Hi I have an AudioTechnica ATR-55 on my FX1 and a pair of Sony headphones.

Today I was using them and I noticed that the sound completely mutes for about 2 secondes once in a while (i noticed it 3 times today)

Also I noticed (with my headphones on) the hissing background sound gets louder when i open the LCD viewer.

As anyone ever noticed these things?

I have two Z1's (one new and one slightly used) and both exhibited the same problem as previously stated. For about 2 -3 second the sound is muted. The LCD shows the VU meter, but no activity levels for 2-3 seconds. Then comes back to life. This has not happened while actually recording to tape so I do not know if it affects recording...I would guess that it does affect the sound recording. Hence, my concern.

I did a search for this problem on this thread but found nothing.

Bill did you also notice the background hiss going up a notch in your headphones when you open your LCD viewer??

No hiss....and I was wearing Sony headphones too.

Donald...It looks like you and I are the only ones to have had this problem.

I will conduct some tests to see if I can duplicate or somehow be able to predict when this failure occurs. I'll let you know what I find.

Bill you didnt mention if you added other mics on your Z1's or not, I don't have the xlr plugs but I've an outside mic (ATR-55) I was thinking maybe it's my mic's battery? or just a problem with the mic itself.

Also I havent noticed it on anything I recorded so that's a good sign.

But like you I will keep an ear open to try and figure it out.

I had a AT 897 shotgun mike through the XLR connections powered from camera battery.

I'll keep you updated...

This is standard behaviour for an FX1 and is not a fault - it also happens on my Sony HC7.

It happens when the the camcorder has been on record pause for a few minutes and decides to unlace the tape from the heads to prevent excessive head wear. When you do finally press the record button the tape has to be laced up again and the last recorded frames located, which is why it sometimes takes so long to start recording.

You also get a dropout when you eject the tape - which is really annoying when you are doing a long recording to a laptop and the tape ends - you dare not change tapes for fear of that audio dropout. Fortunately, you never get the dropout during recording.

I guess that the audio dropout is deliberate to protect any external audio gear (and your ears) from electrical surges as the tape servos cut in.

That explaination might apply to the FX1, but not to the Z1 because on both occassions that I realize the muted sound it was while the camera was in the pause position.

That explaination might apply to the FX1, but not to the Z1 because on both occassions that I realize the muted sound it was while the camera was in the pause position.
Same serious applies to the Z1 as the FX1/HC7 etc.
When in pause (standby) for prolonged periods the heads will disengage to protect wear and tear on the tape heads.

I will look into that....thanks

Thanks, Donald...

The muted sound occurs about after 3 minutes on standby.