Greetings,

A few weeks back I bought two Osmo Action cameras looking to start motovlogging and upon initial unboxing and testing I absolutely loved the experience.

I setup the camera on my helmet using a chin mount and once I hooked up the Cynova adapter and a 3.5mm mic I took it out for my frist test ride.  I was seriously disappointed to find the audio clipping horribly and is completely unusable in it's current state. I tried a few different microphones and placements in my helmet but it was the same across the board.  I then turned to YouTube and this forum and sure enough have found the same complaint over and over again...

The mic input just seemed way too hot and I started reading about things like Line vs Mic levels and that confirmed my thoughts... the weird thing though was that everything works great and sounded just fine right up until I start my motorcycle and then it all falls apart.  I haven't begun moving, this isn't wind noise and the idlling engine alone is enough to cause this issue.

I see posts here in this forum from several months ago and there doesn't appear to be any response by DJI demonstrating they are taking this seriously.  After seeing all of the continual improvements they have made to this camera since launch I was a little surprised by this and figured maybe if I made a demonstration video to share with them and all of you it would help them realize what's happening and hopefully get this resolved.

I purchased a volume attenuator and testing so far has been good and cleared up the clipping (crackling) audio but it's increased the issue where the low end of the audio drops out... it's like some type of noise cancellation that is probably well intentioned but when a motorcycle (or likely any loud vehicle) is involved it is ruining that otherwise really great low end audio frequency capture.

I purchased a GoPro 8 and their Media Mod case shortly after all of this after seeing many complaints about the Osmo Action's audio issues and it has worked perfectly... however their audio does not capture the low end rumble of my Harley-Davidson's 4.5" exhaust like the Osmo Action!  It's so frustrating because when they Osmo Action is capturing my bikes sound it's great but it goes in and out and makes everything just sound so strange...

I absolutely prefer (BY FAR!) the Osmo Action experince to this Hero 8 and I want to figure this out and sitck with the Osmo Action but not if I can't get usable audio for motovlogging.

Here is the video demonstration I put together... I hope this is helpful and DJI takes a look at this and is able to help us!



Below are pics of the equipment I am using... I really hope this can be resolved, this is such an awesome device and literally the only reason I would not keep using the Osmo Action.

I just found this post from another user showing the Osmo Pocket has the ability to adjust the mic gain in the Mimo app...  please help us DJI!

This is picture of the app for the Osmo Pocket. You can see volume amplification level. You can choose AUTO, LOW, MODERATE & HIGH.

PLEASE FIX THIS. Regret returning my GoPro, thought dji would be better than this...

Nice Roadglide.  I have posted about this a month or so ago and no response from DJI .. I just continue to use my GoPro cameras.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused. With regards to this concern. I will forward this concern to our designated DJI support team for further evaluation. Again, I am sorry for the trouble. Thank you.

DJI Paladin Posted at 9-29 08:10
Hi. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused. With regards to this concern. I will forward this concern to our designated DJI support team for further evaluation. Again, I am sorry for the trouble. Thank you.

Hello DJI Paladin

I appreciate your reply but I have seen this exact same reply a dozen times to everyone else posting about this issue for several months and we have heard or seen zero response from DJI on how to address it.

This issue could be easily resolved by either hard setting the peak levels of the audio capture or adding in the feature shown on the Osmo Pocket that allows us to change the "Volume Amplification Level" from Low, Moderate or HIgh and we could easily use that to correct this issue.

So far in a few more days of testing if I just set the volume attenuator I purchased down by about 10-15% it almost completely resolves these issues... but now I have this silly dongle hanging from my camera with two wires (input/output) where I should only need to plug my microphone into the camera and have it work properly.

You say you will report this to the appropriate department over and over again but we get zero response or feedback so I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating that is...

I really want to love this Osmo Action camera but this issue is completely ruining my experience.

PLEASE ACTUALLY HELP US!

Follow-up... the issue persists but I just did not like using the GoPro and thus decided to keep my pair of Osmo Action cameras.

I am very happy with every other aspect of this camera other than these audio issues which could be addressed with a simple firmware update... all I am doing is dropping the mic gain by a few dB and the issue is almost eliminated but I still get the low end audio dropping in/out while I am speaking.

