On Mon, 11 Mar 2002 22:19:57 GMT, "Alexander Ibrahim"
>David's answer didn't make sense to me...sorry David.
Hmmmm.....;-)
Let's see, guess I need to translate for AI......;-)
"If you cannot hear this noise with normal playback levels
using the line-outs and good, smooth, wide-range playback
gear (likely, unless there is a defect)..."
-- Translation: if the sound recorded normally and played
on good monitoring gear sounds good, it is good; otherwise
there is likely a defect...
"then regard what you hear through the headphone amp (noisy)..."
-- Translation: a noisy headphone amp is a known fault,
but it affects monitoring only (as does the usual
HF exaggeration used in headphone monitoring)...
"With the gain up (not realistic in practice)..."
-- Translation: with ANY recording system, if you turn up
the gain (especially ones with as high a gain potential as
the PD150 has), the result WILL BE NOISE - but
these unrealistically high gain settings are not used in
practice...
"and open inputs (noisier then when loaded)..."
-- Translation: in high-gain circuits, changing the
loading by removing the mic will most likely increase
the noise level of the circuit...
"as artifacts of monitoring/experimenting, but
not characteristics of the typical final sound quality,
which is normally very good with this camera..."
-- Translation: if the final output sounds good, ignore
the increased-noise artifacts of the headphone
monitoring system, the removal of the mic, and the
use of unrealistically high-set gain - the sound *is*
good...
There, is that clear enough for AI....? ;-)
>The camera is not supposed to do that. You already know about the
>manual gain hiss issue.
Or, "non-issue" related to the above (I can make my VX2000
seem REALLY NOISY, but in normal use, it is very quiet),
and to the unusual AGC, which actually quiets the background
more than manual-mode does, quite an accomplishment since
AGC usually does the reverse, though it can make the
manually-set audio seem noisier by comparison if actual
recording levels are not matched, but the AGC-manual
selector is simply switched back and forth between the
two with the manual level-set centered...
>If you are using manual gain, then it sounds like your camera may be
>affected. Does the problem exist in the automatic gain setting ? If
>not then I beleive you fit the description of the hiss issue. Sony
>should fix the problem, though you may have to fight with them a bit.
See above...;-)
>Also are you sure that you are not picking up room noise or somesuch ?
>Your mic may well be "hearing" some sound like an air conditioner that
>you automatically tune out, check for that.
Ah, a "good point"..., really....;-)
>I am sorry to hear about the troubles. It is a shame to see such a
>good camera fraught with such a simple and fundamental quality issue.
Especially since it isn't "real" in most (or almost all)
samples, much as "C-brand loyalists" may want to believe
it is...;-), not that defects cannot and do not occur that
would cause this effect, but it is unlikely a design
issue except for the noisy headphone amp (which is also
the "power" amp for the built-in speaker...). If the
original poster carries out simple tests (recording material
at normal levels, playing them back on good reference
sound system[s], and then judging if the noise level is
excessive), it can be determined if his PD150 is "normal"
and acceptable in noise level...