Cellular Signal Noise
 

Anyone have any experiance hearing this noise?

YouTube - cell noise

My cameras all use Azden SMX-10 shotgun microphones wired directly into the camera. Why are these microphones picking this up and how can I stop it. Also on a side note none of my wireless microphones pick this up...

What wireless system do you have?
It can be for a number of reasons. A cell phone close to the mic or cable is the most likely. The reason you aren't hearing it on the wireless is probably because it is shielded better than the SMX-10 or it's cable. You also get this with computer speakers and guitar amps. They are usually not shielded, or at least the cables aren't. The cables end up working like an antenna. If it were a cell phone, that buzzing would be the data for your phone call.

My wireless system I use is an azden 105upr and works like a charm. I know its a cell signal, but the issue is I don't carry my cell phone on me during shoots but my photographer does and if he is within say 20 ft these mics pick up the signal. Any ideas how to fix this? And just telling my photographer not to carry cell phone doesn't fix the problem.

There's really no way to fix it besides either turning the cell phones off (OFF off, not vibrate or silent, as some people think), or getting a different microphone. I have never had a problem with my Røde NTG-1 hooked up to my camera with any length of XLR.

I have heard that the Apple iphone, which I use, creates the most noise of all the cell phones on the market. My iphone drives my hard wired telephones crazy, and the noise sounds just like the utube example. My Sennheiser 416 is affected by this radiation, but my Rode NTG 3 is not. The Rode has better shielding and it looks like this is going to be a major factor in microphone selection in todays world.

Also
 

This is also happened to me while using wired lav mics. You're never safe unless the phones are off.

And don't get me started on what a Blackberry close to your wireless will do....aarrrgH! :) Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

Anyone have any experience constructing a "shield" for their microphone? When I get some free time I am going to try wrapping the wires in aluminum foil and see if that cuts that signal.

This noise is becoming an increasing menace. Listen to C-Span and you will hear it at news conferences, on the floor of the US House and Senate, etc. So even with the broadcasters the problem is not easily solved.

I recently ran into this problem, but it was easily solved because I was recording in stereo and it was only on the left channel. All I did was delete the left channel and duplicate the right channel. Noise was gone.

There is a software that will easily remove it if it is on both channels. It is called iZotope RX.

iZotope RX - Complete Audio Restoration: Declipping, Declicker, Hum Removal, Denoiser, Spectral Repair, Restore, Remaster, Download

John

Don't trust noise-reduction software too much, it can kill the sound. Just make sure the phones are off if it's that important.

As others have said, there's not much you can do beyond turning the phones off.

And if I can tell the Prime Minister of Australia and his staff to turn their phones off while they're in our studio, I'm sure you can do the same with your photographer ;-)

But, if you CAN'T get all phones off, then IzoRX is great at this. I've also removed reversing beeps from lorries that were NOT part of the shot and clambering over the interview.

Why not use all the tools, if they are available? Get the best audio signal you can, then if that falls through the cracks, use IzoRX.

Simples!

Grazie

Yeah, but I'm saying don't trust it. Don't buy it thinking it will fix everything, it won't. If it's really bad, sometimes the audio won't be fixable, and if it does fix it, it will sound horrible. It can be a savior sometimes, but don't trust it to do everything.

I remember when I said "fix it in the post" to noise... you can't do too much noise reduction no matter the program.

Don't hold your breath. I noticed that my Phone still works (= takes and makes calls) inside a metal framed chicken wire cage in a store area. It has obviously never heard of a Faraday cage.