I need 4 channels audio out – help!

[Aaron Neitz]

“The DSR-11 can record two channels of audio with 48 kFs/16 bit or four channels of audio with 32 kFs/12 bit sampling that is selectable through the menu.”

Why would anyone want 4 channels of 32k audio? Be certain you really have a 4 channel sequence and that in Audio Meters you really see 4 output channels bouncing. Can FCP even output 32khz audio over firewire???

[Stu Siegal]

According to the DSR-11 manual, you can only record two channels in 4 channel (32k)audio mode.

“When recording in 4 channel mode on this unit, audio signals are recorded only in channels 1/2.”

The way I’m reading it, it leaves two blank tracks available, which can be dubbed on another deck. The dsr has no dubbing feature.

I’m just trying to deliver a 4 track dvcam master, and the dsr is the only deck I have. What’s the minimum deck that will do this for me?

G5 Quad Core, 4.5 MB RAM, Dual Dell 1905FP’s, KRK RP-5’s, DSR-11, FC Studio 5.1.2 OSX 10.4.8

[Dan Riley]

Let’s take this a step a time.

Your six channels of audio in your sequence can easily be made
into 4 channels. Go to sequence settings, audio outputs.
select 4 channels. Tell it whether you want dual mono or stereo.
Now go to the audio tracks on your sequence. Next to the track
in the grey area mouse click holding down the control key.
You then select where you want that audio track to go.
You can select any channel to go to any of those four audio channels.

DO NOT record 32k audio on a DSR 11. This is voice only quality at best.
It’s not to be used in a professional situation. It’s for low quality work.

DigiBeta can record 4 channels directly from FCP but you need a
video card from AJA or Blackmagic or Aurora.
Panasonic’s DVCPRO 50 deck can do it via firewire.
https://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11201&catalogId=13051&itemId=71646&catGroupId=14595&surfModel=AJ-SD93

Quicktime can have 8 channels of audio if you want
and an exported sequence from FCP can do this.
If you only need four that’s fine.
But you need to ask the dub house how they are going to
play back your quicktime file. Are they going to load it
into an FCP sequence?

If I were you, I’d call around to the post houses or dub houses
to see what your options are for bringing in a quicktime file
from FCP. If one says they do this, try a test file. Take it in to them
to see if it does what you need. Compare using this process
to renting a DigiBeta deck or a DVCPRO 50 deck.
It all depends on what tape your client is asking you to deliver on.

Dan

[Bret Williams]

Ok, first off, DSR-11 absolutely CAN record 4 channels of audio when set at 32khz. Second, it sounds pretty good. You probably can’t tell the difference. It arguably sounds better than a hissy analog betacam track imho. I wouldn’t go dubbing down multi generations at 32khz, but as a final product, it’s not too bad. And for an emergency split mix master, not a bad idea at all.

The audio quality will have much more to do with the original audio quality. How good a mic it was, how it was recorded, etc.

The DSR-11 can only monitor 2 tracks of audio at a time. But you can record to all 4 32khz tracks.

1st-Put the deck in 32khz mode.
2nd – open FCPs audio visual settings, go to the a/v devices tab, under audio options change the channels to 4. It’ll change to 12 bit 32khz automatically.
3rd – in the current sequence’s settings, change the audio outputs to 4, dual mono.
4th – in the audio mixer you should see 4 audio meters instead of two now. At the left of the audio mixer where all the tracks are listed, right click on each track and choose the audio output for each track

You should be good to go.

[Stu Siegal]

Bret,

THANK YOU. I was so close, but I was missing step two, and when it wasn’t working, I went to the DSR manual, and the way I read it convinced me it couldn’t be done. Audio sounds fine at 32k, it was well recorded. My weekend just got better.

G5 Quad Core, 4.5 MB RAM, Dual Dell 1905FP’s, KRK RP-5’s, DSR-11, FC Studio 5.1.2 OSX 10.4.8

[Dan Riley]

32k sampling definitely is of lower quality and will result in a production
of lower overall audio quality. Of course sometimes you gotta do
what you gotta do, but in general I would hope experienced
video professionals would spend just a little more time giving
audio it’s due.

Dan

[Rennie Klymyk]

Seems to me the VX-1000, sony’s 1st 3 chip consumer camera only had 32k audio, I know people who still use them. Similar quality level issues plague the dv video format.

“everything is broken”

[Bret Williams]

32k is pretty decent. I can’t really tell much difference if any. I mean that’s the thing with final output. Web videos or itunes songs, etc. can be highly compressed. DVD audio is highly compressed. Sounds good. But, however the tape he’s making at 32k might not be the end of the line. It might be the source for more editing, or maybe the master for broadcast which will be compressed to mpeg2. So yeah, while it sounds good, we do need the whole story.

However, if you need 4 channel audio in DV25 format, that’s the only option you’ve got.