A129 Duo - Unusable audio recording

[MrTibbs]

Hi there,
I got an A129 Duo with the included GPS module recently along with a HK3 wiring kit and had it installed professionally at a garage. I decided to listen to some of the recordings once I got home and found that there is a pervasive hiss or white noise present throughout, and it swamps literally any other source of sound. You can't hear the car running or making pulls from junctions (2.0 turbodiesel), you can't hear the radio and you can't even hear someone talking inside the car with nothing else on and the door shut - it's completely unintelligible.

I'm not new to dash cams, I know the audio quality isn't supposed to be amazing but the fact you can't hear anything going on inside the cabin let alone outside is a massive failure, and compared to recordings made by another brand of camera, this unit falls far below the mark.

To isolate the problem I've tried powering through the GPS module, powering through the camera itself, the same again with the rear camera disconnected. I've also tried isolating power from the car by powering the camera through a power bank and the included USB cable for the 12v socket, as well as doing that and taking the camera out of the car. None of these lessened the noise present.

I'm lead to believe the camera is faulty, however I spent half the value of the kit on labour fees to get it hardwired, I don't want to be spending double again to remove the entire kit to send it back and fit a new one.
As it stands, the camera is not fit for purpose and I'd like this addressed, thanks.

Two videos demonstrating the noise - one while driving one while the car's off and no hvac.


EDIT: Just realised I put this in the A129 Pro section not the regular one. Whoops.

 

[xiongguoy]

There is option to turn off the mic, check your settings.

 

[MrTibbs]

There is option to turn off the mic, check your settings.

That would just disable audio recording all together right? That doesn't solve the issue at hand.

 

[Capture Your Action]

MIC seems to be working as you can clearly hear the beep when you press a button. I wonder is the MIC inside has become loose from where it was mounted. Viofo has mounted the MIC in a couple different places inside the A129. Some were taped to the capacitors, which I think was not a great idea. They then started mounting them closer to the actual MIC hole on the side of the camera.
If your comfortable opening up the camera, you can see where the MIC is located and move it closer to the MIC hole if needed. There are videos online on how to open them up, but I would only try if your comfortable. Otherwise, contact your seller about replacing the front camera.

 

[MrTibbs]

MIC seems to be working as you can clearly hear the beep when you press a button. I wonder is the MIC inside has become loose from where it was mounted. Viofo has mounted the MIC in a couple different places inside the A129. Some were taped to the capacitors, which I think was not a great idea. They then started mounting them closer to the actual MIC hole on the side of the camera.
If your comfortable opening up the camera, you can see where the MIC is located and move it closer to the MIC hole if needed. There are videos online on how to open them up, but I would only try if your comfortable. Otherwise, contact your seller about replacing the front camera.

Yeah I could open it up but as this is a brand new unit still with warranty I want to avoid that.
It was bought from amazon so how I'd arrange a partial return is another thing. I'm certainly not going to be spending money or time recovering the cables from behind interior panelling...

 

[Capture Your Action]

I would directly contact the seller. Depending on the seller, they may be willing to swap out just the front camera. If the seller was Viofo themselves, then contact them through Viofo.com.

Support

support.viofo.com