Is my Vixia HF R500 mic broken?

[RelentFX]

2 years ago, before going to a concert, I purchased the R500. The audio was fine when recording the show, but last year the audio sounded weird, which you can hear at the beginning of this video.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lYEa154wuYY

You can hear a video from 2014 when I got it and it was fine.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lYEa154wuYY

I got a R600 last year and I don't want to use it without asking if the mic can get damaged at high volumes. I really don't want to shell out money for a R700. Please answer.

[Richard]

Hi RelentFX,

Thank you for posting.

It's not clear whether the microphones are damaged or not.

The microphones in your camcorder are designed for general purpose recording. The high pressure in a rock concert may cause distortion in recordings.

I'd take a look at two options.

The first is to manually set the Mic Level. Here's how:

The second option is to use an external microphone.  Your camcorder will accept just about any microphone with a 3.5mm stereo plug. Because of the wide variety of microphones, we don't have specific recommendation for a brand or model of microphone.

Microphones should meet the following specifications: 3.5 mm stereo minijack -57 dBV (with 600 Ohm microphone)/5 kilohms or more. Because this camcorder cannot provide "phantom" power for the microphone, an "active" microphone (requiring external power) must supply its own power.