Using external Microphone disables VS10 Audio during capture

ottojkubik · Post by **ottojkubik** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:48 pm

I am using VS10+ and have all updates, both to VS and XP Pro. I capture via firewire and AUDIO is fine until I try to use an external microphone with my SONY DVR TRV 520. The taped video has sound, but is lost during capture. While capturing, I hear the sound over the computers speakers. I am puzzled, what have I missed?

As a test, I have removed and replaced the plug in mic and have sound recorded via the internal but not via external WHEN CAPTURED. As I said earlier, the tape has BOTH internal and external microphone audio sources recorded on it, so I am assuming the problem is in a capture setting. The camera is working precisely as expected.

Is it possible that I am "overdriving" the audio input, and if the case, how can this be corrected?

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Tue Sep 11, 2007 11:33 pm

Simple, during capture, remove the mic

ottojkubik · Post by **ottojkubik** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:33 am

heinz-oz wrote:Simple, during capture, remove the mic

Nice try, but no cigar. The "Simple" solution didn't work.

Perhaps I wasn't clear so let me explain the problem again. The SONY camera has an external microphone jack, that allows for individuals to be "mic'd up" for longer shots or in noisy environments. The camera is PICKING UP that mic, but VS10+ isn't allowing capture of that audio track.

All the capture attempts were w/o the external microphone plugged in.

As a second test, I taped video where I started with the internal mic, then plugged in the external for 10 seconds, then unplugged the external, thus defaulting back to the internal mic. ALL 3 of the versions of AUDIO were recorded on the TAPE. The EXTERNAL AUDIO portion for some reason could not be "captured" by VC10+. But the LEADING AND FOLLOWING "Internal Mic" segments WERE captured.

The camera seems to be working just fine, and is capture is unaffected when ONLY firewire is connected.

Once again, HELP!

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:39 am

Just wondering whether you have your camera audio set to 12 bit (which as I understand it, will allow you to use extra external audio input channels)? I know the recommendation is generally to reset the camera from its (normally) default 12 bit to 16 bit for notionally better quality... but I have always thought this was predicated upon the fact that few of us use an external mike at the same time as our inbuilt one in the camera... I confess, though, that I am totally wobbly on the science involved, so hopefully someone with a better grasp of the details might jump in here...

You might want to Google, though, for articles on 12 bit vs 16 bit audio...

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:42 am

I have a Sony TVR-120 Digital 8 camcorder set to 16 bit audio and I have, many times, attached an external mic and have never had problems capturing the audio.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:47 am

OK -- strike 3 and I'm out!

As I said, I was very wobbly on the theory on this one!!!

EDIT: Being a bit like a dog with a bone, I thought I would have a look at my own Sony Digital 8 DCR-TRV480E camera's manual... I could find no specific reference to using an external microphone. However, it might be useful if you did the same and looked specifically at the sections on Multi-Sound and Audio Mix sections.

I would have thought that the audio recorded with an external mike would fall into the manual's category of 'sub sound (ST2)' in this respect. And the Audio Mix levels might be relevant here, as my own camera's default in this regard seems to be set to zero or close to it. In other words, giving no volume (on playback?) to the 'sub sound'...

ottojkubik · Post by **ottojkubik** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:47 am

Ken Berry wrote:OK -- strike 3 and I'm out! As I said, I was very wobbly on the theory on this one!!!

EDIT: Being a bit like a dog with a bone, I thought I would have a look at my own Sony Digital 8 DCR-TRV480E camera's manual... I could find no specific reference to using an external microphone. However, it might be useful if you did the same and looked specifically at the sections on Multi-Sound and Audio Mix sections.

I would have thought that the audio recorded with an external mike would fall into the manual's category of 'sub sound (ST2)' in this respect. And the Audio Mix levels might be relevant here, as my own camera's default in this regard seems to be set to zero or close to it. In other words, giving no volume (on playback?) to the 'sub sound'...

I have already reset my sub sound setting to midway between ST1 and ST2. Much like you, I too, thought this might make a difference. Resetting made none. I still believe it is a ULEAD capture setting issue, not a camera setting. Nonetheless, thanks for trying. It is appreciated.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 6:30 am

Unless the camera mixes both sound sources or only records either, VS might not be able to access the extra sound track created by the external Mic. Try to capture a small segment in DV-AVI type 2 and see if that makes a difference. I have my Panasonic GS400 set up to mix sound sources into one track if I'm not mistaken. No problem capturing sound at all, with or without external Mic.