A129 Duo High-Pitched Noise?

RavenManiac

Active Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
899
Reaction score
184
Location
Williamsburg, Virginia
Country
United States
Dash Cam
Viofo A129 Duo, mini 0806 (RIP)
I just installed a Viofo A129 Duo using the Viofo OEM hard-wire kit and I'm noticing a high-pitched noise coming from the camera. Is this normal?
 
No thats not normal with any camera.
 
2 wire or 3 wire hardwire kit?

It is not normal to notice the high pitched noises, but they do all make some noise, if you put almost any dashcam to your ear then you will hear some high pitched noises if your ears are good. It is only a problem if the microphone picks it up and it ruins the recording.
 
Hi Nigel. It's been a while. I hope you are well. As you can see, I finally replaced my two mini 0806's, both of which died because of ongoing battery-related problems. To answer your question, I'm using the 3-wire kit. This one to be exact: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07K83R5W1
Also, I can hear the high-pitched sound from the normal driver position in my 2012 Honda CR-V, so that's quite a distance. Having said that, I seem to be more sensitive to high-pitched noises than most people. I recall hearing something similar with my mini 0806's, but it wasn't this bad. Some people have suggested that the high-pitched noise is eliminated when using the standard cigarette-lighter power adapter, but I haven't tried that yet. Even if that does work, I'd still prefer a hardwire setup. Thanks for your help.
 
Last edited:
I recall hearing something similar with my mini 0806's, but it wasn't this bad.
Hi, I was wondering if that was you, I do remember a discussion about noises on the 0806!

The noises are normal, what isn't normal is for people to hear them. No way to know if it is your camera that is worse than others, or if it is you (r hearing) that is abnormal :D

It is possible that if you exchanged it for another then you would get a quieter one, also with a hardwire kit that outputs a slightly different voltage the noises may disappear. Another solution is to put something between the camera and your ears, these high pitched noises are very easy to block, they don't go around obstacles like low frequencies.

Hope it is high enough resolution for you? It's a good camera but a step down in resolution from the 0806...
 
Hope it is high enough resolution for you? It's a good camera but a step down in resolution from the 0806...

Actually, I didn't realize the A129 was lower resolution than the mini 0806. I was also considering the Thinkware F800 or the BlackVue DR900S, but both of those are really expensive. The thing that drew me to ALL of these cameras was the smartphone integration. Out of curiosity, which dashcam is your main camera?
 
Actually, I didn't realize the A129 was lower resolution than the mini 0806. I was also considering the Thinkware F800 or the BlackVue DR900S, but both of those are really expensive. The thing that drew me to ALL of these cameras was the smartphone integration. Out of curiosity, which dashcam is your main camera?
I think the 0806 has a wider field of view, so although the A129 has less pixels horizontally I don't think it makes much difference to plate readability, but you are in the USA where plates are often difficult to read. For the UK, the A129 resolution is sufficient.

My main camera is currently the A129, no need to worry about batteries like the 0806 I used to use!
The Gitup F1 is only used when I want 4K video, the B1W is used as a backup because it is surprisingly good at catching number plates, and also stores a lot of hours its card - nearly 3 times the time of the A129 Duo! The B2W, well that is under test and I can't say anything about it.
 
So you're just running a single A129? I think I had read that a single A129 is capable of 60 FPS. Is that why you're using the single camera setup?
 
So you're just running a single A129? I think I had read that a single A129 is capable of 60 FPS. Is that why you're using the single camera setup?
No, it's an A129 Duo, I like the rear camera and I don't see any real advantage of 60 fps.
 
Well don't let this go to your head, but if the A129 Duo is good enough for you, it's certainly good enough for me. :)
 
Hey Nigel, one last question. What brand/model/size of MicroSD Card do you recommend for the A129 Duo?
 
Hey Nigel, one last question. What brand/model/size of MicroSD Card do you recommend for the A129 Duo?
Samsung Evo Select from Amazon or Plus from elsewhere is used by a lot of people without reports of issues, that's what I have. I don't think the endurance cards are worth while at the moment, better to get a bigger Evo if you want longer life.

As for size, I like to have 8 hours on the card so that things don't get overwritten before I have a chance to look at them, which means a 128GB for the dual channel, although if you use the lock button much then even that disappears quite fast! Doubling the size should give double the lifespan, so 256GB is actually good value in the long term at current prices, just requires a little investment.

I have used 64GB in it, and it works fine, but by the time you have a few locked files there is not much left so I don't recommend it.

Well don't let this go to your head, but if the A129 Duo is good enough for you, it's certainly good enough for me. :)
Until someone makes a good dual 4K dashcam then the A129 Duo is about as good as they get.
 
I think the 0806 has a wider field of view, so although the A129 has less pixels horizontally I don't think it makes much difference to plate readability, but you are in the USA where plates are often difficult to read. For the UK, the A129 resolution is sufficient.

