I recently purchased a Sony ECM-W2BT Bluetooth lav mic and receiver set, open box from Adorama. Easy enough to set up and use, but In playing the recordings back I’m noticing an audible hiss of background white noise, including times that I recorded in a very silent environment. I tried it at 0, -10, and-20db and the hiss was always present at normal listening levels (not loud but easily noticeable). Tested in a Sony A7IV. I thought the digital signal via MI shoe mounts was supposed to be cleaner than analog, but there’s no way I’d use this for a professional project.
Does anyone else use this mic and what is your experience? Do I have a dud or is this endemic to the mic?
from the reviews, it's cleaner when using digital, but it is a bit of a mess
it's an interesting concept, the receiver can record audio as well as transceiver, but micro usb, and poor quality, I would probably return it, shame they couldnt get it right after being such a latecomer.
Charlie N wrote:
from the reviews, it's cleaner when using digital, but it is a bit of a mess
sony has a rep for using agc even when it's supposed to be disabled.
if you'll recall that dprtv preamp "test" fiasco, they had the record level on the camera body turned up too high, gerald undone had to correct 'em... i think that they used an a7iii, no digital hotshoe there so i don't know how relevant the record volume is with this situation.
i've never recorded audio with the hotshoe, i suppose the 3-position db att switch on the mic is controlling the volume, looks like the manual says: " “10dB” is the recommended volume level for recording human voices. It is advised that you determine and specify the level while monitoring the volume level meter on the camera."
Charlie N wrote:
it's an interesting concept, the receiver can record audio as well as transceiver, but micro usb
Thank you for the replies. I didn’t really know much About Sony’s reputation for camera audio before this, and it was hard to get much of a review of that specific mic setup (with practically no guides for proper set up). Seemed like it was intended to be basically plug and play, which I guess it is because another surprise was that using digital audio inputs from the show removes the ability to adjust the recording volume in camera (see https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00021051 )
I guess a greater question for those with experience in the field is, what is a normal amount of noise in a lav mic set up, or in general a mic-into-camera set up? I’m trying to save the time of having to sync audio in post, and not concerned with ultimate fidelity because I’m just recording voice, but I’m curious to know if there’s a tried and true method of getting clean and easy voice recordings synced with video on Sony.
it's automatically synced with this external mic, so you must be referring to recording audio on a separate audio recorder, like a zoom h2?
in that case, you can simultaneously record the same audio using the internal mic on the camera, and use it as a reference track to automatically sync the zoom audio up with, in the editing app, then delete the internal mic track.
as far as the ambient noise floor you referred to in your first post it's wrt how loud your voice is, and if it was somehow excessive you can clean it up to some extent in post, because it should be a steady sound at a fixed frequency range... the deal killer is things like planes and trains going by, kids yelling, doors slamming, etc.
After doing some more research it sounds like the hiss is just a part of the mic, not a Camera issue or a issue with my particular unit. Marketed to vloggers who maybe just don’t notice?
I’d any of you has recommendations for a good quality, reliable, simple lav mic setup for Sony, I’m all ears.