It's the weirdest thing as first thing in the morning when I jump on my motorcycle and fire up the Osmo the audio is usually perfect but then the same day when I ride home from work the issue returns... I tested this several days in a row and am baffled at how the time of day could possibly have any impact whatsoever on all of this... it can't, that's ridiculous...  I just have no other change whatsoever and can't figure it out.

Please DJI just add the same functionality found in the Osmo Pocket as I posted above... the Mimo app clearly already has this logic and I suspect giving us this option in the Osmo Action would solve these issues!

Since the forum doesn't appear to get any attention to the technical support team I submitted a formal support case request outlining all of this.

I will post back to relay what I hear back...

Schmoof Posted at 10-11 08:24
Since the forum doesn't appear to get any attention to the technical support team I submitted a formal support case request outlining all of this.

I will post back to relay what I hear back...

Good job on staying persistent, it's a must. I can't even stand next to a river without my audio getting blown out. Update us on that support ticket. I'll be sending one with info just to get the word in their brains.

Thanks for sharing

So it’s been 10 days and I didn’t even get a response that I had submitted a ticket...

Also I have since purchased two new 3rd party “mic adapters” that are not made by Cynova... I want to test / demonstrate that this is possibly the Cynova adapter (doubt it) or if it’s the Osmo Action software causing these issues.

Will post back with more details once I have tested them out...

Schmoof Posted at 2020-10-21 09:59
So it’s been 10 days and I didn’t even get a response that I had submitted a ticket...

Also I have since purchased two new 3rd party “mic adapters” that are not made by Cynova... I want to test / demonstrate that this is possibly the Cynova adapter (doubt it) or if it’s the Osmo Action software causing these issues.

they tell you to ship camera and they test but they doing nothing.this feature on audio calibration it's avaible on the osmo pocket,they have only to copy and paste,it's not difficult but after 6 months we have told em to solve this little issue i think it's time to get a go pro,sorry but if they don't understand by words they have to understand economically how this situation it's sad

HI guys, I found this thread after getting my cam and the Cynova adapter and experiencing the clipping problem.
Yesterday I got this inexpensive volume control from Amazon and turned down 2/3 it works really well.

https://smile.amazon.de/gp/product/B07YM29JGQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



I put a piece of tape over the volume pot to hold it in place.

A high pass EQ on the audio track in DaVinci Resolve removes the low frequency rumble. The test clip is in German but for a sound check this should be OK

bernard_hossmoto Posted at 3-8 23:18
HI guys, I found this thread after getting my cam and the Cynova adapter and experiencing the clipping problem.
Yesterday I got this inexpensive volume control from Amazon and turned down 2/3 it works really well.

I bought this adapter because I have the same problem. But I get no signal at all through this adapter? This volume control is only to regulate outgoing signals? I have tested it: as soon as I plug the part I get no signal.

Kruisr7 Posted at 3-16 02:58
I bought this adapter because I have the same problem. But I get no signal at all through this adapter? This volume control is only to regulate outgoing signals? I have tested it: as soon as I plug the part I get no signal.

Yes, I first have to plug in one of the little 3.5mm cables that came with my Lavalier Mic.

bernard_hossmoto Posted at 3-16 21:58
Yes, I first have to plug in one of the little 3.5mm cables that came with my Lavalier Mic.

I did the same. No Sound.

Hello DJI,

can some body help me about video volume on DJI OSMO ACTION.
Is it possible to mute the internal mic?

djiuser_Wk4pMUzD6sy2 Posted at 3-28 21:51
Hello DJI,

can some body help me about video volume on DJI OSMO ACTION.

When you connect an external Mic with this crappy adapter the internal Mic is muted.

bernard_hossmoto Posted at 3-29 00:08
When you connect an external Mic with this crappy adapter the internal Mic is muted.

And without adapter it is not possible to mute internal mic?

How to make then mute video?

you will  have to request  that feature it can be  done, the Yi cameras have a mute.

Submitted a new ticket... a little pop-up says:

Successfully Submitted
Success!Your message has been sent to us.

