Rode VideoMic and the Canon HV20
 

I recently got my Rode VideoMic for my Canon HV20. Everyone on here seems to rave about it's quality for the price.

Upon hooking it up to the HV20 I get an insane amount of static fuzz CONSTANTLY and at an audible level of someone talking softly. It seems like it's picking up good audio behind the static -tone of voice, etc. But the static is so loud and prominent that with noise analyzing and removal a lot of information of good sound would be lost.

But it shouldn't react this way...

I thought it may a kink in the chord. Nothing. I unplugged the camera from the wall so it was running on battery only. Still nothing. Plugged it into my computer and recorded audio. Same static. On the laptop running on battery. Again, same static.

Any ideas?

I didn't want to jump to conclusions that I received a defective mic, but maybe I did. I also wanted some consultation and reassurance that the mic performs better then this.

(I bought it from B&H online)

Try setting the RODE's attenuator to -10 or -20dB. The switches are inside the battery compartment.

Is the static there on imported footage? I'd also try another external mic to make sure it's not a camera problem, either in the headphone jack or the mic input.

My videomic works silently. Be sure to ask Rode's help before sending the mic back. Their customer service has been excellent for me.

Thanks for the advice guys. I sent in the same question to Rode and a representative (I believe his name was Rick) called only hours later. Talked with him, he too believed it was just a freaky mic.

He gave me a case number and information to send it back. Should receive a new mic in the mail in a few days.

I am excited for this mic and congratulate Rode for awesome customer service. Bummer start, but I don't think too many companies would have been so prompt and eager to replace their own product.

Looking forward to a proper Rode VideoMic.

I just picked up my Rode VideoMic today and am gonna test it out a bit.So far I'm very impressed with it. I have the Dead Cat,Boom Pole,and extension cable on order as well. Picked it up for $160cdn. Sorry to hear about your problem, I know well the pain of buying a lemon, it does happen, and thats when good customer service makes all the difference in the world!

Ive been playing around with my VideoMic a bit and noticed that I am getting "noise" very much like you are describing. Ive adjusted the audio levels on the HV20 and found that if I reduced them enough the noise went away, the problem with this is that any audio recorded also experiences the same reduction in volume. I then played back what I recorded on my pc and turning up the volume I found that the static like noise is still there. I didnt believe it was the mike's fault as Ive heard sample recordings and it is virtually noise free as far as Im concerned. It really does a very nice job, especially considering the cost.

So I then mounted the VideoMic on a tiny tripod and plugged it into my PC and recorded some audio through Premiere Elements and viola!!! It was music to my ears, the sound was amazingly clean and clear. It was well and truly perfect. This leads me to believe that you're mic was just fine and that the problem is the cam itself, not that its broken mind you but just that it may not record audio as well as it can record video. Im going to play around with some settings tommorrow and see if theres some setting somewhere that is causing the problem but honesty Im not expecting much progress. I think we may just have to have an external recording device to use with this camera for recording shorts or movies as such. One thing I should note is that I cant attest to how effective noise removal software would work since I dont have access to any at the moment.

Update: I lowered the my headphone volume to about 75% and lowered the audio gain by about -10db on the HV20 and that removed most of the noise that I could hear. Now there is some that still gets recorded but I was able to remove all of it using the DeNoiser in Premier Elements 3.0. It worked flawlessly. Elements is pretty basic as far as what you can do but if it is up to the task then I would have to assume that any higher level audio software should be able to do a much better job. I did find that recording the audio was still much better through my PC using my m-audio revo card.The sound was far more clear and far more loud, without any noise whatsoever than compared to the HV20 recording the audio. Its good to know that I can get good sound out of my cam and even better to know that if I have to do any ADR work from my PC that its gonna be very very good.

I'm considering this mic for my HV20 that's on order. Any further experiences? Have you guys found any permanent fix for this problem, that doesn't involve using denoising / declicking plugins? Seems to me this should not be an issue with any mic.

Azden SMX-10 works great for me on my HV20.
http://www.azdencorp.com/shop/custom...3&cat=2&page=1
I paid $69.95 for it on-line. And BTW - it doesn't weigh anywhere close to 2 lbs - the mic and shock mount are more like 6 oz.

