Buzzing/Beeping in Video Playback

[team bau]

I'm a new member here (http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/team-bau-from-los-angeles.4645/) hoping to receive some advice from you, Mobius veterans! My quick query yielded no relevant results other than the short, known problem paragraph on the FAQ page.

I installed mine as a dash cam this weekend and noticed a strange buzzing/beeping sound after playing back footage on my computer - it almost sounds like crickets. Here's a sample video:

You may need to turn the volume up as it sounds a bit soft. But here's the kicker... I turn my car to the off position at about the five second mark and the buzzing/beeping stops at about the 12 second mark.

One variable could be my microSD card. The Mobius manual recommends and only requires a class 4, but I had a Transcend 32 GB class 10 on hand which I formatted in camera. The other possible variable is my USB adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00E1UWA4O).

Have any of you guys encountered this buzzing/beeping sound and how did you resolve it? I shot off an email to the seller in case they know. Hopefully this isn't part of the camera's normal operation.


EDIT
I replaced the trimmed Vimeo clip with the original, full-length source file so the 5/12 second mark comments aren't accurate anymore; it's more like 18 and 24 now.

 

[jokiin]

can't hear it in your sample but the warble in the sound is common to the chipset used, all the cameras using this have it to some degree

 

[horaceCJ]

I heard that kind of sound when I was driving without the music turned on. I just checked an older recording made on internal battery and the background sound is different (no crickets). If you're concerned about it I would suggest four tests to isolate the cause:
- on internal battery
- powered from USB car adapter, engine off
- powered from USB car adapter, engine on
- powered from a computer USB port / USB wall adapter

 

[team bau]

Overall, it isn't that bad and I can only really hear it if there is little background noise. I'll try testing the four use cases above over the next few days.

 

[romeski]

Hard to hear what you mean but it could be the car.

My mobius had some sound, thought it was my class 4 card but a class 10 did the same. I then noticed when I shut off my car, my dome lights actually make a sound until they turn off. Perhaps what you are hearing is interference from other electronics?

 

[Grimm]

Cant hear it. I can hear a ticking noise in another one of your videos "Lucky Prius Driver" but I dont know if thats it.

Whens the last time you had your spark plugs changed or re-gapped? In one of my old cars when I starting hearing ticks and other noises on AM radio I knew it was time to change my spark plugs...


Follow horaces advice. If nothing comes from that then youll have to look at other sources of interference or problems...USB cable...Microsd(format it anyway once in awhile)...SAT/NAV....phone...

Could just be as jokiin says (and jokiin's a God among us mortal dash cam worshipers) but I have yet to hear anything odd with mine. A bit of bickering, but that's not odd.

 

[team bau]

Hey guys, thanks for chiming in... and sorry for the crappy video. I had been playing the source file in MPlayerX and it is boosting the audio levels quite a bit louder. I just tried playing in VLC and the volume is much softer, but still louder than Vimeo. I replaced the Vimeo video with the source file (versus the trimmed version), but it's still converting at the moment since I'm not a Vimeo Plus member so I can't say it is definitely better. If I had to describe the sound again, it's almost like the high frequency samples in the "How old are you ears?" YouTube video.

I get the same buzz/beep levels from the two use cases: powered from USB with car engine on and off. I haven't tried powering via computer USB, but I tested on internal battery. I can still hear the buzz/beep ever so slightly as I was just sitting in my car with the windows up and engine/stereo off. Though, it is very, very soft so I think I could get used to/ignore it.

I am hoping it is not a car issue as it's just a tad over three years old. Though, your guys' thoughts about other sources of interference have me thinking... I have the Mobius just under the right side of my rear view mirror and my Valentine 1 radar detector just above the RVM on the left side. I canceled my Sirius, but perhaps the shark fin antenna causes some interference.

I did get a response from the eBay seller (eletoponline365) saying...

For the noise, there is current effect on PCB board, it may have noise as this effect.​

I'm not exactly sure what that means, but is that what jokiin is referring to (re: chipset)?

 

[Grimm]

Yes, it's what Jokiin was referring to.

Your reference to "how old are your ears" aka you "cant hear ****e now that your old", got me thinking that maybe my mobius' do make noise but I am too old to hear it. I'll have to abduct a young person to test...

 

[team bau]

Heh, I gotta try that test again with headphones but I was useless after it got to 17,000 Hz.

 

[jokiin]

The chipset has onboard audio, it seems the noise floor is quite high and it picks up some electrical noise from the chipset, some designs using this processor have a very noticeable warble in the audio track, others are not so bad, the möbius probably has much better firmware than most and doesn't suffer this problem too badly, have yet to see any that have totally resolved it though, I'd suspect for a great many möbius users they'd never notice this anyway just because of how the cameras are being used, the relatively quiet environment of a motor vehicle makes this more apparent

 

[jokiin]

Heh, I gotta try that test again with headphones but I was useless after it got to 17,000 Hz.

If you can hear up that high your hearing would be like a teenage girl, quite rare for a male over 20 to be able to hear 17k tones

 

[team bau]

I'd suspect for a great many möbius users they'd never notice this anyway just because of how the cameras are being used, the relatively quiet environment of a motor vehicle makes this more apparent

Samples from my road clips seem fine. The stereo, road, and wind (if windows open) noise drowns it out quite well.

If you can hear up that high your hearing would be like a teenage girl, quite rare for a male over 20 to be able to hear 17k tones

Funny you say that, I heard somewhere that middle and high school kids are using these high frequency sounds as ringtones now so they don't have to silence them at school.

 

[jokiin]

Yeah the mosquito ringtone is the one they use

 

[GJHS]

Hey guys, thanks for chiming in... and sorry for the crappy video. I had been playing the source file in MPlayerX and it is boosting the audio levels quite a bit louder. I just tried playing in VLC and the volume is much softer, but still louder than Vimeo. I replaced the Vimeo video with the source file (versus the trimmed version), but it's still converting at the moment since I'm not a Vimeo Plus member so I can't say it is definitely better. If I had to describe the sound again, it's almost like the high frequency samples in the "How old are you ears?" YouTube video.

I get the same buzz/beep levels from the two use cases: powered from USB with car engine on and off. I haven't tried powering via computer USB, but I tested on internal battery. I can still hear the buzz/beep ever so slightly as I was just sitting in my car with the windows up and engine/stereo off. Though, it is very, very soft so I think I could get used to/ignore it.

I am hoping it is not a car issue as it's just a tad over three years old. Though, your guys' thoughts about other sources of interference have me thinking... I have the Mobius just under the right side of my rear view mirror and my Valentine 1 radar detector just above the RVM on the left side. I canceled my Sirius, but perhaps the shark fin antenna causes some interference.

I did get a response from the eBay seller (eletoponline365) saying...

For the noise, there is current effect on PCB board, it may have noise as this effect.​

I'm not exactly sure what that means, but is that what jokiin is referring to (re: chipset)?

I had a steady beep on some videos in Motion Detect recently. They were recorded on the internal battery and I was playing them straight from the camera, connected to my phone via OTG. I was wondering what it was, yet when I put them on my computer the sound was gone

 

[jokiin]

I had a steady beep on some videos in Motion Detect recently. They were recorded on the internal battery and I was playing them straight from the camera, connected to my phone via OTG. I was wondering what it was, yet when I put them on my computer the sound was gone

codec issue maybe?

 

[GJHS]

codec issue maybe?

Not sure, I know on my Android phone I have to use a software decoder to get sound at all. The audio files from the Mobius aren't read otherwise. I'm using MX player