Wow. Just wow. I’ve been poking around in my ATEM MIni Pro audio settings and got lost a bit. You clarified everything I needed to know in one video. Hats off to you sir. 🎓
This thing is crazy! People who haven’t worked much in broadcast have no idea... a tiny desktop thingy with built-in input scaling, full camera control, audio effects, AND a webcam encoder and livestream encoder? I can’t call it a switcher, because it’s truly a full broadcast equipment rack room in one tiny box. I have a rack with about $6,500 invested (ATEM HD, Vaddio bridge, 4ea DAC-70, 2ea Decimator, a few BM mini converters, plus DA’s) in what just last year was the simplest, smallest package to achieve most of that. This unit revolutionizes broadcast like the iphone revolutionized mobile communication. They are proving their namesake with this stuff.
The engineering for the audio sync delay gets a little tricky when you start considering all possibilities. Its can’t be as simple as a single sync value, because each video source can be different. Example, one camera can be 7 frames, another 9, and if you’re rolling in produced packages from a laptop, that’ll be already in sync. If you have only one delay line, you’ll wind up with only one of those inputs in sync. To fully fix that, they’ll need to add an adjustable delay for each video source as well as the program audio, so that all video sources are adjusted to the same total latency (highest denominator), and adjust the audio line to match.
So glad you said this. Some people left comments on other videos that they thought the ATEM Mini - the original - was too expensive. Not once you put this in context like you did.
@@andinbriwel1092 Good point. My use case is a little more straightforward since it is usually just me with a talking head camera, an overhead camera for product demonstrations, and an input from a presentation computer. But you make a great point - clearly you have your hands in the live production world. Thanks for the insights!
Adrian in thr broadcast world with multiple cameras and multiple frame delays like you mentioned, how have they been solving this problem. I have been doing quite a lot of research about this audio sync issue. Can you please explain how this issue has been tackled over the years
Thanks Curtis! I’m a long-time Canadian sound mixer usually working in TV and movies, but thanks to Covid, I’ve recently been doing a lot of corporate webinar work. “Broadcast” audio levels have gone right out the window in this webinar Wild West! “ Can’t you make it LOUDER!”? Why, yes I can. Your comments have given me the courage to wrest control of the ATEM audio mixer from the IT guys’ hands. Such a powerful software mixer. Time for me to use it to it’s best advantage. Love your work, you’re always spot on.
Never realized there was a practical application for the "laugh test." I've only been using it with my teen daughters, after telling one of my "Dad jokes." Thanks for the tutorial, Curtis. We just got the ATEM Mini Pro for our middle school media studio and this will help us improve our productions.
Nice job, Curtis. As a retired teacher I can tell that you have a gift for clear instruction. You are one of the very few you-tubers that I subscribe to. I'm still waiting for my Atem Mini Pro. Should be here in a couple of weeks. As an aside, my father was a sound engineer and he gave me the bug at an early age. He would be astounded at what can be done today. I remember his reverb chamber was a 4ft x 8ft piece of sheet metal housed in a wooden box with pick-ups attached to the metal.. It sounded wonderful. Bob Orrett, Peterborough, Ontario.
Another really useful detailed video explanation. Your content is of the type that you click play and just listen carefully to the information presented. Thanks for your work. Good stuff!
Thank you so much - my sound was always way worse than I was happy with and I didn't expect that changing the settings would have made as much difference. I'm sounding much cleaner now thanks to you.
I'm a relative newbie to audio processing, and total newbie to ATEM Mini... This was just what I needed. Curtis, as usual, is an incredible source for information and learning. Thank you!!!
