Advice on buying an external capture device with audio input and 1394 out port

[Alex Sokolov]

A very interesting question. Surprising is the presence of device 1394 in 2k23. 😁

The Canon Vixia HV40 device, in addition to 1394, is also equipped with an HDMI connector. With it, you can connect the camera to a video capture card. It can be either a device from AliExpress for $2-3, or more professional devices from Magewell or Blackmagic Design (in particular, Atem mini Pro/Pro ISO).

And as an audio capture device, we can advise Behringer XR18. This is a digital audio mixer. It can also be connected to a laptop/PC using USB. This way the video and audio capture lines will be separated to be connected in vMix.

We also kindly ask you to try to use later versions of the Windows operating system (at least Windows 10) in order to work correctly with the vMix software.

The proposed capture devices are equipped with USB ports, which will easily allow you to connect them to your MacBook. We are very sorry that there is a possibility that devices from 1394 will not be available at retail.

[Eugen Gorceac]

Thanks for helping reply!

I’ll surely deeg into more info on suggested devices.

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Eugen,

I hear what you wanna do, but my gut feeling is that you’ll be spending a lot of time, effort and money on a patching up a solution that will bring you no closer to your desired outcome.

In short, do consider your desired outcome, and whether you have a plan in place to upgrade your studio over time. As some of your components in the set-up are already reaching end of line when it comes to software updates etc.

Do NOT let the above discourage, it is only intended to be helpful.

On the vMix website there are a whole list of controllers that has been tested:
https://www.vmix.com/software/supported-hardware.aspx#capturehardware

The two brands that is IMHO best known is Elgato and BlackMagic.
Elgato is good if you’re trying to do everything yourself, including being in the front of the camera.
BlackMagic, is BlackMagic – kind of a “lucky dip” when it comes to functionality, but perfectly useful for you. One word of caution on the mentioned “ATEM Mini”, which was used on a music production that I was camera lead on a few years back – camera channel 3 overheated, as it is on top of the power unit inside that mixer – that was the explanation back them.

It highly unlikely that they will have firewire in, but you should be able to get a converter for that too. Or hopefully upgrade your camera to something with either HDMI or SDI out.

Hope that this helps you.

Good Luck, and don’t forget to post links to your music productions so we all can enjoy them!

Atb
Mads

[Eugen Gorceac]

Thank you for clarifying reply Mads!

I was sticking to 1394 because my Canon camera has it as output, and i had no thoughts of getting an external capture controller, but connected camera directly to macbook via thunderbolt 2 instead.

What’s most important vMix detected my camera canon on the fly and I’ve been streaming this way for years, until i encountered the need to stream not only speech but live music and songs. That’s when i realized the canon camera mic as audio input is totally unacceptable for music.

My first thought was to try use a quite old but professional camera with XLR audio inputs, like SONY EX1, but my Windows 8.1 on a 2015 macbook pro bootcamp just does not detect is as HD video source, so can’t use it with vMix.

So the next thought is to buy an external capture device, and i borrowed an UltraStudio Express device by Blackmagic Design, and connected it via thunderbolt 2 cable to my macbook, but unfortunately the latest Desktop Video software which supposedly has the necessary drivers for UltraStudio Express device to be recognized by windows, is always giving an error upon installation.

Now i am looking for separate drivers to windows 8.1 or trying to understand which older version of Desktop Video software would install in windows 8.1 successfully. So far did not get much luck on vMix suport forums.

Regardless of what capture device I’ll pick as choice i assume it should have a thunderbolt output ,as does the UltraStudio Express device by Blackmagic Design, right? Or would the USB 3 speed on my macbook suffice for full HD live streaming needs?

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Eugen,

You are very welcome.

As your Mac is “recently” new, it may be worth following Alex’s advice of installing Windows 10.

However, you are always going to run the risk, that when you mess around with one component, all the others will fall over.

Just a thought, have you tried to insert a good old analogue Audio Mixer between your microphone(s) and the camera?
I understand that the camera input is mic only, but that covers a number of possibilities.
Which could involve the analogue feed from an audio mixer.
Worth a pun, and may keep you going until the camera and/or Mac, is getting ready to pack it in.

Atb
Mads

[Eugen Gorceac]

Actually i was lucky to try and successfully install a 2015 version of drivers and Desktop Video software, so now i have a UltraStudio Express capture device available in vMix list, and thus can use the old professional SONY EX1 XLR line in inputs for audio.

Thank you for assistance!