Logitech 920C used to record instruments review u

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Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

Logitech 920C used to record instrum...

Ok here you have my little rebiew of the Logitech 920C Webcam.
First of all, as a Webcams its really great. Bright, clear sound and movements are very good. But this review is about performance when recording guitars and other instruments.
My first try was with the cam on the screen of my laptop and me sitting in front. This I didnt like at all. I had to turn recording volume all the way down. And the final sound was very canny. Not natural at all. Then I attached the cam to a trípode and and left it further away. This gave much better results. I could turn up the volume a bit and the sound was more natural. Its still a bit on the soft side. Just like when you record with consator microphones made for human voices.
Tecnically the cam is very nice but the software is not something I like. Its a big error that you dont have the microphone volume slider on the recording screen. You have to go into preferentes and adjust. Its also annoying that theres no recording indicador telling you when you start distorting. These are things that could be fixed. Maybe I should write Logitech. Another annoying thing is that everytime you open the software, you have to turn off right sound. If you dont, it rounds like you are using a pedal wha or a flanger.
I havent decided if I keep the Webcam. My old Panasonic Camcorder has a microphone that is much more dynamic but it also is a bit on the bright side and its a lot more work to record......

I´ve made 3 recordings. All of them with best sound quality. The first is with highest settings on video and cam 1,5 away (Soleá)
second is medium settings video and the cam 2m away (Tientos)
third is highest video and cam 2m away (violin playing Irish jig)
REMEMBER to put video on 720HD

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2012 17:13:00

rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Anders, I don't really care about the audio of the webcam's built-in microphone. I want it solely to record VIDEO. The audio, I will capture using my external USB microphone which thus will "solve" all of the problems you stated in your review. Make sure to check xirdneH_imiJ's video recordings where he also uses the webcam's built-in microphones (he actually has the C910, which is the predecessor of the C920), and he gets very acceptable sound with a bit of tweaking and editing.

Look here:

You can see other videos on his YouTube channel.

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts about the camera.

Cheers!

PS: Watched your videos - I thought the audio was fine. Keep in mind it's only a webcam. Nice violin playing by the way!

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Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 31 2012 20:31:01

gounaro

Posts: 875
Joined: Sep. 28 2008
From: Athens, Hellas

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I think that is somehow has the same results as 910 model...

p.s. I didnt know Anders that you can play violin... Nice play!

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Spyros

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 1 2012 1:31:28

kudo

Posts: 2064
Joined: Sep. 3 2009

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I AM going to return this webcam tomorrow to the store, because the video doesnt work, only the audio does.
since video in the webcam doesnt work, i used my laptop webcam for video and the audio from the C920 webcam

I guess all I really need is a good microphone and im set, **** that webcam ****, i can use my laptop webcam

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 1 2012 16:54:36

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to rombsix)

quote:

acceptable sound with a bit of tweaking and editing.

I would like to know what kind of tweaking and editing. Can you seperate the sound and take it into a sound editing program and later use it with the video?

Kudo.. That was real bedroom flamenco. Olé

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 1 2012 17:21:40

rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

I would like to know what kind of tweaking and editing. Can you seperate the sound and take it into a sound editing program and later use it with the video?

Yes you can. He used Adobe Audition to do that, then fused the edited audio back into the video.

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Ramzi

http://www.youtube.com/rombsix

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 1 2012 17:23:40

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Hope you don't mind me piggybacking on this thread Anders.. I've been messing around with my new C910 and I'm pretty happy with it.
The audio from the webcam is not usable but the good news is that it's easy to plug an external mic into the computer and have the webcam record the audio off of that, without having to sync it to the video.
Here is my little test (watch on YT in 720p of course). The video quality is pretty good. Next time I will try to boost up the volume because it's pretty quiet (the guitar is loud

)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 1 2012 20:45:56

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

these webcams mean business! whatever lighting andy had produced the most crisp image, imo, but they all look pretty darn clean and clear.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 2 2012 19:05:40

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Andy and Rombsix.
You´re right. You can always buy and use extra microphones, editing software etc and get the result you want. I was just looking for an out of the box solution. And trhsi webcam..... well, ok. It does its things but nothing more
Anthony, All photografy is about light...