Hello Curtis, I am enthusiastic about this video. Your explanatory style is excellent and very easy to understand even for foreign language speakers. Thanks a lot Horst
Wow😃 This contains lots and lots of very valuable information, ESPECIALLY since I think ATEM Mini sales are probably going to explode (during this crisis) due to how much time it saves in post production. I really appreciate the tip starting at 13:33 where you mention leaving 1.5 to 2db of headroom for streaming purposes😃
Also, I definitely agree about needing the option to set the audio offset/delay. I just did a test using OBS to set the delay (offered in milliseconds) and it worked pretty well. It still would be good for the Blackmagic to have this ability as well. th-cam.com/video/NVr8_-ECiE4/w-d-xo.html
Very helpful video. Remember to 'save' your settings (save settings at startup) or when you turn off the ATEM...you'll lose everything. Thanks Curtis!!
“Almost” bought the Roland VR-1HD to “solve” the audio delay. For now I still use ATEM Mini / OBS / ReaDelay / Virtual Audio Cable (PC only) to compensate for delay via my NT1-A and Behringer UMC204HD. Robin is a very convincing Salesman.
FYI with OBS the built-in offset only works if you are streaming/recording from the software (i.e. TH-cam Live) if you are feeding the audio into Zoom, etc via the monitor output you will need to apply an audio effect (ReaDelay) to get a delay.
This was the most concise informative video i've seen on audio with the ATEM mini. I was wondering why my sound was clipping although controlled via the mix-pre3 before entering mic1. Controlling output via compressors and limitors did the job.That and setting mic 1 at line in instead of mic in the control software. Thanks Curtis!
Bravo - best 16 minutes I've spent on TH-cam this week. And agree on the need to implement some kind of audio sync on the ATEM Mini. You got a new subscriber out this.
Not just a great tutorial, this is a great resource to understanding the terms for DAW settings. Curtis, I would love to see a quick explanation of the relationship between the following, since you've become the premiere audio guru to me and many others: Mic noise floor, Dynamic range of a mic, Decibels as pressure levels, Decibels as signal levels, Mic sensitivity, Mic and cable impedance, Gain settings, and how it affects each of the other items. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but these are things that took me a while to wrap my head around, especially when discerning between db signal vs db sound pressure.
Thanks for yet another very helpful video! I am doing a live stream for a client in 2 days and its really nice to view your settings and apply with some minor variations before the live. I have soo many other things to set up that i won't have the time to play with the audio processing.
@@curtisjudd Thanks man! We had some serious hiccups! The guy from the venue gave me a horrible xlr out with loads electrical interference going out of it and I had to improvise last minute and put my mics around the room so I can get any sound. Ended up sounding quite decent but I had a couple of minutes of terrible sound on my stream. I guess I learned a valuable lesson never trust other peoples installations and always set up a plan B. Next time my mics are going out of the bag from the begging!
@@budgetsmartgear1167 Good job being prepped with your own mics. I find with venues that I have to make arrangements well in advance so that the front of house mixer knows we need a feed ahead of time. It is also helpful for them to know ahead of time so they can be prepared. But I also put out room mics because the house mix often is tuned to prevent feedback in the PA system and tuned to the room and doesn't sound that great in a recording. The room mics give another option and often sounds more "real". Good job and congratulations!
Thanks, I really feel like I didn't do that well in that particular occasion but next time I will prepare my mics in advance! I did let them know in advance I needed a clean sound output and they assured me they will provide me with one. Instead they gave me a head ache and made me look like a fool in front of the client. I should of have known better than to trust those guys (they are supposed to be professionals). It never hurts to have more options and sources. And by the way the inputs on the Atem mini pro are just terrible I feel that the audio path is fairly low quality.
Also another thing I figured out the hard way, you need to select if you have a mic or line level input. Luckily I had a mixing board so I could bodge it somewhat successfully!
Thank you! One of the most informative videos I have seen. Clear, direct and to the point. I have shared this several times already. Blackmagic should hire you do their instructional videos - seriously. Thank you so much
This was extremely helpful, thank you! I was picking up a considerable amount of background noise and this video helped me eliminate it. Thanks so much!
