On board mic noise

[Capn_Gaz]

Hi there, I just got a micro br yesterday (whats up with the battery life?!) and have found the on board mic has a lot of background noise. I cant quite describe it, but its almost like a low quality recording of constant traffic driving by in the background (i doubt that actually makes sense to anybody!). But does anyone else find they have background noise with it, or could it be a dodgy mic?

Cheers,

Gareth

[Capn_Gaz]

Just to add, Ive tried using the noise reduction and it only solves it when I set it to near enough maximum which cuts out nearly all the sound recorded apart from the loudest sounds.

[Glenn Mitchell]

One thought is, are you handling the unit? It has a very noisy case that creaks, pops and crackles.
Yes, I recommend the transformer whenever possible but be sure and get the recommended one. Others can ruin the unit.
Some use rechargables to good effect but do a search as not all perform alike.

[Geir]

In what environment are you recording? Do you have a room without computers, aircondition fans refrigerators or any other noise-source? If not, the built-in mic is really good so it will pick up sounds you normally don't notice.

[jkevinwolfe]

Electronic noise sources can also be an issue: phone, computers, power chord transformers. This you don't hear, but do record.

[hewhoiscalledj]

all recorders will have an audible hiss/noise at a certain gain/level... this is apparently called the "noise floor"  the trick to is to obviously keep it down at a minimum so try bringing the level down while recording. you can always make it louder (which is mostly the idea) later on.

the room is also a big factor. because the built in is a condenser mic, it is very sensitive and will pick up every little nuance in the room, especially electrical noise as others have mentioned. also, in an untreated room (acoutically) there will be countless reflections of sound bouncing off every surface... this will cause phasing issues where basically, certain frequencies will cancel each other out. because this leaves a hole in the recording (frequency wise,) it may also leave a gap for the noise floor to leak thru (all of a sudden, you hear more of it...)  i hope that makes sense as I'm only now beginning to learn this kind of stuff myself.

[Capn_Gaz]

Thanks for all the replies guys, there is nothing electric around me really in the rooms ive tried it in - but I might take it outside away from the house and see if the noise goes to see if it is something its picking up.

[Oldrottenhead]

re batteries i use rechargeables but with a high number. 2800ahm i think the higher the ahm the longer the life, i get about 4 hours from 2 batteries and always have another 2 on charge. re the background noise, try turning effects off to see if hiss is still there, but it might be an idea to take it back to the shop and get salesperson to try another mbr for comparison.

[jkevinwolfe]

Gareth,

Do you have a file you can post? Might give us a little better idea of what the issue is.

[Greeny]

The only time I have sound and interference problems is when I'm using the mic, and one of the 'noisy' guitar effects is still on. For some reason, the guitar socket reacts to my hand when I'm holding the BR and picks up some kind of transferred signal. Apart from the plastic casing clicks and pops, and the usual problem with single-coil pick-up interference on my Tele, that's about it.