x3dan

My X3 BARELY picks up sound when using the recorder function/notes. As recently as a month ago, it worked fine. I sat in on an hour long presentation and it picked up the presenter just fine. I recorded nearly an hour's worth on the SD card with no problem.

Now however, I have to talk right into (less than an inch away) and very loudly for it to pick up anything. And even then it's faint when I play it back.

I've looked at the gain settings for the mic and tried everything from highest to lowest. I've tried a couple different sampling rates and stereo-vs-mono, with no luck. I've tried blowing into the mic opening in case there is dust.

Any ideas are welcome. Including where I might buy a new mic.

Thanks,
Dan

mikeh

Sorry, all I could think of is what you said you tried. I would say that the microphone unit itself is defective, like you spilled some grape juice on it or something. I have taken apart two axims and the microphone is seperate from the motherboard and can be replaced without any soldering. I would think at this point that you need a new microphone and if you can obtain another one (which i have no clue where to get one) can easly be replaced by yourself.

Is your warntee expired? At this point Iwould take apart the axim and then take the mic out of the unit and see if there is anything jammed or blocked in front of the mic.

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x3dan

Originally Posted by mikeh

Sorry, all I could think of is what you said you tried. I would say that the microphone unit itself is defective, like you spilled some grape juice on it or something. I have taken apart two axims and the microphone is seperate from the motherboard and can be replaced without any soldering. I would think at this point that you need a new microphone and if you can obtain another one (which i have no clue where to get one) can easly be replaced by yourself. Is your warntee expired? At this point Iwould take apart the axim and then take the mic out of the unit and see if there is anything jammed or blocked in front of the mic.

Mike,

Thanks for replying. I took it apart last night, and used rubbing alcohol to clean the contacts and even took the 'felt' covering off of the face of the mic. I got it to intermettintly work better - but mostly not. I think it does need a new mic, so I'll try calling some repair shops or Dell and see if I can find one. IF that's the problem, it's a pretty easy fix.

Regards,
Dan

Steve2006

Originally Posted by x3dan

Mike, Thanks for replying. I took it apart last night, and used rubbing alcohol to clean the contacts and even took the 'felt' covering off of the face of the mic. I got it to intermettintly work better - but mostly not. I think it does need a new mic, so I'll try calling some repair shops or Dell and see if I can find one. IF that's the problem, it's a pretty easy fix. Regards, Dan

I would try re-flowing the solder joints before you send it in for an (expensive) repair.

x3dan

Originally Posted by Steve2006

I would try re-flowing the solder joints before you send it in for an (expensive) repair.

FYI, There are no solder joints to the mic. There is some sort of conductive substrate between the back of the mic and the contacts on the board. It was not soldered. I may take a stab at rigging up a permanent wire connection from the board to the back of the mic, but it will take a very small soldering iron to do the get the job done.

Thanks for your input though.

Steve2006

Wow that's wierd (not being soldered). I'd bet that's where the problem lies. I'd probably try soldering wires myself, another thing you can try is they sell this stuff called conductive ink; you might be able to use it as sort of a glue that would make a good connection, you just have to be careful not to short the mike with too much ink. The good stuff has silver in it though, so it's not cheap ($10-$15 for a 'pen' type dispenser), probably more than you'll ever need.

x3dan

Steve,

This weekend, I actually bought a small mic from RadioShack & painstakingly soldered it in place. It picked up sound at about the same level (I have to yell into it) as the original mic. Then, I actually soldered the original Dell mic in and had the same result. My guess now is that there may be a power transistor or some other component on the mother board that isn't working correctly. If that's the case, I don't have the equipment to diagnose and repair it. So.......I surrender - I'm going to have to purchase a stand-alone digital voice recorder.

Thanks for the reply again.

Steve2006

Originally Posted by x3dan

Steve, This weekend, I actually bought a small mic from RadioShack & painstakingly soldered it in place. It picked up sound at about the same level (I have to yell into it) as the original mic. Then, I actually soldered the original Dell mic in and had the same result. My guess now is that there may be a power transistor or some other component on the mother board that isn't working correctly. If that's the case, I don't have the equipment to diagnose and repair it. So.......I surrender - I'm going to have to purchase a stand-alone digital voice recorder. Thanks for the reply again.

Yea, it sounds like something on the board. Too bad. You might be able to pick up an X3 with a broken screen on ebay for about the same price a voice recorder would cost. At least then you wouldn't have to carry two things around. If you do get a voice recorder I can reccomend the Panasonic US360. It small, good sound pickup, lets you offload the files to your computer, and has time shift recording.