VIOFO A119 V3

[murcod]

I must also admit that me personally i have pretty low value on the audio in cameras,

So do I, but when it struggles to pick up things like the sound of the vehicle's indicators operating it may miss something that matters.

Finding Videoproc can boost the audio (it has a free trial allowing less than 5 minute clips- so perfect for dash cam owners) at least gives me a workaround.

A firmware solution would be much better though! I wouldn't have thought it would be too hard to implement something so basic.

Edit: I've submitted a support request on Viofo's website.

 

[EduCam]

it's possible the voltage is more stable on the bigger power bank, power supplies that drop below 5V under load are no issue when charging something like a phone with a 3.8v battery, it's a bigger issue for the camera running 5.4v input

That's right, I measured it after reading your post

@relu, can you test with firmware V1.03? Use the same settings of 2K 30FPS. Before updating with 1.03 firmware you can make the same test like in your post but with 16:9 resolution to avoid the AR differences.

I measured both fw: 1.03 and 2.3 with the same settings. I used a powerbank with 2A at the output. Consumption is variable, but with fw 1.03 the maximum consumption goes up to 400mA, and with fw 2.3 goes up to 480mA.

Comparing these results and previous post of you and @EduCam post I see 20% more power used by the V2.3 firmware compared to V1.03 firmware which means the latest SDK is using more power compared to first SDK. Maybe with professional tools the results can be more accurate.

The difference between 400mA and 480mA seems fairly minimal. In other words, if the camera were powered by a typical 1 amp or 1.5 amp or even a 2 amp charger would there be any difference in how it performs?

He said that banding on his V3 was only when he used the 1A power bank and no banding when used the 2A power bank. This means for me at least one difference.

Keep in mind that modern processors do not run at full performance constantly but are adaptive to the level of work required.

An image with good illumination (no noise) and static will be much easier to compress and will require less work for the processor and therefore less power.

A moving, low-light image (lots of noise, which means many thousands of randomly different pixels in each frame), and if we add 60fps and HDR, will require more processor power and more energy consumption.

In other words, it's not as simple as measuring the power consumption of both firmwares but would also vary the consumption by the test environment. And this flickering and banding failure occurs under specific circumstances.

I also mentioned earlier that just because a power supply has an amperage well above the required amperage, does not assure you at all that it will provide good quality DC with low noise and ripple. The only way to measure this it's with an oscilloscope.

Also keep in mind that the direct current provided by cars is not the same in all of them. Even though it is direct current, it comes from the rectification and stabilization of the current from an alternator, in some car models it will be flatter and others will have more noise and ripple. This could also influence that two users with the same wiring kit and power supply, one has flicker and banding and the other does not.

Sorry if my English is not very good.

 

[murcod]

So, being a glutton for punishment I purchased a 3rd A119 V3 and all three suffer from the low audio volume problem. A short clip is here. Doing an internet search shows this is a common problem with seemingly no cure?

Same clip with audio boosted 400% using VideoProc here , original low audio level clip here .

 

[Kremmen]

Is it just me.

I can hear the road noise on that 'original low audio' very clearly and the music seems quieter but I don't know what audio level you had selected.

That road noise is no different to mine and my audio is fine.

 

[murcod]

I can hear the road noise on that 'original low audio' very clearly and the music seems quieter but I don't know what audio level you had selected.

That road noise is no different to mine and my audio is fine.

What are you referring to by what audio level I had selected? On the A119 (there isn't anything apart from audio on/off AFAIK) or the VideoProc software (I just used the percentage audio boost setting)?

How old is your A119V3? This seems to only be affecting more recent builds from what I've read?

 

[Kremmen]

Mine is one of the early originals and I've stuck on firmware 2.0 (which I have in stock should anyone want it).

I used your link to what you called " , original low audio level clip here ."

Once it loaded on my PC into Firefox I played it and I found the audio to be perfectly OK IMO. I could clearly hear the tyre road noise which is about the same, if not louder, than mine.

Very odd if your playback is very low.

 

[murcod]

I used your link to what you called " , original low audio level clip here ."

Once it loaded on my PC into Firefox I played it and I found the audio to be perfectly OK IMO. I could clearly hear the tyre road noise which is about the same, if not louder, than mine.

Very odd if your playback is very low.

I need to have the all the volume levels turned up to 100% (PC and media player), plus turn the PC speaker level up higher to get any usable volume.

Edit: for comparison playing back Mobius footage at the same levels is VERY LOUD. (Even compared to the 400% boosted clip.)

 

[relu]

I have 119V3 from the first weeks after its release, and the audio volume is perfectly comparable to the "unamplified" one posted earlier.
In my opinion, the volume set by the manufacturer to be recorded is even adapted to a board camera. A larger volume (like the one "amplified" by the colleague through post-processing) I personally consider not only useless but even annoying. Also in my opinion, recording audio on a dashboard can be more annoying in situations when we really have to make the footage public, and for the purpose for which we use the dashboard, the sound is really useless.
For this reason, I have disabled the audio recording on the cameras I have used so far.
But that is only my personal opinion.

l.e.
Before A199V3 I had A119s, the level of the recorded volume being absolutely comparable to that of A119V3

 

[Kremmen]

Hmmm

Very odd. My PC sound level is about 50% on bottom of the range tiny Logitech speakers.

My main reference point though is comparing yours with mine on the same levels. Why can I hear your road noise and what I assume is low level audio/music very clearly but for you it's very quiet ?

