K1 microphone questions

K1600C3

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Does the front camera microphone (the active one) have it's own set of wires in the cable, or is the audio encoded with the video before it's sent from the camera?

If the analog mic output is sent back on a separate wire, would it be possible to add a Y-connector accessory the camera 1 connector on the DVR that would add a 3.5mm jack for an external microphone?

This would allow placement of a mic somewhere on the bike out of the wind to pick up engine sounds while riding, or in the rider's helmet for narration.. As-is, the front camera mic produces barely audible sound due to being encased in the sealed aluminum case.


(Ideally, the Y cable would also have a volume control, or have a volume function added to the firmware.)

I suppose I could drill a hole in the camera housing near the internal mic, then cover it with a thin, flexible diaphragm to let the sound in, but keep the water out..
 
Sorry for late reply.

Your idea is good, and People did same on The C3.

Regarding the K1, The audio encoded with video, it is not able to do so.

Yes, you can drill a hole to mic on the case and cover it by a 3M tape for waterproof.
 
I just finished drilling a hole in the rear cover (6.7mm) as close to the mic as possible, and glued a patch of very thin glove rubber over it.
I just took it out for a test drive, and oddly, it's barely louder than without the hole. I still have to run max volume in windows media player to hear anything.

I think I may have a larger electeret mic capsule somewhere, so may try wiring it in in place of the internal mic to see if that makes a difference.
If it does, then I'll have to think of some way to mount a 3.5mm jack and still keep everything waterproof, and easy to disassemble if needed.
 
Just do it, if need any support, please let me know. :)
 
Hi,
I'm curious to know if this worked out for you. I have a K1S in my car and the sound I get from the camera is horrible. A new microphone would really help with my "Bad Drivers of" YouTube videos.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Hi Mike,

Is that interference with your radio?

PM sent to you to learn more details.

Regards,

Rock
 
No new testing so far. The sound is good enough to get the engine noises, and I don't need much more.
 
Indeed, now we are working on improvement, you can see below,

A mic hole made on case that is top of Mic in PCBA, and a film is to cover the hole that can get audio through but waterproof. Mic hole on case.jpg
 
Won't work for me, since I have the front camera mounted upside-down. The mounting pad is stuck to the "top"
 
The microphone feature on the Innovv K1 is a 100% waste of money. It records a low volume back gound hissing noise and NOTHING else. I visited a local bike show today with lots of engine reving and the normal bike gathering noise and it recorded absolutely 0% of the surrounding sounds / noise. If you are hoping to record ambient sounds this is the wrong product!
 
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The microphone feature on the Innovv K1 is a 100% waste of money. It records a low volume back gound hissing noise and NOTHING else. I visited a local bike show today with lots of engine reving and the normal bike gathering noise and it recorded absolutely 0% of the surrounding sounds / noise. If you are hoping to record ambient sounds this is the wrong product!

As you can see the improvement we made, I can be sure, it get sounds if nothing is wrong.

Can you check below,

Do you mute the Mic? you can mute the sounds by press the middle button on DVR while recording, you need to re-press the button to un-mute the sounds.

You can see from below photo, the mic is on top of PCBA, to verify if has sound, you can screw off the back cover of front camera, and speak to the mic, check if has sounds.

If there is sounds, we can send you the improved case then you can replace the last one.

If there is no sounds, please share the recording clips to us, we will do further check.

Regards,

Rock
 

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I had the same problems with the mic in my old DR32 - putting in a decent mic made some difference - but nothing like the clarity of other dashcams.
 
My ks1 has had poor quality audio from day one, but recently the audio has disappeared. It still records the audio, but at 100% playback volume it can be heard very very faint. Pressing the mute button makes a pop sound in the recording and the mic icon is changing. I've tried unplugging the GPS and tried running each camera individually to test and I get the same result. Any suggestions? I'm handy with a soldering iron, I'd love to bypass the mic and add my own... a wiring pinout for the "usb"cconnectors would be awesome
 
The question was answered early in the thread.. The mic audio is digitized in the camera and combined with the video data, so there is no analog audio in the cable. The only option I can see is to either add a more sensitive mic in the camera housing, and a hole to let the sound in to it, or, remove the camera mic, add a short shielded cable and 3.5mm jack to the camera, exiting through a notch near the old mic location. Then, you could plug any electeret mic you want into it, even locating it in you helmet.
My rubber covered hole in the rear cover was sufficient to get some engine sounds when played back at full volume, but it's still not sensitive enough to pick up a nearby conversation.
I haven't experimented more, since the camera installation I have makes it very difficult to remove and open up.. I'd have to buy another camera to mess with if I wanted to try something.
 
Indeed, now we are working on improvement, you can see below,

A mic hole made on case that is top of Mic in PCBA, and a film is to cover the hole that can get audio through but waterproof. View attachment 23505

Any update on this new casing to be tested ? Or any improvement on camera sound ? I tested yesterday my K1 motorcycle version and I was really disappointed with the sound quality. :(
Good quality sound is one of the main point that bikers want when installing a dashcam.
 
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As you can see the improvement we made, I can be sure, it get sounds if nothing is wrong.

Can you check below,

Do you mute the Mic? you can mute the sounds by press the middle button on DVR while recording, you need to re-press the button to un-mute the sounds.

You can see from below photo, the mic is on top of PCBA, to verify if has sound, you can screw off the back cover of front camera, and speak to the mic, check if has sounds.

If there is sounds, we can send you the improved case then you can replace the last one.

If there is no sounds, please share the recording clips to us, we will do further check.

Regards,

Rock
Hi Rock, I have a 3 wire jack socket I want to solder in for an external microphone on my K1s , the PCB Mic seems to have only 2 pins, which of the wires do I solder to the 2 pins? see photos.
 

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