Sony PD150 Audio

October 4th, 2002, 12:29 PM

Any ideas on getting rid of a hum that is accompanying the sound. It is causing me all kinds of problems in editing!!!

Mike Rehmus · October 4th, 2002, 12:56 PM

Yes, the noise reduction filter in Sound Forge or Cool Edit will take care of a constant humming for most work.

If you used the on-camera microphone in a quiet environment, you will be able to hear the heads rotate. And the zoom lens motor operate at the higher speeds.

An off-camera microphone is the only cure for this. As it is for almost any small camera.

October 4th, 2002, 02:17 PM

Thanks Mike, trouble is it seems to be a new phenomena for my camera (had it about a year and a bit - just outside warranty!) The old footage is as clean as a whistle but the newer stuff has a really loud hum which only diminishes if i turn the volume down significantly. We have used Sound forge and the hum covers a wide band of frequency.

Mike Rehmus · October 4th, 2002, 08:39 PM

Can you send me a short sample? I'd like to hear it and see what I can do.

My 150 makes a whine when zooming at high speeds but I haven't had much head noise so far. My DSR-300 is far noisier than the 150. But my 150 is just about 5 months old now.

How about it folks, what noises do you hear from your 2000/150 cameras and how old are they age-wise and how many hours are on the hour meters? Maybe we can discover something.

Andre De Clercq · October 5th, 2002, 06:15 AM

Is the hum recorded on the tape? Did you try to playback on another vcr?

Adi Head · December 11th, 2002, 09:16 AM

just bought a pd150. haven't even taken it out of it's box yet. i'll be shooting docs with it. for television, not aiming to meet pbs standards. just acceptable broadcast sound quality.
i know that the mic it comes with isn't so hot and that many go out and buy a mic, like the senn me66, to replace it.
i'll be hooking up one channel to good sound set up (mic, boom and mixer) with a soundman to record dialogs. will the supplied onboard mic on the pd150 do a sufficent job recording atmosphere, background noise, etc.? or will i have to replace it in any case to achive a acceptable sound (within the pd150's limited sound recording abilities). i don't mean to put the 150 down. i think it's a great camera. wouldn't have bought it otherwise. can't wait to start using it.

thanks.

by the way. if you think i'm going about recording sound with the pd150 all wrong for my documentaries and you can reccommend a set up, i'd be glad to hear it.

thanks again, adihead

Mike Rehmus · December 11th, 2002, 10:54 AM

The microphone isn't all that bad. Great for room tone as long as you understand it isn't going to be a complete match with the tone picked up by your primary microphone during silence. That's why sound guys have everyone on the set hold still after a shoot so they can capture room tone with the primary equipment.

It is perhaps a waste of a recording channel to use it for room tone. Unless continuous capture of room tone is critical to your success and the sound from the primary equipment will somehow not capture that anyway.

I'm not certain what 'acceptable broadcast sound quality' means without some further definition. For documentaries that include music, not so good if you are critical. And I mean critical. For speech it's just fine.

I'd probably have the sound guy do a parallel recording to another medium. MD if I'm not too critical, DAT if it needs to be of the highest quality, Hard Disk if you have the space, time and money. OTOH, you might prefer to double record the video and can record the sound to that second VTR.

I'd expect a sound person I hire to have available a good DAT (although I might have to pay a reasonable daily rate for the DAT on top of the person's daily rate.

Mark Richman · March 24th, 2003, 07:11 PM

Am I right to assume that I can run a wireless microphone on one channel and another microphone (wired or wireless) on the other channel?

Then after shooting, during editing, I can seperate the channels and keep the clips I like best?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Mike Rehmus · March 24th, 2003, 10:46 PM

Yes. Or mix them

Tom Hardwick · March 25th, 2003, 03:23 AM

You don't say if you've got a VX or a PD Mark. If the former then you'll need a Beachtec DXA-4 so that you can independently vary the input levels to the audio.

tom.