 

[Nigel]

Is it just me.

I can hear the road noise on that 'original low audio' very clearly and the music seems quieter but I don't know what audio level you had selected.

That road noise is no different to mine and my audio is fine.

Not just you, seems fine for road noise to me, in fact I like my cars quieter than that!

If it was louder then there would be no room for louder noises like crashes and people shouting.

The music is fairly quiet for music, but everyone uses a different volume, and like you say, we don't know what the volume was.

 

[murcod]

FYI the music was reasonably loud and the car is a model that has more road noise than most newer vehicles.

Some independent reviews:

https://www.ads-links.com/a119-pro-audio-too-soft-troubleshooting/ (in this case an A119 Pro in depth troubleshooting with no result)

Viofo A119 V3 1600p 1440p Review

This A119 V3 review covers 2K 1600p 1440p resolution menu settings, setup tips, parking mode and test footage.

viofo-a119-v3-dash-camera-review.blogspot.com

CONs
- Price - excellent 1440p resolution - fantastic 30 Mb/s High Bitrate - brighter Sony 5MP sensor - narrow angle FOV F1.6 Lens - buffered Parking Mode - available CPL Filter - supports 256GB cards - GPS mount option - standard MP4 format - works from 5 volt power bank - easy to disassemble		- internal vent blocking again - unstable single clip mounting bracket - mount stabilizing EVA foam pad wears out - weak RTC rechargeable battery (8-18 days) - microSD card in socket protrudes too far - audio volume very low on recorded clips

A119 V3 vs A129 audio levels.

There are other posts on here too showing similar issues.

 

[ursamajor]

murcod,
As one who had in hands for a while a defective V3 with sound almost inexistent, I think the sound on your copy is acceptable. Maybe it's low, but more important, it's reliable, without sudden variations or uneven.
Copies from recent batches do had (possibly still have) sound issues, even the Viofo's representative from my country agreed this.

 

[murcod]

I think the sound on your copy is acceptable.

I think that's the better out of the 3, but more testing is required.

Edit: I just checked the A119 V2 in a different vehicle and it's got no sound what so ever. Just background electrical noise. It used to work but is very old and has lived a life exposed in the sun.

 

[Nigel]

A119 V3 vs A129 audio levels.

A129 has a better microphone and better processor than the A119s. It also costs more.

I think the lower levels on the A119 may be due to how well the processor handles loud sounds, the A129 definitely does better at that.

A139 is even better than the A129, excellent microphone on that.

 

[murcod]

That A119 V3 in that video actually sounds a lot better than mine (dynamic range, volume level.) I'm wondering if they changed the microphones at some stage but are still writing the firmware for the original mic?

Viofo have responded and are looking at supplying different firmware.

A139 is even better than the A129, excellent microphone on that.

The A119 V3 should suit what I want, but while some don't want audio- I do. e.g. I had some idiot tailgating me a week ago through some winding hilly roads. I could hear his/ her tyres squealing but there's no way my A119 V3's would pick it up. Same if you are pulled over by the Police for some trivial thing, a copy of the audio could be handy. We were pulled over with the Mobius and it caught all the conversation- supposedly the rear number plate was blocked by the tow bar ball. (Their traffic light cams didn't have a problem IDing it- proven by my wife! )

 

[Nigel]

The other problem is that if they turn the volume up then people start complaining about "electronic noises" on the audio! Again, the A139 has the answer to that, you can plug in the external microphone which will have no "electronic noises" because it is not inside the case to hear them

https://www.viofo.com/en/accessorie...hone-pc-laptop-gopro-dslr-audio-recorder.html

Sorry that doesn't help much, at least not until the A119 gets upgraded with an external microphone socket!

 

[Dashmellow]

I have two A119 V3 cams in my vehicle and the unusually low volume levels of the audio has been problematic. Recently, I updated to the latest v2.3 firmware and now the audio volume level is much louder and more in an acceptable range. I didn't update both cameras at the same time and as a result the noticable difference in audio volume levels between the older (v2.0) firmware and the newer firmware was striking. There is no mention of this in the changelog but something is apparently different now.

Still, the audio produced by the A119 V3 is not up to the standards of other cameras I've owned. All in all, I would describe it as slightly "muffled" or "tubby" sounding. The Mobius cameras I have in my vehicle produce far superior audio and I think of them partially as audio back-up if I should ever really need high quality audio of an incident. The quality of the Mobius audio is so good I sometimes use the one I carry in my pocket as a voice recorder.

 

[murcod]

All in all, I would describe it as slightly "muffled" or "tubby" sounding.

Yes, this too. The dynamic range seems very limited in what it does pick up. I've updated the latest purchased V3 to the current firmware already. I need to test it out in the car, but it still struggles to pick up anything from the TV when it's about 4m away.

This is the response from Viofo support, where I sent the previously posted clip.

It seems the volume is low, we will send a new firmware for you to have a try.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes, this too. The dynamic range seems very limited in what it does pick up.

Yeah, it's like the upper frequencies are missing from the audio.

 

[Kremmen]

@murcod

I note you mention the TV.

Early on when the audio problem surfaced it was being reported in the same way when the unit hadn't been installed in the car but was still indoors.

I did the same thing and fired mine up indoors and the volume was very low. Installed in the car the volume is fine. I've no idea why that should be the case but it just works better in the cabin.