Help camcorder audio useless ? anyone else

[Rexington]

..Day 10 new epic 4g high expectations that I just bought a smartphone that'll allow me to make HD videos with stunning digital sound... as it turns out with sadly PQ (poor quality) sound ! There are no recording level adjustments possible and no audio level metering which may have helped. Forget about amplified concerts I tried, Video looked awesome audio nothing but distortion from 20th row center stage or 100 rows back. 2nd attempt a vocalist playing grand piano with minimal amplification for voice, trust me the concert sound was well balanced and I was 20 feet away from performer, an easy task for the cheapest digital recorders out there ! Camcorder fails again !! Horrible choppy/ stuttery sound. If I had hit the share to youtube button without first reviewing, I'd have uploaded a disservice to the artist. Admittedly I am a professional audio engineer and I could have captured audio with a portable field recorder, but it's very tempting to use smart phones for what they imply they can do. Has anybody had success recording and posting videos of live shows that are of any enjoyable quality ? Oh and BTW, this Epic 4g is also stuck in DG17, so when do I start the dreaded process of trying to get this flagship phone to the most recent update, and wondering if the video audio will improve as a result. If the technical specs were published in regards to the audio like they do with stereo equipment and recording studio gear then I would have known what to expect. Anyone know of a solution ? Could I be expecting way too much from a $ 250 Smartphone ? .... perhaps

 

[dawankler]

I find it hard to believe that you're a professional sound engineer with your expectations. As a pro sound engineer would you expect a $10 lapel mic to faithfully and accurately record a live concert from a random spot standing among the crowd? No, you wouldn't, and it probably has a better mic than the one in any smartphone. To expect a multipurpose device (especially where the feature you're looking for is so far down the priority list) to perform as well as a prosumer dedicated device is just crazy. If you want to record high quality HD video and audio, get a high quality HD video camera with a nice external mic. If you want a device that will do in a pinch to catch a video when you're on the go, then use your phone.

The fact that no one publishes the audio recording specs and most consumers don't care shows you how far in the minority you are in your smartphone expectations. It's a phone and internet device first, all the other features are nice to haves that help enhance the experience. If you look at 99% of the live concert videos on Youtube you'll see they all suck.

 

[Rexington]

Thank you daw. This phone is a new gadget for me and Yes I had high expectations in the audio video department and I know all about the codecs/ compression schemes involved for both audio and video that are trying their best to render a decent camcorder experience from a smartphone. It's obvious to me now If the content you try to capture is just right and doesn't overtax the smartphone's abilities then you get optimum results. For instance, the piano vocalist video was in two parts, for the 1st part I was 20 feet away so some audio compression artifacts were apparent. For part 2 I got closer to the source giving the camera's mic and system better dynamic signal to noise in turn rendering a more superb sound ! I love this phone really and I'm amazed so far of everything it can do. Sorry for coming down so hard on this amazing piece of technology !

 

[unknown zone]

Hey Rex's thats ok it is understandable from where you are coming from. Example my $200 cybershot takes better videos but that is all it does it is a cam and camcorder product, so it is tailored to those specs better. The Epic on the other hand does take very good HD videos don't get me wrong for a smartphone compared to other models/makers but it is like dawankle stated it is a phone/internet/gaming/office tool..etc.product first having to take HD videos on the fly is just nice to have.

 

[SandS]

I am not an audiophile but the sound when just doing a simple video recording is terrible. It's distorted and sounds like the speaker is slurring (and no I wasn't drunk). Is there a video app with decent sound?

 

[biondob]

I dont know if it was just my device, but has anyone else had the camcorder quality go down after the sprint Foyo 2.2 update. It seems as if the the video is choppy and lagging

 

[pflol]

which version, eb13 or ec05? eb13 was a known issue which was fixed within all the custom roms and I think ec05 may have fixed it aswell

 

[biondob]

It is eb13