[Richard Crowley]

Note that the AT897 will handle a significantly higher SPL using phantom power vs. using the internal battery. So first of all, ditch the battery and use real P48 to power the mic.

If you don’t have a manual for your EX1R, I very strongly suggest that you download one and start studying it. The complete instructions for adjusting the audio gain trim are found in the manual. Take some time to familiarize yourself with this and other common menu settings so you don’t waste time on location fiddling with your camera.

If the SPL is all that high, why even use a shotgun mic? I would try simply using the built-in cardioid pair.

[Richard Crowley]

There is going to be delay in any digital system. It doesn’t help to place blame on specific links in the chain. Just plan on doing audio delay to restore sync. It is not expensive to do.

IMHO, genlock is an artifact from the analog TV era. Probably still valuable in a large studio complex, but of only academic interest to small-scale users which the ATEM products appeal to (because of their price structure).

It would cost you at least 10x more to use gen-lock cameras than to simply delay the audio to restore sync. It isn’t even a horse race. That kind of money would be MUCH better spent on other things which would actually add production value to the final product. (Like instant replay, etc)

[Richard Crowley]

No, it has nothing to do with frequencies.
It could be the EK 100 Receiver. You didn’t tell us whether you bought it new or used?

It seems much more likely to be the cable. You did not describe that cable, and any possible other things like adapter plugs, etc. Where did you get the cable? Is is supposed to be wired properly for this application? Does it work properly with other equipment?

[Richard Crowley]

Generally, the Tricaster products have all the bells and whistles, including the kitchen sink and all the plumbing. But VERY software and computer system dependent and not inherently as reliable as a one-piece, all-hardware solution like ATEM.

Features: Tricaster wins (if you need all that)
Price: BMD ATEM wins (unless you must buy extra hardware to provide other features)
Reliability: BMD ATEM wins (although the newer Tricaster stuff looks like they are getting better than glorified PC boxes).
Size: BMD ATEM wins (again, unless you need more features that take space, like recorders, etc. etc.)

I would much rather rely on an ATEM on the road than any Tricaster (which are essentially very fancy PCs). Although the more recent Tricaster models seem to be more industrial-strength.

IMHO, it depends A LOT on exactly what your requirements are and how they fit what is available from Newtek or BMD. Since you provided no details, we couldn’t even guess how that decision would fall.

Note that Newtek is doing an interesting panel discussion at NAB on Tuesday evening. https://www.newtek.com/nab2012

[Richard Crowley]

“But there are more and more folks using and becoming skilled at using prosumer level gear. They are often one-person bands and/or low budget and the need for camcorders with professional quality audio is there. ”

Maybe. But I don’t recommend holing your breath waiting for video camcorders with better than average audio specs. I suspect it will be a very long wait.

[Richard Crowley]

” Little things like 3-7 thousand dollar cams with crappy headphone amps and mediocre preamps? Really? Why?”

Because low-end camcorders are made to be simple and cheap, so they only have a couple of 50-cent electret capsules behind the grille. And mid-price (prosumer and pro) camcorders have serviceable audio good enough for ENG. It is assumed that if you are using them for something more serious than the 11pm local news, you will be using double-system sound and serious audio equipment. And at the high end, many film cameras had no sound features at all. And even current high-end cameras (Red, et.al.) have only modest audio because it is assumed that you are using double-system sound where you have dedicated audio equipment (and perhaps more important) dedicated sound crew whose prime directive is getting good sound, independent of what the camera crew’s priorities are.

[Richard Crowley]

We are planning on sending the HDMI output from the ATEM TVS into a computer and probably using the (free) Adobe encoding software. Of course the streaming software you use depends on what streaming service you are using, etc.

I think there is an excellent chance that the TV One 1T-AP-216 output will be compatible with the AES input on the TVS. But I don’t know if the fixed 150ms delay will be even close to what is needed for lip-sync?

{RANT}
BMD (and, to be fair, other manufacturers) seem to design many of their products in a vacuum. Or maybe they are trying to get the products out before all the features are fully baked-in. One would think that users doing streaming would be a major segment of the market. But there appears to be no mention of the process or anything designed to make it easier.

For that matter, even the recording function using the USB H.264 output and BMD’s Media Express software appears to be something that may work OK someday, but not today.

And recording devices like the HyperDeck models apparently don’t support timecode or closed-captioning. According to my local dealer, when they asked the BMD reps about that, the response was that those things aren’t necessary for live capture from cameras. At least here in my country, broadcasters are required by law to provide (and pass-through) closed-captioning data. And there are thousands of points where capture and time-shifting is required.

They reportedly replied that “there are tape machines to do that”. It seems incredible that they appear to have had no vision that the HyperDeck was an attractive replacement for (obsolete) tape machines. My local dealer told them that if it could simply record timecode and closed-captioning, he could instantly sell several dozen of them into local stations and other users just in our city. And certainly hundreds and likely thousands of units across countries where these are legal requirements.

It seems to me that recording timecode and closed-caption data is simply a firmware update, but we’re still waiting. I plan on asking them face-to-face at NAB in a couple weeks. Perhaps these things aren’t important in Australia and they are out of touch with their markets? I must say that they seem to have gone to extreme lengths to make communicating, feedback, and answering questions practically impossible. There is virtually no contact information on their website, and when you can get to someone to ask, they refer you to their distributor who isn’t much better. Maybe they are so busy selling products that customer service (even pre-sales schmoozing) isn’t important to them?
{/RANT}

[Richard Crowley]

“Recording audio without metering and monitoring is exactly like framing and focusing without looking at the viewfinder.”

[Richard Crowley]

I just got my ATEM TVS a few days ago, also. But I have been researching these and other questions here and in other forums (one specifically for ATEM users). This forum blocks references to other forums, so you will have to discover it yourself.

1. It appears that the whole output functionality via the USB H.264 is highly problematic to the point that it doesn’t to seem production-worthy yet. Perhaps in some future update release. Jerry Pournelle coined a popular phrase in his Byte magazine column decades ago which BMD seems to have taken as their motto: “Real Soon Now”.

2. Audio fed into the AES digital input of the TVS is embedded in both the SDI and HDMI program outputs.

The video processing in the TVS introduces an unavoidable delay (unless you are using genlocked video sources). So any audio you embed will be ahead of the video by some amount of time (which varies depending on your configuration). Even if you inject audio into the AES input on the TVS, you must delay the audio so that it will match the video. One online source which discusses streaming hardware suggested the Behringer Shark FBQ100 as a low-cost adjustable delay device. But you still need to convert the analog to digital for the AES input on the TVS. I am ordering a TV One 1T-AP-216 which combines the analog-to-digital converter plus a 150 ms (switchable) delay. For $25. And much smaller than the recommended Behringer SRC2496.

3. You will probably have a problem with the video lagging behind the audio. Whether it is bad enough to be objectionable can only be determined by you doing your own experiment. Easiest way to test it is with the simple “clap-test” and see which comes first, the audio or the video.

[Richard Crowley]

If the equipment is not being monitored (or operated by inexperienced people), it may be time to just settle for auto-level. You could make the argument that this is only for speech and intelligibility is more important than 2nd-order effect aesthetics.