Sounds good, as it should. It seems to me to be a fair priced piece of hardware. There is a voice in a podcast that I listen too that is always clipping because he has a boisterous laugh and a strong presence. I think this unit would fare the podcast well, & balance the thresholds of the voices overall. As always, thanks for sharing. -Will
Excellent expert advice Curtis. My webstreaming camera is a Sony A6000 which does not have an audio in, so in my case I am running L/R stereo from my Rode Rodecaster Pro into Mic 1. It works ok, but the volume out of the Rodecaster is quite low, not sure why that is. I think your video could help me boost/refine what I have coming into the Mic 1 port on the mini. I really love the ATEM Mini Pro, it's an amazing device. Finding all kinds of unique ways to use it, combined with other apps, not necessarily using it to switch to several cameras, but as an external workhorse to handle recording/streaming what's coming out of the computer.
Yes!! Offset for audio!!! Using OBS where it can be done. But the 1 frame is working quite well with the new update for the Mini. Thanks for a concise explanation of the audio features!
You called this an overview. I call this a detailed tutorial. Blackmagic should put a link to this video in the user manual since they don’t cover these settings at all. With the ATEM Mini, Blackmagic has made professional broadcasting tools accessible to the masses, but that’s not helpful if there’s no training on how to use the tools. This tutorial is absolutely critical for anyone not using the most expensive mics that don’t require EQ to sound good. I use the original Rode wireless lavs and they must be EQ’d to sound good. Now I know how to do it. Thank you.
Hi Curtis, thanks for your review and your suggestions, always very appreciated. Let's all keep pushing Blackmagic to finally introduce the audio offset feature in general for all their mixers(already present in the Atem Television Pro 4k and in the flagship, the Constellation 8K), including Atem Mini and Mini Pro. Lip sync is definitely an issue. Since headphones out can't be added, let's hope they at least do this!
@@curtisjudd Indeed!I found out that, if you connect the other ATEMs through ethernet via the ATEM Software Control, you can have audio monitoring on your computer(if connected to the same network, of course). This is not possible with the Atem Mini yet. That would be one step forward(hoping not to have a significant latency, obviously).
@@curtisjudd you got good sense of needable views in your vlogs, you make it simple enough and clear as you have gone through the things in practise and theory. It also is gentle and open and positive. Natural teacher. You.
This is probably the single most important explainer vid I have come across to get my sound for livestreaming with my ATEM Mini Pro ISO right. I am wondering if these settings also work with ISO recording direct to SSD with the ATEM Mini Pro ISO. ISO is supposed to take in the highest possible quality without taking any kind of settings into account. Anyone tested if these settings have an influene on recording with ISO? Kudos to Curtis for such a great job.
Excellent guide! I got my ATEM Mini Pro in the mail just a couple days ago and although I got it primarily to consolidate my various HDMI sources (multicams), it's the audio settings that I'm really looking forward to playing with.
Hi Curtis - really enjoy your comprehensive and objective reviews. I just purchased an ATEM Mini Pro for live streaming and multi-camera Zoom meetings. Question #1) Since the ATEM Mini doesn't have a headphone jack, how are you monitoring your audio adjustments? Question #2) After making audio adjustments On the ATEM Mini is it possible to save those setting for future streaming sessions without having to go back and make all the adjustments again? THANKS for your help!
Thanks BB. 1) I attach a small HDMI monitor to the ATEM's HDMI output and then connect headphones to that monitor. There is quite a bit of latency, but it at least allows my technical director to confirm the audio doesn't have issues. 2) Yes, go to file, save startup state and the settings will be save for future sessions.
Thanks for the tips Curtis. I've used the mixer settings a little, but since my ATEM input audio mix is from a Soundcraft Ui16 live mixer, I don't want to edit or shape sound redundantly. Eventually I'm swapping out the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB interface for an Audient id44 mkii to get things to the next level.
Hi @Y=mx+c, I use a Sound Devices MixPre as a preamp, then feed the output of that into my camera, then my camera to the ATEM via HDMI. So the audio comes in via the camera.