Mark Richman · March 25th, 2003, 08:35 AM

Tom, I am using a PD150.

thanks,
Mark

Tom Hardwick · March 25th, 2003, 10:04 AM

a "green little newbie" goes out and buys a PD150 straight off - just like that? Have you had other camcorders before Mark? If not, you jumped in with both feet and hit the bull's eye, no kidding.

tom.

Mark Richman · March 30th, 2003, 10:23 AM

Tom,

I liked the lens and zoom of the GL2 but low-light situations are dominated by the PD150. IMHO.

Glad I hit the bullseye, it took alot of research. I have used S-Vhs and own also a sony trv380 (yuck); when compared to PD150.

Now to find some editing software, I am leaning towards Ulead Media Studio Pro 7. Used Ulead Media Studio Pro v. 5, but that was years ago with MPEG1 and SVHS.

Mark

Steve McDonald · March 31st, 2003, 02:37 AM

I don't have a PD150, but someone wants me to find the answer to how the mike inputs are arranged on this model. Are the two XLR jacks the only mike inputs it has or are there also one or two 1/8-inch miniplug jacks? If you want to use an unbalanced stereo mike that has a single, 3-pin, miniplug connecter, do you have to use adapter plugs to fit and split it to the XLR jacks? Is there any such thing as a stereo XLR mike?

Sony's own webpage on this model is distinctly limited on such information and is no help. I've found a plethora of PD150 websites on Search, but they are so riddled with obvious errors in facts and terminology, that it would be like the blind leading the blind, to depend on them for good answers. There isn't a single PD150 in my town that I can locate or I could quickly figure this out. Thanks.

Steve McDonald

Brian Pink · March 31st, 2003, 08:37 AM

You can get an adaptor cable that runs about $40 ( or make your own ) to go from mini -> XLR.

*edited based on mike's research.

October 4th, 2002, 12:29 PM	#16
Martin holme Posts: n/a	PD150 Humming Any ideas on getting rid of a hum that is accompanying the sound. It is causing me all kinds of problems in editing!!!

October 4th, 2002, 12:56 PM	#17
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Yes, the noise reduction filter in Sound Forge or Cool Edit will take care of a constant humming for most work. If you used the on-camera microphone in a quiet environment, you will be able to hear the heads rotate. And the zoom lens motor operate at the higher speeds. An off-camera microphone is the only cure for this. As it is for almost any small camera. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

October 4th, 2002, 08:39 PM	#19
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Can you send me a short sample? I'd like to hear it and see what I can do. My 150 makes a whine when zooming at high speeds but I haven't had much head noise so far. My DSR-300 is far noisier than the 150. But my 150 is just about 5 months old now. How about it folks, what noises do you hear from your 2000/150 cameras and how old are they age-wise and how many hours are on the hour meters? Maybe we can discover something. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

December 11th, 2002, 09:16 AM	#21
Adi Head Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 642	pd150 onboard mic just bought a pd150. haven't even taken it out of it's box yet. i'll be shooting docs with it. for television, not aiming to meet pbs standards. just acceptable broadcast sound quality. i know that the mic it comes with isn't so hot and that many go out and buy a mic, like the senn me66, to replace it. i'll be hooking up one channel to good sound set up (mic, boom and mixer) with a soundman to record dialogs. will the supplied onboard mic on the pd150 do a sufficent job recording atmosphere, background noise, etc.? or will i have to replace it in any case to achive a acceptable sound (within the pd150's limited sound recording abilities). i don't mean to put the 150 down. i think it's a great camera. wouldn't have bought it otherwise. can't wait to start using it. thanks. by the way. if you think i'm going about recording sound with the pd150 all wrong for my documentaries and you can reccommend a set up, i'd be glad to hear it. thanks again, adihead

