- Messages
- 436
- Points
- 28
Testing microphones with Hikvision cameras
A frequent question we get asked regarding Hikvision cameras is how to wire an external microphone to the camera as well as what microphone to use in the first place. The latter is a very broad question, and depends largely on the user's own environment and purpose of the microphone so it's often hard for us to give a definitive recommendation for every user.
Recently, we have tested and identified a few microphones that we like to point our customers towards depending on what they need to use it for.
We tested:
- The inbuilt microphone of the DS-2CD2532F-IS and the DS-2CD2432F-IW from our webshop.
- The 12V DC externally powered microphone from our webshop (as seen in Bob's guide above).
- The MP33865 omni-directional microphone from CPC that can be powered by the camera itself.
Note : Only Hikvision cameras with an -S suffix have audio capabilities. Please check on the model's product page as to what they can offer.
_________________________________
Simplicity
The first thing I wanted to focus on when testing the microphones was how simple it was to get the microphone working and recording from receiving it in the box as many of our customers might not have any previous experience with manually wiring things together. Thankfully, all three were very straightforward to install.
- The inbuilt microphone was the obvious winner here. You simply need to install the camera as you would normally, and change the Video Type configuration option to Video & Audio as well as enabling the Record Audio option as seen in Bob's guide and away you go.
- The MP33865 was more complex, necessitating an extra step to the above in which you'd need to chop off a connector and strip a few wires before securing them in to the audio terminal block of the camera. Very simple stuff with some instructions, however!
- The externally powered microphone was the same as the above, but it does require an external power outlet (ie. a plug) to be within approximately 5m of the device's location which is definitely worth keeping in mind.
Audio Clarity
Of course, sound quality is absolutely vital to any microphone, particularly one used in a CCTV context. For example, a suspect might have said something incriminating in earshot of your camera so you'd need to be able to actually understand what was said. All three of the tested microphones provided different degrees of audio clarity, each of which would be useful in different scenarios.
- The MP33865 had the highest sound quality compared to the others but at a limited range of approximately 3m before the audio became too quiet to be interpreted easily. I was able to easily hear and understand anyone standing close to the camera/microphone, and so this microphone is ideal for scenarios that would need two-way audio, such as an intercom.
- The externally powered microphone was a close second. The clarity of audio - whilst not quite on the level of the MP33865 - was still good, and would certainly be adequate for hearing intelligible conversation to a range of about 5m in an environment without a great deal of ambient noise.
- The inbuilt microphone of the cameras had fairly poor clarity. The distortion was so great that you'd struggle to understand someone standing close to the camera. This option would be best for situations in which hearing the audio is more important than clearly deciphering it (glass smashing etc.).
Microphone Gain
I briefly touched on these results above. Gain can be a very important factor in determining whether a microphone will suit your needs - a microphone that can't pick up audio from further than a metre might be useless if you're trying to monitor a large room for example.
- The externally powered microphone from our webshop was definitely superior in this field. After fiddling with the gain settings in the Hikvision configuration page, I was able to understand conversations up to 5m away and could detect audio - albeit quietly - to a range of approximately 10m.
- The inbuilt microphone fell second. It could record audio from about the same range as the externally powered microphone, but as previously mentioned the distortion rendered them unintelligible.
- The MP33865 had the worst gain, struggling to pick up audio at all from beyond 4m with the gain settings at maximum.
Thoughts:
It's difficult for us to give a blanket microphone recommendation of a microphone to use, as you can see. There are simply too many potential unique applications to consider, and some microphones can fill a niche better than others.
That being said however, the 12V DC externally powered microphone we offer on our webshop would be our most likely suggestion. With good audio quality at a respectable range, it is certainly applicable to most residential and small-office applications.
We're constantly looking for any other recommendations however, so if you do have a microphone you like to use then by all means let us know and we'll dig into it.
_________________________________
All testing was performed using a Hikvision DS-2CD2532F-IS and a Hikvision DS-2CD2732F-IS from our webshop.
If you need any help installing your microphone, please refer to our guide on how to install and use an externally powered microphone or let us know in the comments.
All testing was performed using a Hikvision DS-2CD2532F-IS and a Hikvision DS-2CD2732F-IS from our webshop.
If you need any help installing your microphone, please refer to our guide on how to install and use an externally powered microphone or let us know in the comments.
