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2 DIY Microphone hacks for the YI Action Camera

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The biggest problem with action cameras, pretty much any action camera, is the microphone. Whether it’s the original YI HD, the YI4K or even a GoPro, their sound just tends to suck pretty badly. But, it’s not really a surprise. The main intent of action cameras is for recording fast sports action with a wide field of view. There’s all kinds of noise going on that makes it virtually impossible to distinguish a voice easily anyway.

But, a lot have started using them for things like vlogging and family trips, because they’re small and lightweight. For these people, sound is important. Here are two videos which show a couple of different hacks to help you get a bit better sound out of your YI Action Camera. The first, by MrCsami swaps out the built in microphone for one with a built in wind guard. The second from shinyside removes the microphone completely, replacing it with a 3.5mm jack to use whatever microphone you wish.

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YI CEO: Splitting off from XIAOMI, We are not afraid of crappy counterfeits, China will get bigger

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We are keeping a close eye on YI. initially dubbed as the GoPro killer, YI has been growing. They have a gimbal out, a drone in the planning and a mirrorless camera. I thought it would be very interesting to speak with YI CEO, Mr. Sean Da, about the past, present and future of YI.

It is clear that YI is very technology focused. When we talked with, Mr. Sean Da, he was not telling a lifestyle story about mountain climbing, surfing or parachuting. He was simply saying, we have the best camera in the market. This is a really interesting approach to the market, but I think it is also one of the companies weak spots. A lot of the market is not being sold on tech, it is being sold on stories and I think that YI will have to pivot that was if they want to conquer the market.

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How to hack the $100 Yi action camera to beat a GoPro Hero3+ Silver

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I needed an action camera to document DIYP’s trip to Photokina in September. I didn’t really want to have to fork out for a GoPro. It’s just not something I’d use often enough to justify the cost. So, I looked into the cheaper alternatives. This is when I found the Yi HD Action Camera, and some of the side-by-side examples I was seeing with the GoPro Hero3+ Silver just blew me away.

In a world of GoPros and a million cheap competitors, finding the good ones can often be difficult. It doesn’t help that every reviewer out there has a different definition of “good”. So, seeing side-by-side comparisons of footage taken with two cameras at the same time is usually the best way to really see the difference. Even if YouTube’s compression does often destroy what you really want to see.

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