A pickup section transduces sounds to audio signals. A zoom control section outputs a zoom position signal corresponding to a zoom position. A directivity control section alters the directivity characteristics under a telescopic operation so as to mainly pick up sounds coming from a frontal direction with an enhancement which is in accordance with the zoom position signal, thereby outputting an R channel audio signal and an L channel audio signal. In accordance with the zoom position signal, a noise suppression section applies a greater degree of suppression to the background noise contained in the respective channel audio signals under the telescopic operation than under a wide-angle operation. As a result, a target sound from a remote location can be picked up with a sufficient enhancement in accordance with the zoom position under the telescopic operation.