External microphone sound problems

[iamanidiot]

I recently bought a Rode VideoMic Go for my SLR. I thought it would be useful to be able to record music writing sessions using this nice mic with my new Xperia Z5, so I also bought the TRS - TRRS patch cable. Unfortunately when recording with this mic and Sony's "Audio Recorder" app, it's almost unusable as it's interrupted by intermittent loud distortion/crackling.

Here's what I've tried/ruled out:

- It's not the Mic. The microphone works perfectly with my SLR.

- It's not the Patch Lead. Everything works perfect with the same mic, cable and app on both my friend's Nexus and my old Xperia Z

- It's not the headphone/mic port, or physical connection. I've recorded some test audio with a set of earbud earphones with built in mic, specifically designed for hands free calling. It recorded absolutely perfect.

- It's not the app. I've tried recording with various other apps and the crackles/distortion appear in them too.

- It doesn't seem to have anything to do with what's being recorded. I've recorded a range of sounds to try and narrow down what's happening, but there's no correlation between loudness, or pitch, and the distortion happening.

There doesn't seem to be any settings for external mics so I'm at a loss as to what to try. I'm with EE in the UK, should I just take it in to a shop and have them look at it? I know it's kind of silly but I get used to doing basically whatever I want with my phone - treating it as a mini laptop, so the idea of not being able to get this working is extremely annoying.

[Uliwooly]

@iamanidiot

The problem might be a compatibility issue since Xperia devices since the Z2 use a 3.5mm jack 5 pole, you can use 3-pole headphones but this could be the issue. 

[iamanidiot]

My brother has a Z3 compact, i'll test the mic on his. That might help narrow it down as I guess if it doesn't work on his it would be a compatibility issue? Doesn't explain how the mic on my hands free earphones works though as it is the same 4 pin 3.5mm jack as the Rode.

[Uliwooly]

@iamanidiot

Not sure, but it might be a compatibility issue, perhaps a 3.5mm adapter could solve this. 

[iamanidiot]

Just tried the mic on a Z3 Compact and it's fine with the same app, no crackles or anything, so I don't think it's a 4 pin/5 pin compatibility issue.

[Uliwooly]

@iamanidiot

Could you test it in safe mode

[iamanidiot]

In safe mode the Audio Recorder app is disabled.

[iamanidiot]

Have used the microphone test in the service menu. After testing that it is taking the input from the external mic it appears that it is still crackling in the mic test. It crackled a bit on the first test, it then took another 6-9 tests to hear another crackle.

[Esposito88]

Hi, 

I had the same problem with a Rode videomic ME so I started fidgeting with it.

Found out that it really helps to put your phone in flight mode.

I've tested with 2 videos of about 3 minutes long and there seems to be no cracking/distortion etc.

If anything changes, I will be sure to let you know but it seems like the problem is fixed now.

[Teddy81t]

OMG! That is so true. Put it in the Flight mode and there is no crackling sound. I have Z5 and my girlfriend has z5c and at Z5c there are no problems with crackling sound on Z5 there is. First I thought that it was the malfunctional mic, so I have returned it and get another one. I found this forum and flight mode really works!

THANKS!