HMC150 Audio Conclusions

G

ggrantly

Veteran
Hello Listers,

Everyone raves about the HMC image quality, but a while back, there was much grousing about the audio section of the 150 which seems to have faded away with time (no pun intended). I am considering a HMC150 as an upgrade to my DXV100A which has good audio for a modestly priced camera. I would rarely if ever use the built in mic, so that is a non-issue for me. Given the previous concerns voiced here, and that now the cam has been on the street for a good while, I am curious how users view the audio section of the 150. Is it as good as the DVX? Is it good enough for how you use the cam?

Thanks in Advance,
Grant
 
You might want to take my opinion with a grain of salt, since others have used the audio far more than me... But it seems fine to me. Evidently, it can have problems that a camera in its range really shouldn't in very loud environments, but I never experienced this as I don't shoot that kind of stuff.

I just use lavs plugged straight in, and have not had any issues. From my understanding, the audio hardware is actually better than the DVX in most ways.
 
I have used the 150 plugged into a board as well as a Rode NTG-2 on camera and off. I have not encountered any problems, in fact I have been pleased with the audio. Maybe there was a bad bunch that people received, but as you said the complaints have gone away.
 
I do have some problems on loud environments, even bringing the level down wont prevent clipping... but less than 5% of my work involves loud shooting. And i can always find alternative ways to get good audio!
 
My only gripe with the audio is that there is no auto gain only a limiter, and during a wedding I am constantly tweaking the levels up and down manually - not made easy by having to turn two thumbwheels simultaneaously. You certainly have to take it right down for say a disco but sound quality is fine.
 
Did you set the ALC (auto Level Control) to 'on' in the menu [recording setup]? That might help a little...
 
Are you having problems clipping when using all mics, or only the built in? Put another way, can you avoid the problems with remote mics. Is a mixer necessary to avoid clipping?

Thanks for all the replies,
Grant
 
The clipping usually occur when the Sound Pressure Level SPL of the mic is exceeded. Also, this can occur when using a digital mixer.

In my case, the only time I get clipping has been when I peaked my VU on the HMC or when a digital mixer was clipping.

Otherwise, the sound is great. But I find the ALC more efficient on the DVX.
 
Did you set the ALC (auto Level Control) to 'on' in the menu [recording setup]? That might help a little...
Click to expand...
It's ON!

Are you having problems clipping when using all mics, or only the built in?
Click to expand...
With built in more than with external, even when audio doesn't red-line u still hear the clipping noise

can you avoid the problems with remote mics. Is a mixer necessary to avoid clipping?
Click to expand...

Sometimes that's about the only solution, plugging right into the board/mixer... sometimes the signal is clipping in the mixer so external-farwaway mics are the only way to get some somewhat ok audio...

But like i said, that's about 5% of my work (thank god)

On a related note, i have shot with a Sony in the same environments and the limiters work better than on the HMC150...

Keep in mind i'm talking really really loud concerts, or live events. Where i would use my headphones to monitor audio but mostly to protect my hearing =)
 
Hi Superfresa,

When I said mixer, I meant something like a SD302 field mixer which no doubt has better limiters than any camera and will give you better control. Have you had success recording audio from a concert mixer? The sound from a mixer board is pretty colored to the venue, maybe that's ok.

Seems like if you wanted to take sound from the concert board, you would want to use a dedicated recorder in order to keep your cam untethered.

Best Regards,
Grant
 
Seems like if you wanted to take sound from the concert board, you would want to use a dedicated recorder in order to keep your cam untethered.
Click to expand...

Unless you use a XLR wireless audio sender, commonly known as a butt-plug =)
I prefer not to, and for that you can set up a stationary wide shot cam plug to the board...
Also a filed recorder might be helpful, as long as the Audio person is not messing around with the levels too much!!!
 
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