Humming noise from microphone

ps: what mic should I have bought, mono or stereo ?

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Windows 95: n. A set of 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell
for a 16 bit patch of an 8 bit operating system orginally coded
for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that
can't stand 1 bit of competition.
Buy a Mac and break the cycle.

Neo

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Windows 95: n. A set of 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell
for a 16 bit patch of an 8 bit operating system orginally coded
for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that
can't stand 1 bit of competition.
Buy a Mac and break the cycle.

I'm assuming you're not using any adapters, transformers or mixers, but just going straight into the camera. The trick first is to figure out if the hum is caused by the...

1) microphone

2) headphones

3) headphone jack

4) mic jack

5) power supply (where you plug into the camera to power the mic)

6) cables.

Does the hum show up on playback? If not, then you may be looking at options 2 or 3. It's annoying, but not deadly.

If the hum does show up on playback, then you're probably looking at options 1, 4, 5 or 6. First, if at all possible, try a different cable.

If the hum is still there, plug everything in and power up. Does it still hum when you move the cable? If it cuts in and out, it might be the jack. If your camera has a stereo mini-jack, you've just run into the big problem with stereo-minis. They're fragile. Really fragile.

That's why you should plug in a short cable with a jack in wherever there's a stereo-mini (mic in and headphones, usually) and leave them there, attached to the camera body. If you wreck one, you can always replace it, whereas if you wreck the mini-jack on the camera needs to be fixed by a tech.

How about when you have the camera on battery power vs. plugged into the wall? If the hum goes away, there may be something funky with the power supply jack.

If after all this, it still shows up, it may very well be the mic jack.

If it's any of the jacks, you need to get a tech to repair it.

If you can plug the mic into anotehr camera with a similar power supply hook-up, try that. It may be the mic. If it is, return it ASAP and get another one.

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Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

Derek

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Windows 95: n. A set of 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell
for a 16 bit patch of an 8 bit operating system orginally coded
for a 4 bit microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company that
can't stand 1 bit of competition.
Buy a Mac and break the cycle.

I'm by NO means an expert at this but I've done a fair amount of recording over the last 30 years using unidirectional, unpowered mikes. I've found that simple flourescent lighting can cause mike hum, or any kind of "machinery" that is in the vicinity - like the fridge, and such. Also sometimes other electronic equipment in the vicinity has often had some effect - like radios, stereo equipment and such EVEN when it's not in use but just plugged in. But it sounds like you've solved your problem. House current as a power source - bear in mind - has lots of stuff connected to it and can feed back through the wiring to create mike hum. At least that's what I've found. Also even holding a mike in your hand can cause the hum. Your body becomes the antenna and can pick up extraneous "noise" from a variety of sources not the least of which are (now) cellular phones, police radios and on and on. So much electronic, electrical stuff running anymore that you're always at risk of having interference. You can get some things that will ground anything that comes through. I have these "rings" of non conductive material for the Midi In and Out wires of my synthesizer that cut out any kind of interference and reduce all kinds of extraneous "noise". I don't know what they're made of but they REALLY help to cut out the sounds I don't want interfering.

Glad you got it worked out. GREAT answers to this question. Really helps to read this stuff. I'm always learning a lot.

Good luck.