The new 808 #18 DR32 Car Camera

[Mikk36]

Just got my DR32 .... Sound quality is ok too.

Got mine from power-gps.

Seller asked me to try running the cam off an uninterrupted power supply.

Made absolutely no difference whatsoever. Whilst stationary, the sound quality is excellent - as soon as I start moving off, the problems begin.
Either the circuitry is slightly loose & so allowing the mic to rub on the inside of the case or the circuitry is extremely susceptible to electronic interference (yet the sound is perfect when I'm sat in traffic - diesel engine, idles at 900rpm and the 'noise' doesn't seem to get worse with higher rpm, just movement/vibration. :?:

Think I saw the second video that you sent them. Yeah, you have the exact same problem that we have already been reporting. When there is too much sound for the microphone, it starts clipping.
Now it's up to the developers at Hetai to fix it.

 

[andrew73]

Just got my DR32 .... Sound quality is ok too.

Got mine from power-gps.

Maybe it's just different expectations? The mic does seem a bit over-sensitive but doesn't bother me. Have you tried covering the mic aperture?

 

[Jazzist]

Just got my DR32 .... Sound quality is ok too.

Got mine from power-gps.

Maybe it's just different expectations? The mic does seem a bit over-sensitive but doesn't bother me. Have you tried covering the mic aperture?

The problem cameras are much worse than a bit over sensitive, the sound is really terrible having listened to peoples samples!

 

[gobbertinker]

I just received my camera today and have tested it out. First of all you have to have a class 6 card, nothing less. I have the same issue with the audio, it seems when I slow down for a stop sign that the audio gets better. When I proceed to gain speed the audio gets worse. When driving on rough roads it's seems to have an adverse effect on audio also. I took a ferrite collar off of a usb cable and placed it on the power cable about 4" from the camera, this seemed to help a little but did not improve it to my satisfaction. I will say the video quality for this size camera is excellent. When I first loaded the videos on the computer it seemed liked video did a lot of jumping and was actually hard to watch. I surfed the net for this issue and found that the codec's on the computer may not be the best. So I downloaded a (Free) program named K-lite Codec. It cleaned the video up and it's literally like watching the video in HD.

 

[gobbertinker]

I read a lot of posts referring to firmware updates. Where would a person find these updates, I was on the tekspring web site and there is nothing there. As a matter of fact their website is like a barren desert.

 

[Jazzist]

I just received my camera today and have tested it out. First of all you have to have a class 6 card, nothing less. I have the same issue with the audio, it seems when I slow down for a stop sign that the audio gets better. When I proceed to gain speed the audio gets worse. When driving on rough roads it's seems to have an adverse effect on audio also. I took a ferrite collar off of a usb cable and placed it on the power cable about 4" from the camera, this seemed to help a little but did not improve it to my satisfaction. I will say the video quality for this size camera is excellent. When I first loaded the videos on the computer it seemed liked video did a lot of jumping and was actually hard to watch. I surfed the net for this issue and found that the codec's on the computer may not be the best. So I downloaded a (Free) program named K-lite Codec. It cleaned the video up and it's literally like watching the video in HD.

Another with rubbish sound, may I ask which eBay seller you bought from?
Thanks.

 

[gobbertinker]

I purchased my from hxelepro360 on Ebay! I was going to leave him negative feedback suspecting that I may have received a counterfeit, but that option has been disabled by Ebay for that seller. I live in Wisconsin, USA so to send it back will probably cost me almost as much as I paid for the camera. :evil:

 

[Mtz]

That DR32 are not counterfeit or fake products so is not correct to leave a negative feedback based on this idea. As you can saw, after Techmoans report about the too long mount they offered new mounts in just few days. I am sure the audio problem will be solved in some way by the developers which are very close to that sellers and for the moment even the audio is not clear as you want or as advertised, until the problem will be solved you can use the camera so you will not lose any possible event because of not working camera.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

I would be surprised if this wasn't something that could be addressed via a firmware update, the developers of this product at least have a track record of releasing updated firmware, it can take a bit of time and while annoying to put up with in the interim I don't think it's a deal breaker as long as the update comes, part of jumping in on the early release of a product I guess

at least it's not Korean, they tend to half fix things and then just move on to new models and leave people stranded with buggy products

