HV20/30 sound quality / motor noise

I need to get a HD camcorder in a couple days to try it out before our vacation. I've been on the HC9/HV30 fence. Its coming down to audio vs low light. I've read MANY MANY posts were people have been VERY unhappy with the HV20/30's audio -- tiny sounding, motor noise, top mic location, etc. I've read where people have said you really need an external mic, but the Sony you don't. I will be using this for vacation/family shots and don't want a bulky camera -- no ext mic for me. So how is the internal mic? Is it really as bad as keep reading?

I need to get a HD camcorder in a couple days to try it out before our vacation. I've been on the HC9/HV30 fence. Its coming down to audio vs low light. I've read MANY MANY posts were people have been VERY unhappy with the HV20/30's audio -- tiny sounding, motor noise, top mic location, etc. I've read where people have said you really need an external mic, but the Sony you don't. I will be using this for vacation/family shots and don't want a bulky camera -- no ext mic for me. So how is the internal mic? Is it really as bad as keep reading?

What people missing is you can adjust the mic sensitivity level. If you leave it on the highest sensitivity level you will pick up motor noise in very quite places. If you do the adjustments you will be fine. You won't have any problems outside.

I've read MANY MANY posts were people have been VERY unhappy with the HV20/30's audio -- tiny sounding, motor noise, top mic location, etc. I've read where people have said you really need an external mic, but the Sony you don't.So get the HC9.




Rich

So get the HC9. I was asking for that one.... I should have added the reviews/complaints were on Amazon. CCI is a much better source for opinions IMO.

What people missing is you can adjust the mic sensitivity level. If you leave it on the highest sensitivity level you will pick up motor noise in very quite places. If you do the adjustments you will be fine. You won't have any problems outside.
I did not know this. But by reducing the sensitivity aren't you merely decreasing the overall level. ie, you may not hear the motor noises but you also cannot hear the vocals as well either. If the body is better isolated from the mic, increasing the sensitivity captures more "wanted" sounds.

I did not know this. But by reducing the sensitivity aren't you merely decreasing the overall level. ie, you may not hear the motor noises but you also cannot hear the vocals as well either. If the body is better isolated from the mic, increasing the sensitivity captures more "wanted" sounds.

If you don't adjust the mic level manually and leave it on auto it is very sensitive. This is because in quiet environments since there is no audible noise it automatically increases the sensitivity to highest. So the wanted noises will be loud with this adjustment. By adjusting the level you can normalize the wanted sounds and avoid the motor noise. You can also increase the audio level in the post very easily.

Also regardless of the camcorder you buy, the on board mic will never be as good as an external mic. You may reconsider using an external mic only in quiet environments. There are small external mics.

What Vansal is talking about was in the past typically called Automatic Gain Control (AGC). So when their is very little sound (or noise) the gain of the audio section is increased, as the sound (or noise) is increased then the gain of the audio section is reduced. It is an attempt to get audio over more conditions and to have it done automatically. It generally works OK on consumer camcorders.




Rich

I was asking for that one.... I should have added the reviews/complaints were on Amazon. CCI is a much better source for opinions IMO.There are many problems with some reviews, they may be made by a person with no camcorder experience, improper use, to great of expections due to watching too much TV and/or a defective camcorder or combinations of all of those and possibly more...





Rich