A sound problem resolved
Posted: Fri May 08, 2020 5:36 pm
I was setting up to shoot an interview with the Sony AX700 and In one of those moments of complete stupidity I inadvertently set my input audio recording level at maximum. I hooked up the Sony wireless mic plugged everything in; put on the headphones and powered up. The sound in the headphones practically blew my head off; quick switch off; reset the sound level; headphones on; nothing. I had seemingly blown out the headphone circuit; the sound levels registered on the LCD side screen and on my external monitor via HDMI; plug the headphones into the monitor and discover that there is a perceptible lag; painful but at least I can get a sense of the ambience and the recording. Stagger through the shoot and contact a camera repair center; quote $360 plus shipping both ways, probably total cost about $400 for a moment of sheer carelessness; I thought about it.
On my next shoot I again used the external monitor headphone connection but that lag is totally distracting; OK to set up but hopeless for continuous audio monitoring. Before committing to the $400 repair I decided to explore alternative approaches and discovered the Scaramonic audio mixer with lavalier microphone kit; price $45. A visit to YouTube and a careful reading suggested this may be a work around my headphone problem; set ordered from Amazon. The package arrived, designed for use with telephones, GoPros and DSLRs the unit is powered by one AAA battery and has two microphone inputs, one threaded for locking one audio output; plus the essential headphone socket . Also in the package a wired lavalier microphone which turned out to be very good and cables to meet all needs; great value indeed. Tried it out; it worked; a messy method but it answered an urgent need. With the Covid19 shut down I didn’t use the camera for more than a month; then time to shoot the local vineyard which I am following over a year. I powered up the camera to discover that everything had reverted to reset; date/time/button selections etc. groan and go through everything. Plug in the external mic; without thinking put on the headphones; to my amazement they are working; check with the built-in camera mics and an external mic via the XLR adaptor; sound to the headphones from every source.
I do not know the true explanation of what happened but can make some guesses; by returning the camera to the “factory settings” a fuse or something like it in the headphone circuit had been restored; or perhaps there are gremlins after all.
ned c
On my next shoot I again used the external monitor headphone connection but that lag is totally distracting; OK to set up but hopeless for continuous audio monitoring. Before committing to the $400 repair I decided to explore alternative approaches and discovered the Scaramonic audio mixer with lavalier microphone kit; price $45. A visit to YouTube and a careful reading suggested this may be a work around my headphone problem; set ordered from Amazon. The package arrived, designed for use with telephones, GoPros and DSLRs the unit is powered by one AAA battery and has two microphone inputs, one threaded for locking one audio output; plus the essential headphone socket . Also in the package a wired lavalier microphone which turned out to be very good and cables to meet all needs; great value indeed. Tried it out; it worked; a messy method but it answered an urgent need. With the Covid19 shut down I didn’t use the camera for more than a month; then time to shoot the local vineyard which I am following over a year. I powered up the camera to discover that everything had reverted to reset; date/time/button selections etc. groan and go through everything. Plug in the external mic; without thinking put on the headphones; to my amazement they are working; check with the built-in camera mics and an external mic via the XLR adaptor; sound to the headphones from every source.
I do not know the true explanation of what happened but can make some guesses; by returning the camera to the “factory settings” a fuse or something like it in the headphone circuit had been restored; or perhaps there are gremlins after all.
ned c