[Bob Zelin]

Michael writes –
I assume you mean “plug into the *TSR* phone plug LINE INPUTS” – i.e. the signal in question coming out of the VTR is still balanced. The output from the AJA is however unbalanced. On my Mackie 1202 I put these into one of the unbalanced, stereo LINE IN channels.

Michael –
The AJA I/O, and I/O LA have BALANCED XLR outputs. The only unbalanced audio output on any AJA product (from the desktop line) is the audio monitor output on the K-Box for the Kona 2. The CORRECT way to hookup the AJA I/O or AJA I/O LA analog XLR outputs into a Mackie 1202 or 1202VLZ mixer is to plug into the BALANCED TRS 1/4″ phone plug inputs on this mixer – NOT THE -10dB unbalanced inputs on the Mackie 1202.
You also CANNOT plug the AJA I/O or I/O LA XLR outputs into the XLR inputs of the Mackie 1202. These are MIC LEVEL inputs designed for a low level signal from a Microphone. There is an attenuation circuit (controlled by the TRIM adjustment), but this trim adjustment does not attenuate the MIC preamplifier circuit enough, and you will get DISTORTION from a +4dBu signal source. This not only applies to the AJA product line, but applies to ANY AVID edit system, or ANY Sony or Panasonic pro VTR with XLR (+4dBu) outputs that plug into ANY of the Mackie VLZ series mixers (which means the 1202, 1402 and 1604). I see people do this ALL THE TIME, and they say “gee, how come my audio is distorted – I am using balanced cables and going right into the balanced XLR inputs of the Mackie”. These are the WRONG INPUTS. You MUST use the 1/4″ TRS inputs on these mixers. This applies to Mackie, Soundcraft, Yamaha, Behringer, Allen Heath, and so many others of these small boards (who have all copied the Mackie design).

If you plug the output of an AJA I/O or AJA I/O LA into the RCA inputs of a Mackie 1202 (The tape inputs), you will have a 14dB mismatch, and will get distortion.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

you can buy a K box RIGHT NOW for your Kona 2, and get 2 channels of analog audio out of it RIGHT NOW for $299.

If you have ANY digital VTR, like a J-3, J-30, Beta SX, Digi Beta, etc. you can use SDI embedded audio. And if you are trying to use an Analog Beta VTR with the Kona 2, and that’s why you want the ADA4 – well, that’s up to you, but as has been discussed on this forum 10 million times, you are probably better off with an AJA I/O LA for this application.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

There is no question that you will get a FUZZY sound from the AJA directly into your speakers as you are sending WAY to hot of a level from the AJA IO
into your powered speaker inputs.

Plug your VTR into your mixer. Plug the mixer into your speakers. Play the VTR. Does it sound fuzzy ???? Now, plug the AJA IO into the mixer – use the mixer to adjust the level into the IO, and monitor the IO thru the mixer?
Does it sound fuzzy?

If so, what inputs on your mixer are you using. I assume you are using a small mixer, like a small Mackie, Behringer, or Soundcraft. You MUST go into the stereo phone jack inputs, and NOT the XLR Mic inputs, as even with the trims all the way down, it is still not enough attenuation to handle a line level signal. This is a VERY common problem that I see, when people plug the XLR output of the AJA or AVID system into the XLR inputs of a Mackie Mixer – THIS IS WRONG – plug into the Stereo phone plug LINE INPUTS and you will not get the fuzzy sound.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

I have recently installed the Sony LMD-1420 LCD monitor. What a PIECE OF CRAP. When we first unboxed this monitor, we stuck color bars into it, and it looked fine. Then we hooked it up to a Beta VTR – what a shocking surprise – what a PIECE OF CRAP. So what LCD monitor looks good with Standard Def video ??? – NONE. I have tried them all (well, almost all) – the Sony LMD-1420, the Sony Luma 232 (the 23″ broadcast version), the Dell 2405FPW, the Apple Cinema, the HP 2335, and the Sony SDM-P234b.
They are all wonderful for HD (not the 1420 – it’s only standard def), but for SD, they ALL look like crap. How crappy- you can go to Circuit City or Best Buy and buy any $79 14″ color CRT TV, and STANDARD DEF will look better than the most expensive
LCD TV. The Sony PVM series is now a “golden collectors item” for those working with STANDARD DEF edit systems. The LMD-1420 is barely acceptable as a reference monitor for a VHS duplication system, just checking dubs. Again, you will get better results from a $79 Daewoo 14″ TV. I am not making this stuff up.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