 

[sludgeguts]

That DR32 are not counterfeit or fake products so is not correct to leave a negative feedback based on this idea. As you can saw, after Techmoans report about the too long mount they offered new mounts in just few days. I am sure the audio problem will be solved in some way by the developers which are very close to that sellers and for the moment even the audio is not clear as you want or as advertised, until the problem will be solved you can use the camera so you will not lose any possible event because of not working camera.

enjoy,
Mtz

But it IS correct to leave negative feedback for an item which is NOT AS ADVERTISED. Just because they are on the other side of the world & it is a serious PITA to return & get a refund etc, doesn't mean a trader should get away with selling substandard tat.

YES, we can use the camera based on decent video, however, there are a good many times where you may wish to note the registration number of the vehicle & the camera doesn't quite capture it for whatever reason. Even if the audio was half decent & you could make out what was being said it wouldn't be so bad as in the following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZcvxtywrT8
Where I had the music slightly louder than I would normally.
That was recorded on my F70 dual dashcam.

 

[gobbertinker]

That DR32 are not counterfeit or fake products so is not correct to leave a negative feedback based on this idea. As you can saw, after Techmoans report about the too long mount they offered new mounts in just few days. I am sure the audio problem will be solved in some way by the developers which are very close to that sellers and for the moment even the audio is not clear as you want or as advertised, until the problem will be solved you can use the camera so you will not lose any possible event because of not working camera.

enjoy,
Mtz

Many products are and can be counterfeited. A counterfeiter can buy the outer case from a company and place inferior components inside. I purchased this camera because it had been reviewed as having both good picture and sound quality. Seeing that the camera only catches the front view of the car, having the capture of the audio could prove whether or not you used your indicator to make a turn. This camera could also be used just for the fun it, on a vacation or short weedend road trip, the capture of good audio would make this a better experience. I checked this EBay seller's feedback in relation to this camera and find that a person can not determine any feedback in relation to this camera, and further more the seller has a lot of negative feedback in the prior 12 months. Given this info it tells me that this seller has probably received a lot of negative feedback from this camera and now has reached the point that he can not receive any because of EBAY"S policies. If in fact he had a good product than why camouflage the feedback in relation to that product. If I was the seller and knew that I in fact had a good product I would want any prospective buyers to see that feedback and use in their decision when it came to buying the product. To sum it up, hiding the feedback for a product tells me that maybe this sellers product might not be as good.

To further add to MTZ comment that "I am sure the audio problem will be solved in some way by the developers which are very close to that sellers and for the moment even the audio is not clear as you want or as advertised, until the problem will be solved you can use the camera so you will not lose any possible event because of not working camera". I have searched the internet and have no firmware updates or software for the products that this company makes. This camera has been on the market long enough that there should be firmware updates for it already. A consumer should not be put in the position of buying a product and waiting for the manufacturer to complete the development of that product. In Techmoan's review you'll notice that he states that the developers had sent him this camera for review, so one would expect that he received a GOOD camera seeing that the rest of the world will see his review. If I were buying a television I would not simply sit back and figure that aleast the picture is good but the sound sucks "But I guess I have to live with". If in fact that the camera wasn't intended to have a good quality audio than way even give it the ability to record audio.

 

[medic7000]

I'm thinking about getting this camera but will wait to see if the sound issues get resolved. Does anyone know where I can get information or someone explain to me how to hard wire this to the fuse box so the camera turns off when the car is off? I saw an auxiliary power socket from bell that plugs into the fuse box and the other ends is a ciggaret socket so you can just plug in the camera's power supply in there. My concern is the camera is 5v and the fuse box is 12v? thanks

 

[Mikk36]

I'm thinking about getting this camera but will wait to see if the sound issues get resolved. Does anyone know where I can get information or someone explain to me how to hard wire this to the fuse box so the camera turns off when the car is off? I saw an auxiliary power socket from bell that plugs into the fuse box and the other ends is a ciggaret socket so you can just plug in the camera's power supply in there. My concern is the camera is 5v and the fuse box is 12v? thanks

Use something like this, if you don't want to plug it in your main cigarette lighter socket:
[thumbnail]http://images.motorcycle-superstore.com/ProductImages/OG/0000-BikeMaster-12V-15A-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket---.jpg[/thumbnail]

