your 'redline' level. You can use ALL of the dynamic range of the camera now, right up to 0VU without any ugly artifacts. I also note that throughout the upper frequency range, the noise floor is around -115dB, which is very good for most any digital recorder. The RightMark tests take an unweighted measurement, so the spectral spike at 50Hz is what lowers the score to the 90dB range. In reality, hiss is much lower than that.
So getting the 1.11 firmware will not only add features to the recording media selection, but fixes ALL of the audio shortcomings. The audio was good to begin with, but now it's even better. I would have not issue with using it for midrange to critical music recording, if only two channels are needed.
Great job, Sony! :thumbup:
ADDENDUM: I made all tests with the AGC turned OFF. I tested just now with music and the AGC turned ON and found that it pushes the levels too high and produces pretty nasty clipping. I recommend to leave the AGC OFF under all circumstances. It's functionally pretty useless. Without the AGC function enabled, ironically, the EX1's audio inputs are amazingly immune to overdrive and clipping.
Last night, I bit the bullet on my just-out-of-warranty EX1 (the first of two that I purchased) and followed up with a battery of tests.
My initial concern was the frequency response. I can report that it remains unchanged from the original.
What HAS changed is the pathetic audio limiting effect that used to threshold around -4 bars on the meter. I am pleased to report that Sony fixed the gain staging--it is now completely perfect. There is NO sign of compression, right up to maximum drive level to tipping the redline, with the gain pots set at 5.
I tested with RightMark Audio Analyzer. These test results are accessible from my tests page:
http://www.basspig.com/CameraAudioTests.htm
The NEW indicator is the FW upgraded results. Bear in mind that the old test was comparing Left/Right channels, whereas the new test is comparing Mic/Line signals, so some differences are to be expected.
I did further tests today to see how it sounds, musically.
In prior firmware, when the audio level approached input stage clipping by more than -6dB, a non-defeatable limiter came into action and it had a very poorly-responding ballistic, causing a problem we veteran broadcast engineers knew as "suck out"--where a peak, such as a snare drum beat, resets the gain to such a low level that the overall volume drops severely, resulting in an annoying pumping effect to the volume.
FW 1.11 fixes this. It appears that the input can now be driven to full level and then some, before compression becomes evident--and now the compression sounds much more musical--merely limiting peaks, not sucking down the record level to extremes after each transient. In fact, you can overdrive by 6dB and lower the Rec Level pots and still record without clipping, but you will have limiting, so I don't recommend it as it won't be high fidelity.
I found that I can drive the inputs to maximum level and have "0VU" on the meters with the Rec Levels at 5. I can increase the record levels and overdrive somewhat, and the distortion is not that ugly, crackling sound we are so familiar with from earlier firmware--it's just like how my high end digital audio interface in the studio handles it--gracefully.
The summation of this is that you no longer have to use 4 segments below redline as your 'redline' level. You can use ALL of the dynamic range of the camera now, right up to 0VU without any ugly artifacts. I also note that throughout the upper frequency range, the noise floor is around -115dB, which is very good for most any digital recorder. The RightMark tests take an unweighted measurement, so the spectral spike at 50Hz is what lowers the score to the 90dB range. In reality, hiss is much lower than that.
So getting the 1.11 firmware will not only add features to the recording media selection, but fixes ALL of the audio shortcomings. The audio was good to begin with, but now it's even better. I would have not issue with using it for midrange to critical music recording, if only two channels are needed.
Great job, Sony! :thumbup:
ADDENDUM: I made all tests with the AGC turned OFF. I tested just now with music and the AGC turned ON and found that it pushes the levels too high and produces pretty nasty clipping. I recommend to leave the AGC OFF under all circumstances. It's functionally pretty useless. Without the AGC function enabled, ironically, the EX1's audio inputs are amazingly immune to overdrive and clipping.
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