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1/8″ cable noise
We are implementing a Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro switcher into some of our work right now. Everything has been meeting our needs with one significant weak link: the 1/8″ audio input. I’m usually getting a line level from the house audio over XLR that I run into an audio recorder to handle the conversion to get it into the ATEM. Every step of it sounds great, including in the audio recorder – except for that final connection to the ATEM. When I plug into that, I hear a lot of interference on the ATEM side. Is there any way to prevent this or fix this when dealing with 1/8″ cable? Are different cables better and shielding the signal than others? Thanks for any advice you can give!
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9 Replies
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Hello David and thanks for stopping by the Cow Audio Forum.
Yes different cables can make a difference.
Is this an unbalanced or balanced input?
Is this a mono or stereo feed?
Thanks,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog -
Thank you for the response! The ATEM Mini Pro input is an unbalanced input. I believe it’s a stereo feed, but I could be mistaken.
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Hello David,
I called BMD phone support here in the USA. (408) 954,0500, btw.
The two jacks of the ATM Mini Pro are labeled “mic”, which leaves a lot to the imagination.
1/8″ connectors may be wired for mono or stereo, balanced or unbalanced.
According to Tony, they are unbalanced stereo line level, inputs. Probably -10, consumer line level.
AHA! Tony says the jacks can be set by software. You can set the inputs independently for -55 mic or -15 consumer line.
So I think you just have a plumbing problem.
Tony says try the following link for support at BMD: Look for Tony or Gary
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=463c18c0df32fb3dae4b01636e3e0169
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog -
Thank you so much for that information! When you say “plumbing problem” – do you mean the cables themselves? What should I look for when getting cables?
Thanks again.
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Hi David,
Plumbing Problem: That’s when the wiring of the plugs and jacks is incompatible, e. g. A mono balanced plug going into a stereo unbalanced jack, or an unbalanced stereo TRS going into a jack that only wants to see a mono balanced TRS.
Tony said the jacks were stereo unbalanced. I have no clue how you’re supposed to feed a mono source into that except perhaps with a plug wired as a TS that’ll feed BOTH of your stereo input channels.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford\’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford\’s Blog -
Got it. This gets me a lot closer to figuring out a solution. Thanks so much!
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David, did you ever find a solution?? I have the same trouble with all mini’s and I’d love to get an un-filtered clean signal. Wondering if I should return to the ATEM HD.
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Unfortunately my best solution has been to run audio to cameras and use the HDMI audio instead of the 1/8″. Seems like it’s easier to avoid ‘plumbing problems’ as Ty mentioned earlier. Working with different sound boards (and sound people) and with my clear deficit of solid audio knowledge, getting a simple XLR line out into one of my cameras has been a pretty easy solution with less issues instead of fussing with converting to 1/8″ for the ATEM.
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I had the same problems.
– connecting the mic through dbx 286s directly to OBS: sound is perfect.
– connecting the mic through dbx 286s via the ATEM Mic 1 jack: high noise floor, unusable audio.First I guessed that the bad guy was the cable. That is what Blackmagic is saying. I tried out all sorts of cables: no improvement.
The problem seemed to be in the ATEM mini itself (low-quality preamps) at first.Then I connected my Rode Link to the Atem Mic Jack and no problems at all.
I am baffled.
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