While we're happy that Sony has placed all the menu buttons where they're easy to access (on the back of the camera), the menu that lets you change the camera's audio settings is actually buried three levels deep within the main menu. Once you get to this setting, you can select the manual audio setting and then set your level with the jog wheel on the back. The VX1000, on the other hand, has a simple button on the back that you can push to instantly turn this important feature on or off without having to navigate through cascading menu selections. We sorely miss this convenient button - why Sony has left this simple feature off its second-generation camera is a mystery to us.
This brings us to the biggest, and possibly the only serious issue with the VX2000: its now infamous audio "hiss" problem. In manual audio mode, regardless of whether you use the onboard microphone or any high-quality external microphone, there is a loud background wash of white noise (which, for convenience, we'll call "hiss") that rises in intensity when you alter the manual gain setting. This audio problem isn't new. We came across the same audio hiss when we reviewed Sony's TRV 900 and PD100A last year last year, and it's a potential deal breaker. Here's what we found:
When you use the VX2000's onboard microphone in auto mode, the sound is very good. It handles level changes very well without noticeable changes in gain, and the quality of the large two-capsule stereo mics is very good, yielding a sound that is more rich and full than that of the XM1.
In manual mode, the hiss surfaced - and as we turned up the audio level, it increased. The hiss persisted whether we used the onboard mic or a digital audio tape (DAT) recording stereo mic that was plugged directly into the mini jack. Note: When we used the DAT recording stereo mic with the camera in auto mode, the sound was fantastic. When we attached a professional audio adapter (StudioOne XLRPro) - which allows audio level changes, a high-quality shotgun mic, and a very high-end balanced cable - the hiss was really bad. The hiss improved somewhat when we switched to auto mode, but it was still very much present. The XM1 in this same configuration was quiet.
So how bad is this hiss problem? Well, many people have complained to Sony, and many others have actually returned the camera. Discussion and user groups all over the Web show people up in arms about it. The jury is out on whether all the cameras have this problem - a problem that actually bugs some people more than others. Sony usually asks for serial numbers from cameras that reportedly have this problem, so it's possible that Sony's trying to nail down where this problem originated. According to some audio gurus we've spoken to, the scientific explanation has to do with the camera's non-AGC (automatic gain control) mic preamp circuit. At some point, Sony may release an improved model of the VX2000, but we wouldn't expect a recall of current ones since Sony does not admit this to be a mistake on its part.
Note: To be fair, the onboard camera mic on the XM1 is nothing to write home about - it picks up a lot of camera whine, while the one on the Sony does not. One filmmaker compared the sound of the XM1 in a quiet room to a beehive when the volume was turned up on playback. Luckily, an off-camera external mic can solve this problem.
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