[DR-40] How to avoid interferences from cell phones?

[Winfried]

Hello,

I made a recording recently with my Tascam DR-40 using the internal microphones. The recording was ruined because there were a couple of cell phones* on the table very close to the Tascam.

As the building had thick walls, the cell phones had to transmit harder than usual, and the recording is peppered with annoying bits that sound like this :

I have a couple of questions:
1. Would it solve the problem to simply ask people within a couple of meters from the microphone to simply turn off/set their GSM phone to plane mode?
2. If not, would using an XLR microphone and turn off the internal microphones solve the issue?

Thank you.

* GSM, I'm in Europe

 

[Arjan P]

1. Yes, turning a phone off or putting it in Airplane mode should stop any transmission to and from the device. The distance to your DR-40 is something to try out a bit I guess.
2. This depends on what circuitry inside the DR-40 is actually affected by the transmitting GSM, so I guess also something to try out. I haven't had any similar issues with my DR-100 (but also don't use it in such environments).

 

[Winfried]

Thanks. Before buying an XLR mic, next time, I'll ask people close by to put their phone in airplane mode, and make sure I'm close with headphones on to check.