Otherwise I have no clue if they received it just like last time... nothing came into my email to confirm this either... how do I know they even saw my ticket submission?
Anyway for the record, here is what I put in the new ticket, same as last time... I never received a response to the first attempt last fall:

Auto-microphone volume ruins motorcycle audio, you have other cameras such as the Osmo Pocket that allow us to adjust this setting... PLEASE add this to the Osmo Action!

Example of the feature in the Osmo Pocket:
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... =225521&pid=2285209

MANY complaints online / youtube about this issue... I LOVE this camera but this one issue alone completely ruins the experience... I bought two Osmo Actions and have the latest firmware and have tried the Cynova adapter as well as two other brands and three different microphones and they all exhibit the exact same issue.

I posted a VERY detailed video to demonstrate what is happening... you can see the levels in Davinci Resolve clearly being affected by the auto-volume leveling as well as clearly hear the difference:

I pasted in the link as text below so it goes directly to the spot where I demonstrate this CLEARLY using Davinci Resolve:

https://youtu.be/I9e8C1drTqw?t=372


PLEASE HELP US!  THANK YOU!!!

Cynova Adapter
JJC Adapter
BOYA Adapter

All exhibit exact same issue... tried three different lav mic's as well with no luck...

thanks, first time I saw an actual video of this issue.  when you started the bike that is when the issue begins, you can step off the bike, and see if its the electronics of the bike?  , in my car I do not get that issue distance of the engine if asked, what I am thinking here.

It's definitely right after I start my bike but it's not electronics it's the volume of the bike running... I have 4.5" dual exhaust on a Harley, it's a very deep and loud motorcycle.

There is a very clear / linear drop in volume and I am thoroughly convinced this is the camera auto-adjusting the mic levels similar to the Pocket example above where it has Auto > High > Moderate > Low.

On the Action we don't have any choice, only Auto and this is ruining the audio.  When I use the attenuator it does allow me to dial in the levels so that I don't get full on distortion... but then the volume jumps up and down like it's trying to do some noise cancellation and that is causing the jumps where the low end sound from the motorcycle jumps up / down while speaking / not speaking into the mic.

I had a GoPro 8 Black and did all these same tests... never anything but perfectly clear audio.  I really was hopeful that DJI would be able to address this or perhaps the attenuator would eliminate the issue but unfortunately for me, there is no sign of a resolution and now I have TWO Osmo Action cameras that I cannot use for the primary purpose I purchased them for.  I chose the Osmo Action over the pair of GoPro 8's because I like everything else about the Osmo Action better other than this one fatal flaw.

I don't understand why DJI cannot be bothered to address this issue which is likely a simple fix...

Also I submitted that ticket as noted above and yet again, zero reply or confirmation from DJI.

I wonder if they have actually taken any time to look at how many complaints there actually are outside of just this forum... there are dozens and dozens of videos on YouTube of people complaining about this...

I hear you. They passed it to the correct channels, and the only way you will know is the next firmware release?   it's a shame they can not offer a gain control, but I guess the camera has a limitor. hope for hte best

Fishycomics Posted at 7-26 15:20
I hear you. They passed it to the correct channels, and the only way you will know is the next firmware release?   it's a shame they can not offer a gain control, but I guess the camera has a limitor. hope for hte best

thanks, appreciate the sympathy

wish DJI would feel the same!  I love everything else about this camera other than this one fatal flaw.

No response to my second ticket submission... not even a confirmation, they clearly just deleted it both times.

Also no response to this thread which has been open for nearly a year... I took a chance by keeping the pair of Osmo Actions assuming it would be a simple fix but clearly they do not care about their customers.

You may get with DJI support on facebook,  this staff can you  mention then with an @ sign?
@DJI Stephen member has been asking

I am using an external audio recorder (Zoom H1). Its a little bit less convenient but provides perfect audio. Just put your lav mic into your helmet as usual and connect it to the recorder that you put in a pocket in your jacket.
Otherwise for raw exhaust sound i either put the lav mic at the back of my jacket or put the recorder in my backpack without an additional mic.
For me this seems to be the most reasonable thing to do to get good audio with the osmo action.
For single use of the audio recorder i would recommend making a pocket for it with some foam as in the picture. This prevents it from moving around in your backpack or wherever you put it which would make crackling noises that you dont want. Looks ugly but works!