Sound problem?

[DampDog]

I've just installed a Viofo A119Pro and I am very pleased with the camera. The only problem is that any audio it records is very, very quiet and difficult to hear. Is this normal or could I have a problem?

Is there a way to increase the sensitivity of the microphone?

Thanks

 

[Sjez]

I've just installed a Viofo A119Pro and I am very pleased with the camera. The only problem is that any audio it records is very, very quiet and difficult to hear. Is this normal or could I have a problem?

Is there a way to increase the sensitivity of the microphone?

Thanks

Hi,
I agree with your disappointment. My sound levels are very low too and the quality is poor. I still have a BlueSkySea g1wc dash cam which was a cheap $50 camera. The g1wc has an audio bitrate of 512kbps whereas the Viofo A119Pro is 96 kbps. Also perhaps the placement of the microphone in the unit might not be optimal. Perhaps others might comment on that.

The lower the bit rate, the more information the encoder will discard when compressing the file. Bit rates range from 96 to 320 kilobytes per second (Kbps). Using a bit rate of 128 Kbps usually results in a sound quality equivalent to what you'd hear on the radio. Many music sites and blogs urge people to use a bit rate of 160 Kbps or higher if they want the MP3 file to have the same sound quality as a CD. (https://computer.howstuffworks.com/mp32.htm.

I'm staggered to see that the old dashcam has such a high bitrate.
The Viofo A119 Pro promotes itself as a capable dashcam. There has been some talk on other sites that over time they are likely to tweak up their product via firmware updates. I certainly hope so. I purchased this based on positive reviews... but my comparison of Audio quality, video quality and features like being able to step zoom the image on the fly leaves me disappointed considering that this unit boasts newer technology.

I was happy to incorporate some of my old dashcam video into my travel videos... this one.. well.....

 

[DampDog]

I'm generally still happy with camera. For a sub-£100 camera it does all I need, the quality could be better, but it's acceptable and I still think it's one of the most compact/tidy cameras I've seen.

Though a little disappointed with sound quality/volume, image recording wise I'm more than happy.

I've just noticed there has been a Firmware update for the A119 Pro, from V1.2 - V1.3, so I'll update the camera shortly.

I've not actually looked at the audio bit rate at all. While I'm sure higher bit rates would produce better quality audio, my criticism is that it's just too quiet. (you can hear it, you just have to turn the volume up pretty high when playing it back to hear it)

Maybe a firmware update may be able to address the issue??

 

[viofo]

Can you share a original video file to me to check, you can upload the video to drop box or google drive, and send the link by PM.

 

[Sjez]

Can you share a original video file to me to check, you can upload the video to drop box or google drive, and send the link by PM.

I attempted to send a 25 sec video clip.. but I'm told the file is too large. I'll try a smaller clip at some stage. many thanks.

 

[viofo]

Hi,
I agree with your disappointment. My sound levels are very low too and the quality is poor. I still have a BlueSkySea g1wc dash cam which was a cheap $50 camera. The g1wc has an audio bitrate of 512kbps whereas the Viofo A119Pro is 96 kbps. Also perhaps the placement of the microphone in the unit might not be optimal. Perhaps others might comment on that.

The lower the bit rate, the more information the encoder will discard when compressing the file. Bit rates range from 96 to 320 kilobytes per second (Kbps). Using a bit rate of 128 Kbps usually results in a sound quality equivalent to what you'd hear on the radio. Many music sites and blogs urge people to use a bit rate of 160 Kbps or higher if they want the MP3 file to have the same sound quality as a CD. (https://computer.howstuffworks.com/mp32.htm.

I'm staggered to see that the old dashcam has such a high bitrate.
The Viofo A119 Pro promotes itself as a capable dashcam. There has been some talk on other sites that over time they are likely to tweak up their product via firmware updates. I certainly hope so. I purchased this based on positive reviews... but my comparison of Audio quality, video quality and features like being able to step zoom the image on the fly leaves me disappointed considering that this unit boasts newer technology.

I was happy to incorporate some of my old dashcam video into my travel videos... this one.. well.....

The G1W series based on Novatek 96655 chipset, it is .MOV format, A119 series use Novatek 96660 chipset, it is .MP4 format.

 

[FutureMemory]

Have you checked if anything obstructs the mic? I remember when I had audio issues when playing recorded video on my TV. Went as far as looking up besttechexpert.guide advice on what tv you need for better audio quality, but in the silliest twist it turned out that there was a protection cap on the mic.

 

[Pavlo]

I second that. Recent firmware 1.32 and it's very quiet.
PMed original video file.

viofo, can you fix this please? Normalize audio level or something.