Canon HG20 built in microphone problem - sound is rubbish

[Bencuri]

I have just purchased a Canon HG20 camcorder. I purchased it as new. I am satisfied with the video image, but the sound is rubbish. The base noise of the built in microphone is very high. You can hear the hiss at a very high level, as if the wind was blowing all the time. And the sensitivity of the microphone is not very high. The sounds are quiet. If you increase the microphone recording volume, the sound increases, but also the hiss. And also it seems as if there was a slight echo in the sound. Everything seems okay, video is great, no hard drive noise from the machinery, but that base noise of the mic is awful. I had several camcorders: JVC GZ-MG35, JVC GZ-HM300, Samsung HMX-H200 and I also have a Sanyo HD1000, every of them had way much better sound than this camcorder. The Sanyo HD1000 had similar base noise, but not this high an disturbing. Considering this camcorder is much more expensive than those, it is a kind of disappointment.

Is this sound quality normal with this camcorder, or maybe I purchased a fake product? I purchased it from eBay from a UK seller, and it arrived in sealed condition. It has every items, the machine looks exactly as other HG20 I checked on photos. I purchased it from this seller, he is selling these from week to week:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-Camcorder-HG20-100-Charity-BNIB-/261066287127?pt=UK_Au...item3cc8c36817

I attached a sample below. My friend is talking a bit in the video, so you can compare the volunme of the speech and the hiss:

[aedipuss]

it's an old hard drive cam. they are all noisy, the best thing would be to get a rode external mic and a bracket to move the mic position away from the cam.

[Bencuri]

I tried it with an Audio Technica microphone, it is not bad. There is no base noise with that strong hiss. The microphone is very sensitive. But the sound seems to have a little echo. I wonder how that is possible.

[aedipuss]

don't know. does the cam have a manual mode where you can turn the agc off? if so lower the input level more.

[turk690]

I have just purchased a Canon HG20 camcorder. I purchased it as new. I am satisfied with the video image, but the sound is rubbish. :

I watched the clip and it sounds like it should give or take a few Hz. Hiss is the AGC riding the noise floor. If there is a manual audio mode, choose that. If there is echo try outdoors without wind, in an open space so that there are no nearby walls or something like that to affect the sound. Try monitoring with headphones as well.

[Bencuri]

The problem is that if you choose the manual control, practically there is no change, or very few. The sound/noise ratio remains the same, only the whole input will be stronger. For example if you turn it up, the mic will be more sensitive, but when you listen to the recording, the base noise will be stronger,too. If you turn it down, the signal will be weaker. There is less base noise, but to hear the sounds on TV, you have to turn the volume up, and you arrive to the same problem. Much noise.

The external mic works well, however. This echo is not that much, it is minor, so not a big problem, just strange, I didn't notice this cheracteristic with other camcorders.

[TreeTops]

Could the echo be coming from the two mikes working. The external mike is recording and the camera mike is also recording but a split second later giving the echo?

[mike20021969]

but the sound is rubbish. You can hear the hiss at a very high level

I didn't watch your video, but just searched on YouTube for your camera model (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtkDlA5uZU).
The sound does appear to be very poor - with a "hiss" on the audio as well as sounding a tad echoey (like in an unfurnished room).
I have 2 Canons, not HG20s, and neither sound like that.

[Bencuri]

Could the echo be coming from the two mikes working. The external mike is recording and the camera mike is also recording but a split second later giving the echo?

That slight echo is also there when only the internal mic is working, and no external attached, so it is not likely.

[Bencuri]

but the sound is rubbish. You can hear the hiss at a very high level

I didn't watch your video, but just searched on YouTube for your camera model (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtkDlA5uZU).
The sound does appear to be very poor - with a "hiss" on the audio as well as sounding a tad echoey (like in an unfurnished room).
I have 2 Canons, not HG20s, and neither sound like that.

The sound in this video is very similar to what I hear with my camcorder, so it seems this thing is general with this type. The echo is not that a big problem anyway. Much more that base noise of the internal microphone. But fortunately with external mic there is no disturbing noise, that is silent, and quite sensitive, as if it was preamplified. It is great that you can even record loud sounds without distortion, and the bass sounds from music can also be heard well. What a pity in silent situations the internal mic has this noise. Canon should have taken care about it. I didn't know HDD camcorders has this problem.

[bigass]

Perhaps a silly question -- but is the monitoring speaker turned up while you're recording?

[Bencuri]

Hmm, interesting idea. I will check. It is possible. When I plug the HDMI cable in, the speaker is also on, you have to mute it in order to hear only the sound from the TV, so it is a good point.

[bigass]

That'd be the first thing I'd check. Make sure the speaker's muted. If it's on, you'll get an echo at best....feedback at worst. The inherent delay from input -> encoding -> output would probably induce enough of a delay to avoid feedback.

Easy test: roll on record and tap the mic while holding the machine up to your head....if you can hear the tapping...your speaker's on! Sometimes plugging headphones into the jack will mute the speaker. Otherwise, go hunting for a volume control or "mute while recording"-type function in the menus.

[Bencuri]

It is not the speaker. I checked it. The tapping cannot be heard, and I also turned the speaker volume down, so it cannot be that.

[bigass]

Always good to rule out the easiest stuff to fix... on to the next theory..