{"id":3298,"date":"2014-09-09T09:30:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T19:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2015-05-18T10:19:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-18T20:19:24","slug":"panasonic-gh4-audio-buzz-fix-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/blog\/panasonic-gh4-audio-buzz-fix-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Panasonic GH4 Audio Buzz Fix"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the GH4 returned from Panasonic’s service center, I ran it through a battery of tests to confirm whether the audio buzz<\/a> was truly gone for good.<\/p>\n

The tests yielded a wide range of results– some good, some bad, and some just downright strange.<\/p>\n

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Note:<\/strong> I am not an audio engineer (nor any other mythical creature). If you are an audio engineer\/unicorn, please let me<\/a> know how I can make these tests better if necessary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Good: The Buzz is Gone<\/h2>\n

The good news is that the fluttering buzz that previously plagued the GH4– especially at high gain levels– has been reduced to the point that it is a non-issue in most situations.<\/p>\n

While the buzz is still detectable if you pump up the GH4’s audio gain with an unpowered mic attached, it’s so far below the camera’s noise floor (which is another story– more on this in a bit) that the buzz will be the least of your problems by the time you can actually hear it.<\/p>\n

In any real-world production situation, maxing any camera’s audio gain is definitely not recommended. The best practice to set the camera’s gain as low as possible and feed it a strong audio signal. With the GH4’s audio levels set to the minimum -12dB setting, the buzz is inaudible even if you increase volume in post more than you should ever need to.<\/p>\n

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Bottom line:<\/strong> The GH4’s audio is effectively buzz-free after the repair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Bad: The GH4 is Noisier<\/h2>\n

Ridding the GH4 of the buzz was not without it’s share of side-effects. One of these side-effects is that the GH4 is now noisier than it was before the fix<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In fact, as a result of the buzz fix, the GH4’s noise floor has increased by as much as 10dB<\/strong> in some cases.<\/p>\n

Can you say “noisy”?<\/p>\n

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Noise Floor Test Setup<\/h3>\n

Here is the setup used to evaluate the GH4’s noise floor before and after Panasonic’s repairs:<\/p>\n

\"Noise<\/a><\/p>\n