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 2 2012 19:20:29

kudo

Posts: 2064
Joined: Sep. 3 2009

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

i just got an email for logitech :"it is safe to conclude that your device is defective.
We can offer a replacement if your device is within the warranty period.
Your device has a warranty period of two (2) years from the date of purchase. "

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 2 2012 19:49:32

rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

I was just looking for an out of the box solution

Anders - I believe you are not using the camera correctly in terms of audio. Remember that it is a webcam after all, but I believe that even if you don't use any software to edit the audio, you can still get acceptable audio from this webcam without any tweaking. You just have to use the right audio settings regarding the webacm's built-in microphones.

Check out the sound here. It was recorded using the Logitech HD Pro 9000 (which is the predecessor of the C910, which is the predecessor of the C920). I'm not an audio engineer, so I don't have super high standards, but I think the audio is very acceptable.

Cheers!

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Ramzi

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 2 2012 20:26:40

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

if you guys are using similar webcams but there's a big difference in sound quality, dont forget to take the environment into consideration. i bet ander's place is full of harsh, reflective surfaces (ie. tiles, concrete, etc.)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 2 2012 20:50:41

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Rombsix.

So what are the right audio setting you´re talking about. I can only see that rudimentary slider that you find if you go into the software of the program. Its only a slider that doesnt show if you are distorting. So in order to check out what you are doing, you need to record a video, listen to it and decide if you need to change something. (then go back, adjust, record a video, listen to it etc.)

I think the webcam is pretty good. The software isnt very good.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 3 2012 7:04:47

rombsix

Posts: 7808
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I adjust the camera's microphone from the sound settings through the control panel of Windows. Make sure you remove Right Sound, and that you turn the volume control way down through Windows' control panel and not the slider in the Logitech Webcam Software (LWS). You need to have it at around 20% or even less because the mic is quite loud. That will prevent any distortion from happening when you play hard.

The slider from the software is not reliable because sometimes even when you lower it then start recording, it goes back up on its own. Sometimes changing it doesn't even affect volume at all. If you go to the preferences of LWS, you can un-select Right Sound and that should keep it un-selected all the time.

If you like the sound on my videos, then you now know how I achieved it. Maybe each camera has a different microphone (just like Kudo's video did not work), and I was lucky to have a very good microphone in mine. I find the videos you recorded sounded quite fine though.

Cheers!

PS: If you don't like LWS, there are tons of free third-party video recording softwares that you can get which work fine with the webcam.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 3 2012 7:59:22

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

In the Mac software I couldn't figure out any way to adjust the mic volume or settings. I didn't get any distortion when I recorded with the built in mic but the sound was really "canny" as Anders described (although his doesn't sound as bad). When I'm recording my guitars I don't want to have to edit the sound at all besides boosting volume...

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 3 2012 12:21:27

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Rombsix.
The fact is that the Logitech software is very poor and a good hardware is only as good as the software you use and your own level. Funny enough, my software works the other way round than yours. Volume slider works and stay where I put it and I have to go into preferences and unclick right sound every time I use the camera...

Andy, my recordings dont sound canny because I put the webcam on a tripod, moved it further away and raised the volume setting in the software.

Summasumarum: Logitech didnt expect us to record instruments with this gadget and so they didnt prepare it for it. I´m 100% you can get decent quality instrument recordings with this webcam, but its not going to be so easy as we all thought it would be.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2012 6:59:56

gounaro

Posts: 875
Joined: Sep. 28 2008
From: Athens, Hellas

RE: Logitech 920C used to record ins... (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Anders, i have 910 model. Maybe you need to put camera closer to you and keep the settings that you have in your first video.

It might sounds more crispy and clear.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 4 2012 12:06:28