[Hidden-tech] Digital Video Sound Question

[Will Loving]

I've recently begun playing around with digital video editing and have a
problem I'm wondering if anyone has experience with. Please feel free to
email directly rather than sending to the list.

The problem: I've been importing video into iMovie using a friends Sony
DCR-TRV20 camera. The video was taken on this camera and imports perfectly.
I have some other DV tapes made on a Canon GL1. When I play these tapes on
the Sony camera, the video comes in fine but the audio is mostly faint and
has a chirping sound kind of like an electronic jackhammer. Occasionally the
chirp disappears for a couple of seconds and the recorded sound comes up to
full volume, only to drop back down again.

When played on the Canon GL1 camera that they were originally recorded on,
the tapes play fine and the chirping sound is not evident. However, we can't
use the Canon camera to import because it has a blown FireWire port. We
thought perhaps the problem might be 16-bit vs 12-bit audio, but we've tried
the Sony camera with both settings and the chirping remains. Both cameras
are about 5 years old and of similar original cost ($2500). Both seem to
otherwise work fine.

Any suggestions other than try to find another camera to import the tapes
on?

Will Loving