Anyone is capable of a brain fart.

Ty Ford

Thanks Fred,
But I still need to find out exactly the Ohms right? I think what they sent me was a misprint - the 4ohms...just waiting for Customer Services to get back to me on that one...

Leo, whether it was a misprint or not, why not just get one of the Shure transformers I suggested or get a Beachtech and try it? If the hiss is still there (and I didn't hear a lot of of what I think of as hiss in the samples you posted, maybe just my geezer's ears losing the very high response or high frequency loss from it being posted as MP3s, but what I heard was 60 cycle hum and somewhat pronounced sybilance on the esses in the tests from the Apex, both absent on the recording from the internal mic) - you can always return it to the store and instead try a different mic. And remember too, whether this mic is faulty or not, several of the Beachteks also supply phantom power, opening up a gaggle of high quality mics as future options that right now you can't take advantage of.

Are you here in Canada? I ask because Apex is a sister company of Yorkville Sound, both owned by Long & McQuade which is a major chain of music stores across Canada - don't know how much distribution they have down in the States so since you have an Apex mic I just thought there might be a good chance you might be near to a Long & McQuade store. And that's relevant because unlike some of the mail-order places that don't allow returns on mics, at least their store near here in Burlington Ontario doesn't have a problem with returns or exchanges of recording gear or with you taking your camera and an adapter into the store, plugging mics you're considering into it, and making some test recordings on the spot. I would do that instead of sending emails back and forth to Panasonic hoping they give you some useful information.

Clean-up in aisle post?
 

Leo,

I listened to your clip, but only through the PC speakers. I scanned through the thread, but did not see if you'd tested the camera sans microphone.

I'm assuming you edit your video on an NLE? What kind of audio software do you have? On the PC, I had Syntrillium's Cool Edit 2000, which they sold out to the Borg (A-dopee) which renamed it Audition which I now have.

If you can, record a "silent" track with you cam, plugging a mic cable or even just a plug with no connection into the mic jack. Import (capture) this into your audio software. If it's like the above programs, it will have the option of a spectral view. Take a look. Your "silent" track will show noise, the noise of the audio circuit.

Both mentioned apps have an noise filter that will take a sample of audio, in this case, the noisy "silent" track, and make an exact template from it. Apply it to the track and hey! presto! the noise is gone. It's an invaluable tool to save potentially good tracks from the crapper. BTW, once you have this "filter", save it. Apply it to all audio tracks recorded with this equipment.

If the noise is indeed in the mic, well, it's harder to deal with. If you try to do the same exercise but with the mic plugged-in and as silent a situation as you can create (mic wrapped in pillows in the dead of night?) you may come up with another useful profile, tailored to the mic plus circuit.

As the recent victim of a bad mic, I sympathize with your plight. If nothing else, sell it to somebody with less critical hearing.

Frankly, I think everyone with the means to create such a filter should do so, one for each piece of equipment.

I will record the silent track when I have a chance, thanks for checking it out for me.
Steve, I will look into that. I hope someone around here carries the Shure model. Thanks for sticking by me!

Finally got an answer to my ohm question, not specific, but better then nothing :

Generally, microphones can be divided into low (50-1,000 ohms), medium (5,000-15,000 ohms) and high (20,000+ ohms) impedance. Most consumer camcorder microphones are rated low-impedance. Please make sure the microphone you select is between (50-1,000 ohms).

What do you guys think?

Yes. Most pro mics are between 40 Ohms and 250 Ohms.

Ty Ford