I'm curious if you guys are picking up the same sound issues in this recording. It was made with the HV20, and the ME66 through a Beachtek adapter. My sound concerns may be different from you, but I thought it was fine, and that there is not a problem with the camera. Thoughts ?

http://www.makeyourfilm.net/mictestME66.wav

Chris - I haven't used the ME66 (my main off camera shotgun is the AT 897) but aren't they very "hot" mics? I remember when I was searching a new purchase there was a lot of talk about how sensitive the ME66's are. That being said I didn't hear anything unusual in your recording though it would have been easier if there we no other sounds - just the mic and adapter in a quiet room.

I should say my Azden SMX-10 does pick up camera noise - mostly motor noise like everyone else is reporting. But I wouldn't use it for serious recordings - just informal family/fun stuff.

Peter, I don't believe the SMX-10 comes with a shockmount, unless you hooked one up after the fact. I would prefer a shockmount, to mitigate handling noise. Also, I would like a mic that does not pick up the camera tape noise. Can you post a sample sound file or video clip with the motor noise you are talking about? That mic does look tempting for the price.

I've heard people say their DM50 doesn't pick up tape noise, but does transmit handling noises.

Then I've heard the Videomic does pick up tape noise, but since it's shockmounted, it is free of handling noise.

Looking for the perfect mic, but haven't found it yet. Maybe an AT897 or NTG-2 attached to a shockmount with a shoe adapter?

I finally took the plunge and upgraded to Vegas 7 (from 5) so some time next week I'll have files I can post with sound/video. But it's clearly motor noise I'm hearing - not as bad as the built in mic, but its there. I have an add on camera handle with a cold shoe and tried that mount since it takes the mic several inches off the camera. But it was too awkward to use. I honestly can't imagine any mic mounted on the HV20's hot shoe that's not gonna pick up some motor noise. For serious work you'll need an XLR adapter and off camera mic setup.

The SMX-10 does come with a shoe mount that would make a half-way decent shock mount - if they made it out of rubber instead of hard plastic. The plastic conducts too much handling noise for serious hand-held work. On a tripod/monopod it should be fine. The SMX is tiny - approx. 7 inches long and about 3/4" diameter (and maybe 4 oz with battery). I have a Rode SM3 shock mount and AT897 shotgun and there's no way they're gonna fit on the HV20. At 11 1/2" long, the AT897 would be in every shot.

I'm gonna call Azden next week to see if they have any suggestions on a shockmount for the SMX (part of the problem is it's so small and light, it will probably slip right through any suspension-type shock mount.) If anything comes of it, I'll post.

Okay, I thought I gave you another test. This is one I posted with three different recordings in a quiet room, I describe each test, but includes Me66 on camera, camera mic only, and ME66 mounted off camera:

http://www.makeyourfilm.net/downloads/newsoundtest.wav
__________________

Peter, don't you think if you used another shockmount like this one, http://www.pana3ccduser.com/images/u...AMSSM_side.jpg
you could have the mic sitting up higher and have it be out of the shot? To my eyes, it doesn't look like there's a world of difference between the shoe placement and the lens on the HV20 and the GS120 in that pic. In the same review where I'm getting these pics, this http://www.pana3ccduser.com/images/u...namic_side.jpg shockmount reportedly keeps the mic out the fram as well, which is quite surprising. Why don't you rig up your AT897 to the shoe adapter and see what happens?

As far as no mic being mounted on the shoe adapter being able to reject motor noise, I think this should actually be possible, and I've read a couple posts on this forum where this was reported. Maybe the Azden just isn't directional enough, and it's small size keeps it too close the the motor. That's two things possibly going against it for keeping out motor noise.

Thanks for the sound file, Chris. That's an unbelievable amount of motor noise with the stock mic! The ME66 still was picking some up when mounted, then off the camera, I had to really try to hear it but I think it was actually still there, just a tiny bit. This is not welcome news. I wonder if I'll be happy with this camera if I have to constantly put up with this noise.

I have the Videomic and tried mounting it off to the side with a Bescor bracket. In a quiet environment it still picks up the tape motor noise. If you are recording in a moderately noisy environment, you probably won't notice it. I will be using it to record ambient sounds in the natural world, so I have decided to mount the Videomic on a small tripod and to use an extension cord. I can set the mic about ten feet away.

Pat