Thanks for this video Curtis! Great as usual ;-) Blackmagic people, here you have another vote for the delay feature request. Definitely it is a must to take the most of your amazing device. Thanks!
I'm still playing around with the ATEM mini, but I found attaching a microphone directly to my laptops 3.5mm jack sounds much better than using the ATEM or a camera and HDMI capture card. My laptop seems to be performing some sort of magic with it's microphone input. My laptop itself has noisy fans, but it feeding audio through the 3.5mm jack gets rid of any noise. if I use a USB microphone I get the fan noise. This happens if I use the Rode Videomic NTG or a Zoom attached to the laptop via USB. Sounds great through the 3.5mm jack, but lots of noise as a USB mic.
Curtis, are these settings/principles good for interview/spoken word audio? You've given a great explanation about how, why, and when to use EQ, Compressor, Expander, and Limiter. This seems applicable to any audio. I will definitely refer to this video when configuring audio for the ATEM Mini Pro.
Like Delcan commented already, the Atem mini (pro) has 4 stereo inputs via the camera and in fact 4 channels pre-amped within the 2 microphone inputs. The two Mic inputs, which can be delayed now, can be split into 4 channels with the atem software. Each channel then has its own eq etc. The pre-amp DA-converter is good enough for speech. For music I would chose to connect a serious sound mixer and switch the mic inputs to line inputs (bypassing the pre-amps) which can be done in the atem software settings. All in All this is an absolute amazing complete mini TV studio. Of course it has its little downsides but boy this thing can do a lot very well for its price.
Thank you Curtis for your excellent video. It has been really useful in helping me get some decent results on the live streaming of church services. Being in an old church, one area where I’m continuing to struggle is in mitigating the echoing, hall like sound, particularly with speech. Due to budget constraints I use three Panasonic DC60 cameras with hdmi outputs to deliver the video and sound so am reliant on the Atem mini pro to make any adjustments to the audio settings. In summary are you able to give any advice that might help mitigate or even remove the echo, reverb like distortions.
I didn't even know the AMP (ATEM Mini Pro) included such advanced audio processing TBH. My retail AMP just arrived in the post and it looks like a great investment ... I was going to pair it with a Rødecaster Pro or GoXLR but now I won't need to since your video shows the AMP can do everything I need.
WOW Curtis, Bang on for info, just at the right time at the place.... im i nobody who trys .. but this Atem mini ( pro) just wht i was looking for.. absolutely top notch content, you know i hit the Subcribe
Hi Mark, That is the big problem which has not been easy to solve for Blackmagic. I monitor from the program monitor connected to the HDMI output, but that has a lot of latency so it isn't practical to use when you're in the show and controlling the switcher at the same time. So for practical purposes, I use that to monitor while setting up and for the first few seconds of my livestreams but I have to take them off because it is very confusing to hear yourself with that much latency. The main issue is that HDMI camera output always has quite a lot of latency. I don't see an easy way to solve that issue.
@@curtisjudd Blazing fast response. Thank you. Was hoping you'd found the silver bullet. I appreciate the time you've spent to put together this comprehensive tutorial. Best one I've seen.
Curtis Judd Audio actually since it appears you are on here right now maybe a quick question. I see that dynamics and eq are built-in to ATEM and are exactly same as ones in Davinci Resolve (which makes sense). Wondering if there are other effects or inserts possible should one need to use a different plug-in?
Curtis Judd Yes, that’s probably a can of worms they’d prefer not to open given more processing power required, etc. It’s already quite a good complement of basic tools needed for clean audio and more than you’d expect from a switcher. Thanks for the info.
Hi Melvyn, I am working on a course, but in the meantime, some of my light reviews have a behind-the-scenes look to see how we achieved various looks. Here's one from earlier this year: th-cam.com/video/boXkf9T1_ro/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for this. I was struggling filtering out noise from a Rode podmic, but with adjustment of the settings I've got something that sounds really good.