My main camera is currently the A129, no need to worry about batteries like the 0806 I used to use!
The Gitup F1 is only used when I want 4K video, the B1W is used as a backup because it is surprisingly good at catching number plates, and also stores a lot of hours its card - nearly 3 times the time of the A129 Duo! The B2W, well that is under test and I can't say anything about it.

Your argument is a bit unfair. A single camera will always record at a higher frame rate and bitrate. So using 2 cameras individually will yield the best quality, but at an inconvenience. Meaning hardwiring 2 cameras separately, using 2 battery backs, or hardwiring one and battery packing the other.

So a duo setup can never compete with 2x singles, since those singles aren't sharing the same memory card and reductions in bitrate to accomodate two simultaneous streams.
 
Your argument is a bit unfair. A single camera will always record at a higher frame rate and bitrate. So using 2 cameras individually will yield the best quality, but at an inconvenience. Meaning hardwiring 2 cameras separately, using 2 battery backs, or hardwiring one and battery packing the other.

So a duo setup can never compete with 2x singles, since those singles aren't sharing the same memory card and reductions in bitrate to accomodate two simultaneous streams.
I can't understand what you are talking about, my post didn't have an argument, never mentioned frame rates or bit rates, and never made any point about dual/single cameras :unsure:

A single camera will always record at a higher frame rate and bitrate.
I have all my dashcams set to 30fps, no advantage to a faster framerate for a dashcam ... unless I'm on a racetrack! As for bitrate, the B1W single dashcam has the lowest bitrate and the A129 dual dashcam has the highest, except for the F1, which isn't really a dashcam. I don't see any connection between single/dual and bitrate.

So using 2 cameras individually will yield the best quality, but at an inconvenience.
My lowest quality dashcam is a single camera, the best a dual camera!

Meaning hardwiring 2 cameras separately, using 2 battery backs, or hardwiring one and battery packing the other.
I have a 4 output USB charger installed in my interior light, neater to plug in two single cameras with a cable each than the dual cam which has 2 wires connected to the camera.

So a duo setup can never compete with 2x singles, since those singles aren't sharing the same memory card and reductions in bitrate to accomodate two simultaneous streams.
My Gitup F1 writes nearly 80Mbps to the memory card, my B1W dashcam writes 12Mbps, therefore the memory card in my F1 is capable of supporting at least 6 video streams of B1W quality, and the B1W is quite a good dashcam, it comes top of the Best Dash Cams of 2019 page. I don't have a six channel camera to prove it works but I don't see any problem.
 
I can't understand what you are talking about, my post didn't have an argument, never mentioned frame rates or bit rates, and never made any point about dual/single cameras :unsure:


I have all my dashcams set to 30fps, no advantage to a faster framerate for a dashcam ... unless I'm on a racetrack! As for bitrate, the B1W single dashcam has the lowest bitrate and the A129 dual dashcam has the highest, except for the F1, which isn't really a dashcam. I don't see any connection between single/dual and bitrate.


My lowest quality dashcam is a single camera, the best a dual camera!


I have a 4 output USB charger installed in my interior light, neater to plug in two single cameras with a cable each than the dual cam which has 2 wires connected to the camera.


My Gitup F1 writes nearly 80Mbps to the memory card, my B1W dashcam writes 12Mbps, therefore the memory card in my F1 is capable of supporting at least 6 video streams of B1W quality, and the B1W is quite a good dashcam, it comes top of the Best Dash Cams of 2019 page. I don't have a six channel camera to prove it works but I don't see any problem.

Meant to respond to @RavenManiac's comment......My fault. Sorry


Actually, I didn't realize the A129 was lower resolution than the mini 0806. I was also considering the Thinkware F800 or the BlackVue DR900S, but both of those are really expensive. The thing that drew me to ALL of these cameras was the smartphone integration. Out of curiosity, which dashcam is your main camera?
 
You must have copied that from the previous post, even the punctuation is identical!



The post you accidentally quoted contains my answer ;)

Ya, I probably hit quote to you and then meant to click on Raven Maniacs. Your quote contained his response. Screw up on my end.

None the less, I meant to convey that 1 camera with a single channel of audio / video will be superior to a front / rear setup with 2 streams of audio / video. Since for now, there are no dual setups that run 4K for front & Rear. Meaning that setting up 2 independent cameras remains superior than a combined system.
 
I'm not an engineer but in general high pitched noises portend to bad capacitor or bad soldering. I suggest you contact Viofo for an RMA.
 
I'm not an engineer but in general high pitched noises portend to bad capacitor or bad soldering. I suggest you contact Viofo for an RMA.
The noise is caused mainly by a piezoelectric effect within the ceramic capacitors of the switching voltage regulators. It is not a fault. If the OP finds it unacceptable then he could return it, but there is a good chance any replacement would also have the issue. Most people either don't notice or can't hear these noises because they are at a higher frequency than their ears can hear, for those of us that can hear bats the noises can be annoying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mtz
Back
Top