On Mon, 14 May 2001 004641 GMT, "Alexander Ibrahim" wrote

>There does not have to be such a huge number as 50% to indicate a problem.
>
>This is consumer gear. A LOT of people who use it NEVER switch off the AGC.
>Some won't even know it is there, much less what it is for or when/how to
>use it.
>
>They never ever had an opportunity to hear any problems.
>
>Of the remainder, a few no doubt simply can't hear it. Some will not find it
>objectionable, indeed it may well be a significant upgrade from their older
>camcorder sound systems, problems and all!!!
>
>That leaves a small number of people, like you and me, that will use the
>feature, hear the issues, and need to correct it. In the consumer targeted
>VX2000 model that may be as little as 1% of all purchasers. (I'd guess
>around 5%) Now if half the VX2000's exhibit the problem...you are left with
>a small number of complaints, about a very real problem.
>
>And yeah, I have heard it myself.

Your points are well taken, though we can quibble about
the numbers (unnecessarily...). But, remaining, is a
point I made earlier it is VERY easy to hear excessive
noise with the VX-2000, but this is due not only to
consumer-grade audio circuits (still very good in video
terms, if not in pure audio terms), but also to a noisy
headphone amp, a unique (and very good, if understood)
AGC system used for comparison with the manual level
settings, and a wide range of available gain settings
for monitoring and record/play (much of which is not
useful for making normal-level recordings, but with
missetting of these one can easily hear horrendous
noise levels - as have I). But, used in any normal way,
with mic sensitivity appropriately matched with the
input gains, and monitoring at the line outs, the
noise level of the VX-2000 is relatively low for
"prosumer" grade video gear. That some people report
hearing "hiss" does not surprise me at all - but that
is FAR from indicating a basic design flaw; that a
very low number of people who really know audio may
also report excess "hiss" also does not surprise
me - but that is more likely to indicate a (low)
defect rate, rather than a design flaw (I think
more than your low percentage estimates would show,
if a universal problem with the VX-2000 ever existed,
since the number of "reports" of this "problem"
first-hand is extremely small - and there are a lot
of VX-2000s in the hands of small production
companies, etc., peopled by those who would spot
a real problem if it existed, I think...). Again,
the number of first-hand reports of a "problem"
hovers statistically close to zero, yet this "problem"
is endlessly presented as real on the 'net, and
discussed as if it were real without much critical
thought about its reality, I think (i.e., it is
classifiable as a rumor, and little more).
Use a VX-2000 for real work, and the audio tracks
are sufficiently quiet for most work, even critical
work - and good noise-reduction programs exist that
can easily lower the already low residual levels of
nearly non-existent noise that barely remain (pardon
the redundancy, used for emphasis...;-), if desired...