Drift HD Mic issues

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Zoomie MD

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Hey guys, I'm attempting to get some quality audio with the drift HD external mic and having a really hard time getting anything. I'll start with what I'm using and then go into what I'm experiencing. As stated before its a Drift HD with the drift external mic, Shoei Rf1100 helmet with both the breath guard that goes around my nose and the netted wind guard near my chin. I've tried the mic in all manner of locations. Inside the cheek pad, outside the pad near my cheek, near my mouth, down next to my chin, just under the nose breath guard, you name it. I'm running into some pretty severe wind noise at anything over ~40mph and total loss of anything intelligible above ~60 mph. I have the mic sensitivity set to one bar and I've tried zero bars as well, also using the wind guard that comes with the mic. Any thoughts or tricks you've all used?

I've watched many many Drift setup vids from people who seem to get much better audio than I do and can't seem to emulate their results even by using the same locations. Am I just screwing something up? lol, Thanks in advance for any help!
 
I went through hell trying to get the audio just right. I finally have something that works 99% of the time. Unless I'm just hauling ass it works.

The little foam cover on the Drift HD mic used to fall off all the time. Even when it didn't it still didn't muffle the wind noise enough. In the end I took one of the spare covers for my Scala Rider intercom system and put it on the Drift Mic. It was a bit big so I had to tie it off so the mic wouldn't slip out.

I know you may not have a Scala Rider intercom system so I'll tell you what worked just as well. My wife had some little foam pads that she used for applying theatrical makeup. I think you can find them around the makeup aisles in most stores. They're round and about 3 inches in diameter. I wrapped that around the mic and tied it off with a twist tie from a bread bag. It didn't look as neat as the setup I have now but it worked just as well, maybe even a tad better. If you can't find the makeup applicator pads any type of foam big enough to wrap around the mic should work.

Hope this helps!
 
You might try buying a decent microphone. I know most places charge $15-20 for the drift mic, but there's an identical one on Amazon for $3. I ended up putting a 10db attenuator on mine and it works absolutely perfectly, but I know some people have upgraded to decent lavalier mics and had pretty good results too.
 
Trinith said:
You might try buying a decent microphone. I know most places charge $15-20 for the drift mic, but there's an identical one on Amazon for $3. I ended up putting a 10db attenuator on mine and it works absolutely perfectly, but I know some people have upgraded to decent lavalier mics and had pretty good results too.
Click to expand...

How did you instal the attenuator? Granted I've done minimal research but most I've seen look like they're for much larger coaxial cables, etc.
 
Zoomie MD said:
How did you instal the attenuator? Granted I've done minimal research but most I've seen look like they're for much larger coaxial cables, etc.
Click to expand...

Hands down the hardest part is finding the stupid things with a 3.5mm jack. "M-Audio 10dB In-Line Attenuator Pad MicroTrack 24/96" is the one I bought, but apparently it's no longer made. That kinda sucks, it was only about $20 or so. Anyway, here's the video on how I did it if you're interested. There's a lotta wire inside my helmet, wrapped around the crown so I don't feel it at all, and a fair bit of ducktape holding wires in place on the outside of the helmet. It's ugly as hell, but it's extremely effective. I do have to go back and add a little bass in the editor to get my voice and everything sounding normal, but that's ok. The beginning of the video is with the attenuator installed.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlwBXp9CAtY[/youtube]
 
The Drift HD mic is much better than the older Drift Stealth mic. I tried another lav mic and had problems because of the adapter I needed to fit the Drift HD. Wrap that sucker with thicker foam and the wind noise will disappear.
 
Bizarre. I have the Shoei XR1100 with the netted wind guard near my chin, with the mic placed just past the cheek pad close to my mouth/chin. I run a Stealth 170HD with the mic sensitivity on one bar and don't have any problems with sound at all except when hitting high speeds. Have you got any videos to demonstrate this distortion?
 
I have had to put mine right under the cheek pad, i have also set mine to minimum bar of sensitivity, i think i am almost there althought i do get some distortion now and again. It really is hit and miss and different for almost every rider to get the right setup

I think it is going to be more hit and miss to be honest
 
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