Waterproof microphones - how do they work, and why does mine suck?

[moeburn]

So I recently got a Polaroid XS80 sports camera, because my local store had it on sale for $90 brand new.  Of course, the first thing I played with was the "waterproof to 10 metres" claim, by dipping it into a bathtub full of water.  Then I played the recorded video, and while the picture quality is great, the microphone recorded this pulsing, sucking noise, like a reverse of "glub glub glub".  It sounded like water was leaking into the camera, or air was leaking out:

(jump to about 15 seconds, you'll hear what I mean)


Then the next thing I did was try to record some regular video, and I discovered that the audio quality really sucks.  But because my first test was the underwater test, I have no idea if there was faulty waterproofing with my camera that farked up the mic, because I have no comparison to go on.  On the videos it records, you can't hear anything in the midrange, like people talking.  Even if I put the camera 6 inches away from my face, the video makes it sound like I was in another room.  Yet its not like the ENTIRE audio track is just too quiet throughout; it records low basses and high pitches really well, too well.  So you hear every single click and bang and thud that the sporting vehicle of choice makes when the camera is attached to it, but you don't hear anybody talking, even if they're standing right next to it.
 
So do you guys think that likely reason the mic sucks is because some water got into it and farked it up?  Or is it just because thats the way waterproof mics are made, they can't pick up voice very well because they are isolated?  Or is it just because this particular waterproof mic design is just really ****ty, and replacing it wouldn't get me anything better.  But then why was I able to hear the sound of water dripping in or air leaking out of the camera in the underwater test?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

i don't see any bad reviews sticking out when i search around so it's likely you just have a faulty mic. i'd exchange it for another

[moeburn]

i don't see any bad reviews sticking out when i search around so it's likely you just have a faulty mic. i'd exchange it for another

Yeah, but how many people are really reviewing the mic?  I mean I'm not too peeved about it, because the mic isn't very important on a sports cam; usually all you want to record is the sound of a skateboard's wheels hitting the pavement or grinding on a rail, and it does that just fine.  Actually most sports videos don't have any audio, they just dub music over.  It's not meant for recording the speech at a wedding, so reviewers probably didn't try that.  But it would have been a nice bonus if I were able to (because the focus on my smartphone's camera is broken, this is now my primary point-and-shoot camera).

 

Then again, it's still under warranty at Tiger Direct, it's not like it would take 6-8 weeks to drive over there and ask for an exchange.  Maybe I'll just try that anyway.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

Yeah, but how many people are really reviewing the mic?  I mean I'm not too peeved about it, because the mic isn't very important on a sports cam; usually all you want to record is the sound of a skateboard's wheels hitting the pavement or grinding on a rail, and it does that just fine.  Actually most sports videos don't have any audio, they just dub music over.  It's not meant for recording the speech at a wedding, so reviewers probably didn't try that.  But it would have been a nice bonus if I were able to (because the focus on my smartphone's camera is broken, this is now my primary point-and-shoot camera).

 

Then again, it's still under warranty at Tiger Direct, it's not like it would take 6-8 weeks to drive over there and ask for an exchange.  Maybe I'll just try that anyway.

even if people don't get it specifically for the mic, if the quality is as bad as you say (don't have speakers on work computer) people would complain. and i didn't see any complaints about the mic when looking up professional or customer reviews