You can stick the SATA card into slot 4 or 5 on the HP xw series computer – you can even stick TWO cards in both slots 4 and 5. I have personally only tried the Firmtek SATA I card, which works well (you need to load the XP driver that comes with the CD with that controller card). I know that Sonnet’s Tempo X card now also supports PC’s, but I have not tried it yet. The Firmtek comes in a 2 port or 4 port version, but I am only aware that the 2 port is for the PC only – I could be wrong about this, but I have only use the 2 port Firmtek (and I have used TWO 2 port firmtek’s in both slots 4 and 5). Slots 1 and 2 are shared with the native Firewire 400 port, which is used by MOJO or Adrenaline. I use the standard Microsoft Disk Manager to stripe the drives together.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

you will not like my answer. I use SATA on FCP systems all the time, and tried SATA on AVID products. You absolutely need a dual PCI buss computer like the HP xw8200 becuase the Mojo will inhibit the SATA host card if it is on the same buss. I put in a SATA 4 drive system on an AVID Adrenaline, with great success using a HP xw8000, then tried a 2 drive system on a newer xw8200, and it worked too (1:1) but you had to render the effects. So I thought I was a big shot, and stuck the same Firmtek SATA host card in a cheapo mid priced DELL running Xpress Pro with Mojo. The system choked and would not play back – EVEN WITH a third party FW400 card for the Mojo. You need that second PCI buss, which I guess is why AVID chooses the HP xw8200 or Dell 650 (750) for the only approved computers for Adrenaline and Mojo. Sorry – cheap drives, but no cheap computer.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

oops – stupid me – I responded to you before reading your SOLVED post – sorry. As usual – talking before listening –

bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

Please excuse my stupid suggestions as I am only going to state the obvious. Installing the IO is very simple. I ASSUME that you installed the AJA drivers (try downloading the drivers from the http://www.aja.com website). Run the conflict checker (you are doing a clean install – I ASSUME that you don’t have any blackmagic or Cinewave drivers on your system). I ASSUME that you have gone to EASY SETUP and tried one of the easy AJA IO setups – I spoke with someone just yesterday that was doing a new install that chose 8 bit uncompressed, and DID NOT choose one of the AJA IO Easy Setups – you DID chosse an AJA IO Pro IO Easy setup – didn’t you ??? I ASSUME that you have a working firewire 400 port and cable. If all this stuff don’t work – find or buy or borrow a Firewire 400 drive, and use your existing cable and port to see if it sees the firewire 400 drive. If you are on a G5, try the Firewire port on the front of the G5 with the same cable (you are now saying -‘I don’t have a Firewire 400 drive – well find one to borrow for two minutes !). If all of these steps have failed, AJA will be more than happy to send you a replacement AJA IO box, but you must try the above simple steps.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

I could be wrong here, but I am now told that MODERN current Plasma screens like the
new Panasonic plasma DO NOT burn, and that this is an urban legend that applied to early plasmas. Again, I don’t know this for a fact and I could be wrong about it (I read an article in a pro video magazine about this – who knows how accurate the author was).

As for other screens, tne absolute best screen I ever saw was in March 2005 at the NSCA show in Orlando, where Samsung showed their new 460P LCD screen 46″ – it was full 1920×1280 resolution, and much brighter than even the Panasonic – but again, it was at a trade show, and I have no idea of what this $6000 monitor looks like in real life, with real footage, and I have no idea of how well it plays with the AJA Kona 2 and AJA HDP. I see this monitor now being advertised in all the pro A/V magazines (for airport signage displays, etc.), but I would not want to be the first one to spend $6000 on it, and find out that it’s not what I saw at the trade show.

The Panasonic gained credibility from being at almost every booth at NAB2005, including AJA and Blackmagic.

Bob Zelin

[Bob Zelin]

IF you are completely non technical, you will find the I/O LA to deal with. The LS gives you SDI I/O, but if you don’t care about this, and just have the DSR40 and the PVW2800, the I/O LA is a fantastic purchase for you. You are correct that you can send SDI to your AVID from the LS, but remember that older AVID’s DO NOT handle embedded audio, so you will have to send the SDI AND AES/EBU audio signal to your AVID.

Both are great products – the LA is just easier.

Bob Zelin