 

[sludgeguts]

I'm thinking about getting this camera but will wait to see if the sound issues get resolved. Does anyone know where I can get information or someone explain to me how to hard wire this to the fuse box so the camera turns off when the car is off? I saw an auxiliary power socket from bell that plugs into the fuse box and the other ends is a ciggaret socket so you can just plug in the camera's power supply in there. My concern is the camera is 5v and the fuse box is 12v? thanks

Quickest (and cheapest) route I can think of is to simply buy an extension (plug/socket), chop the plug, expose the wires and hardwire it to the fusebox. feed the dashcam wire behind the dashboard & simply plug it into the extension socket out of sight. Maybe make sure the plug will stay firm in the socket by wrapping it in electrical tape.
At least you know that whatever is in the original power lead to protect the cam (voltage dropper, fuse etc) will all still be there. If you have a problem a month or so down the line, the lead will be intact for sending the unit back.

The second you chop that power lead you will void any warranty you might have.

Sorry Mizzi, looks like we cross posted - great minds eh?

 

[Mikk36]

Sorry Mizzi, looks like we cross posted - great minds eh?

Who's Mizzi?

Edit:
Can anyone recognize the middle chip?
Right one is a Samsung 1 Gbit (128 MB) DDR3 memory chip.
[thumbnail]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/54281287/DR32/IMG_6240.JPG[/thumbnail]

 

[NoAIm]

UPDATE 4/19/2013: Updated firmware alleviated the audio issue.

I did some more testing.

1. One of the questions was addressing that the microphone may be moving inside the chassis. With the windshield vibrating, it could be adding to the sound in a bad way. So, while it was running and there was road noise, I removed the unit and held it by the mount for a short time. In short, there was no difference.

2. I was curious to see what the audio profile was. So I simultaneously recorded a couple of clips with both my mobile phone camera and the DVR. The phone was placed right next to the DVR to get any additional audio reflections from the hard surface of the windshield. I took these video samples and stripped the audio out (and converted to .wav 48kHz stereo). I then viewed the waveform side by side in Audactiy. I did try to keep them the same scale, but there is some difference.

My results:
The first is with the car running, stopped, and very little ambient noise. You'll see 4 big sound pulses. This is my voice saying "Mark Mark Mark Mark" to try and line up the waveforms for analysis. On the right is my phone, on the left is the DVR.

Some observations:
1) The noise floor of the DVR is significantly higher.
2) The peaks are clipped earlier.
3) A lot of the extra detail is lost, although perfect audio fidelity is not required for this type of device. In other words, the lower dynamic range is fine.
4) So overall, the shape is there, but it quickly gets distorted.
5) Just listening to the audio though, I find nothing wrong with either. Both produce usable sound.


This second clip was performed the same way, but instead at 60mph (110kph) on the highway. My car isn't exactly the quietest, but it's far from loud. Windows were shut, no radio was on.

1) The mobile phone on the right, you can see that the ambient noise has significantly increased, which reflects real world sound.
2) You can clearly see the four pulses again on the right, although they are starting to get distorted. Again, the phone audio is usable.
3) The audio from the DVR, to be frank, is totally misleading. I couldn't find my 4 pulses at all. The entire waveform is saturated by ambient noise and there's no detail in the sound left. Additionally, there's significant clipping everywhere.


As suspected, it appears there is just too much audio gain in the unit. It needs to be lowered significantly.

 

[Mikk36]

Very nice test.

 

[sludgeguts]

Sorry Mizzi, looks like we cross posted - great minds eh?

Who's Mizzi?

Damn my eyes, should've gone to specsavers :ugeek:

 

[5-6-ACE]

Is this issue only for people in the states? Some kind of electrical difference?

Perhaps the new adhesive mount transmits vibrations down into the camera...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkPR9msq ... XA&index=1

 

[NoAIm]

UPDATE 4/19/2013: Updated firmware alleviated the audio issue.

Is this issue only for people in the states? Some kind of electrical difference?

Perhaps the new adhesive mount transmits vibrations down into the camera...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkPR9msq ... XA&index=1

Already disproved that theory. First, mine is the suction cup. Second, I just did a test by holding it in my hand with no improvement.