December 11th, 2002, 10:54 AM	#22
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	The microphone isn't all that bad. Great for room tone as long as you understand it isn't going to be a complete match with the tone picked up by your primary microphone during silence. That's why sound guys have everyone on the set hold still after a shoot so they can capture room tone with the primary equipment. It is perhaps a waste of a recording channel to use it for room tone. Unless continuous capture of room tone is critical to your success and the sound from the primary equipment will somehow not capture that anyway. I'm not certain what 'acceptable broadcast sound quality' means without some further definition. For documentaries that include music, not so good if you are critical. And I mean critical. For speech it's just fine. I'd probably have the sound guy do a parallel recording to another medium. MD if I'm not too critical, DAT if it needs to be of the highest quality, Hard Disk if you have the space, time and money. OTOH, you might prefer to double record the video and can record the sound to that second VTR. I'd expect a sound person I hire to have available a good DAT (although I might have to pay a reasonable daily rate for the DAT on top of the person's daily rate. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

October 4th, 2002, 02:17 PM	#18
Martin holme Posts: n/a	Thanks Mike, trouble is it seems to be a new phenomena for my camera (had it about a year and a bit - just outside warranty!) The old footage is as clean as a whistle but the newer stuff has a really loud hum which only diminishes if i turn the volume down significantly. We have used Sound forge and the hum covers a wide band of frequency.

October 5th, 2002, 06:15 AM	#20
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	Is the hum recorded on the tape? Did you try to playback on another vcr?

March 24th, 2003, 07:11 PM	#23
Mark Richman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sarasota Posts: 79	L and R audio channels Am I right to assume that I can run a wireless microphone on one channel and another microphone (wired or wireless) on the other channel? Then after shooting, during editing, I can seperate the channels and keep the clips I like best? Thanks in advance, Mark __________________ Green Novice turning Yellow Pro Soon to be Ripe - So stand back!

March 24th, 2003, 10:46 PM	#24
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Yes. Or mix them __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

March 25th, 2003, 03:23 AM	#25
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	You don't say if you've got a VX or a PD Mark. If the former then you'll need a Beachtec DXA-4 so that you can independently vary the input levels to the audio. tom.

March 25th, 2003, 08:35 AM	#26
Mark Richman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sarasota Posts: 79	PD 150 Tom, I am using a PD150. thanks, Mark __________________ Green Novice turning Yellow Pro Soon to be Ripe - So stand back!

March 25th, 2003, 10:04 AM	#27
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	a "green little newbie" goes out and buys a PD150 straight off - just like that? Have you had other camcorders before Mark? If not, you jumped in with both feet and hit the bull's eye, no kidding. tom.

March 30th, 2003, 10:23 AM	#28
Mark Richman Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sarasota Posts: 79	PD150 and GL2 Tom, I liked the lens and zoom of the GL2 but low-light situations are dominated by the PD150. IMHO. Glad I hit the bullseye, it took alot of research. I have used S-Vhs and own also a sony trv380 (yuck); when compared to PD150. Now to find some editing software, I am leaning towards Ulead Media Studio Pro 7. Used Ulead Media Studio Pro v. 5, but that was years ago with MPEG1 and SVHS. Mark __________________ Green Novice turning Yellow Pro Soon to be Ripe - So stand back!

March 31st, 2003, 02:37 AM	#29
Steve McDonald Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 366	PD150 Mike Inputs? I don't have a PD150, but someone wants me to find the answer to how the mike inputs are arranged on this model. Are the two XLR jacks the only mike inputs it has or are there also one or two 1/8-inch miniplug jacks? If you want to use an unbalanced stereo mike that has a single, 3-pin, miniplug connecter, do you have to use adapter plugs to fit and split it to the XLR jacks? Is there any such thing as a stereo XLR mike? Sony's own webpage on this model is distinctly limited on such information and is no help. I've found a plethora of PD150 websites on Search, but they are so riddled with obvious errors in facts and terminology, that it would be like the blind leading the blind, to depend on them for good answers. There isn't a single PD150 in my town that I can locate or I could quickly figure this out. Thanks. Steve McDonald

March 31st, 2003, 08:37 AM	#30
Brian Pink Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 94	You can get an adaptor cable that runs about $40 ( or make your own ) to go from mini -> XLR. *edited based on mike's research. __________________ This is the way the world ends.