atr 35s hiss sound

[Philip M]

Hi guys,
I'm trying to make a documentary about the life of my grandfather, but I cannot get rid of this annoying hiss sound. Its causing me a lot of stress and heartache. The microphone I'm using is an ATR 35s and the camera is a Sony HDR XR550. I'm not near any cables or electronic appliances when I record. Also there is virtually no outside sound coming into the recording (I even turned off fridge and freezer in the room next door). I'm also recording on a low level of volume (about 1/4th). I double checked and the battery is in the right way.

I noticed that the hiss got better when I rendered the video as a avi (NTSC DV). I'm not sure what thats all about.

Anyway, I uploaded a small segment (an outtake) onto youtube so you can hear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlmSK2j7zBg&feature=youtu.be
(The format is the video format I recorded on AVCHD Video (.MTS) )

Is this a normal amount of hissing?

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Phil

[transporterfan]

I don't know if it's normal, but it's very annoying. I've removed the noise from your clip.
It was only a quick work-over. I am sure you can do it better with more time. See what you think.

http://files.videohelp.com/u/198336/00061%20(Noise%20Removal%20-%20Audacity).ts

This is a remedy only, not an explanation of why you have the problem.

To do this, download tsMuxeR and Audacity (both free).
Demux your video to video and audio files using tsMuxeR.
Load the audio into Audacity and experiment with the Noise Removal effect to suit your requirements. Export to AC3.
[You may have to do this a couple of times to counteract different noise signatures.]
Remux your video and NEW sound file to a .ts file. Job done.
Hope it helps.

[luigi2000]

That omnidirectional $40 lavalier mic sounds absolutely nominal or "normal". Also realize that lavaliers in professional use cost $500-600.

The aural quality of that mic is very good. The spoken human voice is 300-3500 Hz. In post production always roll off the mic sharply below ~250 Hz to eliminate rumble (air conditioning, fans) and above ~8500Hz to eliminate noticeable hiss. Adjust to your liking of course.

A labor of love. Buona fortuna.

[Philip M]

Thank you both for your feedback. I really appreciate you taking your time to help me.

I listened to the audio file and but there was some definite flaws with his voice. I've used audacity and I think its highly overrated. I recently got adobe audition CS5.5 and it has INCREDIBLE noise reduction capabilities. Check out the fix I did (with no EQ): http://youtu.be/nTUe-aYuQoc

This wasn't even a great fix relative to what I did with other portions- some other segments have virtually zero artifacts (this one has a little but its still good). This hissing sound has haunted me so much. I want to hug the engineers that designed this.

Thanks,
Phil

ps- so the verdict is that this amount of hiss is normal for the atr 35s which got all these rave reviews?