Can anyone identify what this sound is?

[Detailzsuck]

Does anyone know the cause? This screech/buzz started happening recently. This only happens when I try to record something.. I think sometimes it gets worse or less. When I play back other previous audio it doesn’t screech so I know it’s not the built in speaker. It also still does it when I plug in earphones. I have a feeling I might’ve messed with the settings possibly? Anyways If anyone can help please do! I can’t find answers anywhere else.

 

[-mjk-]

Sounds like mobile phone RF interference.

 

[Detailzsuck]

@-mjk- it certainly was. I tested this by taking the Tascam on a drive with me and it screeched really loudly when I drove by this fenced part of my neighborhood which I’m assuming is some cell phone or wifi tower thing. When I drove a little passed it the screech finally went away! I am so unlucky. I saw a mod on YouTube to cover parts of it with foil and it would work. I’m wondering if it actually would so I’m going to try it

 

[Detailzsuck]

I’m just scared of electrocuting myself lol

 

[-mjk-]

You can make a screened enclosure that would allow sound to pass through but would block RF. Or you could try something like this: Faraday Shield

 

[Detailzsuck]

@-mjk- the foil mod worked but not 100% .. SO frustrating. I’m not sure if I want to make videos with a bag over it . do you know any models that don’t pick up the interference ?

 

[-mjk-]

@Detailzsuck no I do not. I do not have time to test devices. Anything can be overwhelmed however by high levels of RF. One seldom has RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) issues out in the country (that is unless you are next to some kind of tower). Even powerlines can generate RFI . If you can arrange to do your recordings in another place you can find somewhere that isn't full of RFI radiation. If you do your recordings at home you can make your room into a Faraday shield and eliminate RFI coming into the room (like many radio and recording studios).

I used to do RFI investigations for those kinds of studios and also for my fellow ham radio ops. I've tracked down quite a number of offending sources and then devised methods of eliminating the RFI . I understand that these days, there are not many people in the field so there is money to be made there.

RFI is a leak of some kind. There are 2 ways to stop a leak:

1. Plug the hole.
2. Relieve the pressure.

Plugs would be inductors and capacitors would relieve the pressure (to ground). I used to install inductors and capacitors at the Telco network interface on the outside of a house to keep the sound of the local AM radio station off the landline phone. Sometimes I would have to open a device and so the same internally. On some devices, you may have to paint the inside of the plastic case with conducting paint and make sure that the paint shield is connected to DC ground in the device.

In order to solve that problem you would have to determine where the issue is coming from. That's why the Faraday shield might help. Recording a track while you video the recorder, you can slide the bag over it and document any changes in the sound. This is going to take time and unfortunately a lot of attention to details and by your username I think you might not like that, lol. You may find that using an external mic may solve the issue if those built-in mics are the cause of the leak.

I'm sorry but there is no simple answer/solution to this very complex issue.

 

[Revinylize]

@-mjk- can this issue be solved by enabling airplane mode on the mobile device?

 

[-mjk-]

@Revinylize Airplane mode is supposed to turn all all the radios. If that doesn't work you can always shut the phone off and confirm if that is the problem.

 

[Revinylize]

@-mjk- Thanks for the quick reply! I'm working on having audio/visual for live shows so the phone would have to be on to record footage; I'll see how airplane mode works tonight as my DR-40 was having the same issues yesterday (not today weirdly enough)

 

[Detailzsuck]

@Revinylize @-mjk- enabling airplane mode did nothing for me.. when I used the Tascam at my old place where there was no radio towers it worked fine with my phone right near it and airplane mode wasn’t on either. I ended up getting a new device.

 

[-mjk-]

@Detailzsuck then the issue wasn't your phone apparently.

 

[-mjk-]

@Revinylize before you do the mission-critical stuff, try it at home first. Also, you may want to find a back for video recording in case the phone is the culprit and there's no way around it.