This was terrific, Curtis. I just got an ATEM Mini Pro, and these settings recommendations have helped me dial in my audio in my new live-streaming setup. Question: I'm having a difficult time figuring out how I can silence my my microphone when I'm monitoring audio so that I don't hear my voice delayed in my headphones. I want to have my headphones on while I livestream so I can listen in on the audio from my MacBook Pro if I'm referencing a video, etc. For the life of me I can't figure out how to silence my vocals while still sending them out over the live-stream. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
@@curtisjudd I ended up buying your livestream course and found out that there really isn't a solution when you're headphones are pulling audio from the monitor you're running your HDMI out to. I'm running my HDMI out to an HDMI audio extractor and then to a Dell display (for my multi viewer from the ATEM Mini Pro). There's a 1/4 second to 1/2 second delay in my vocals, and I was hoping there was some way to mute what I hear in the headphones but still push it out to the livestream. I think the only way to deal with that is with software - OBS, for example. I just got done with my first livestream and decided not to monitor my vocals and just keep an eye on my meters. Your course is AWESOME, by the way. So valuable to someone like me who's doing live-streaming for the first time. 🙌🏻🤘🏻
@@matthewTobrien Yes, this is a tricky matter for those who self-produce shows, which is a big part of the customer base with the ATEM Mini models. The headphone jack on the new Mini Extreme models helps a bit. There's still latency, but not quite as much.
Excellent instruction as always, thank you Curtis. When I play a video from one of my computers to a Zoom meeting, there is a delay in the voice. Can you demonstrate how to resolve that delay? Thanks, GB
Thanks G B. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about how Zoom.us works. You might check with the group at "Office Hours with Alex Lindsay." They seem to know quite a lot about using Zoom for live-streaming.
Curtis, you said something about about 15:40 that confused me. If the request is for BlackMagic to add the configurable offset so that you "don't have to necessarily feed audio to the camera," how are you capturing your audio feeds now when using the ATEM Mini? Is synchronization only an issue when using external audio equipment?
Hi Su Omynona, Currently, I feed audio from my microphone to a preamp which then sends it to my camera, which then sends the audio to the ATEM Mini. If instead, I plug the preamp directly to one of the audio inputs on the ATEM Mini, the sound would be out of sync with the camera feed.
@@curtisjudd Thanks for your feedback! I forgot about the discrete audio inputs on the ATEM mini. I was imagining you had a setup in which audio piped in downstream of the ATEM somehow. So the issue is undoubtedly within the device. They should fix that. Wouldn't it make sense for camera makers to consider adding a form of timecode/genlock to their prosumer-level gear, considering more content producers are setting up multi-cam studios in their home?
Why at your laugh test at 13:25 did the spike go above your limited level of -3db? We’ve been playing with our Mini pro and when we play media, sometimes it clips to 0 and blows everyone’s ears out. Even when we set the master limiter to say -5, the limiter still allows it to blow. It seems your limiter is doing the same thing to some degree. Thoughts? -P
Thanks for this overview. But please confirm - when you initially opened up the Equalizer at 1:58, were Bands 2, 3, 4 and 5 already turned on, but their Gains were at 0 and so weren't actually affecting the sound at all? Is there an advantage or reason to leave them on if you aren't actually using them? (It looks like Band 6 is off...) Thanks.
Hi George, Yes, they were on and set to 0 which makes no change to the sound. No advantages either way. I'd do it whichever way you're more comfortable with.
@@curtisjudd Thanks. Am looking forward to trying your suggestions as soon as I get the software installed. Have been getting excellent results when recording my pipe organ and singing with a Zoom Q2n-4K, but running it into the Mini to stream to Facebook have been pretty disappointing straight out of the box and no way to really monitor levels, etc. Special thanks for 12:20 showing that there are channel settings AND Master settings, and how they relate.
Your videos are so informative! Thanks. For the latency issue I purchased a secondhand Datavideo AD-100M. An expensive fix for now but hopefully Blackmagic will resolve this issue soon.
Thanks for the video, first time watching your video and you got yourself a new subscriber here, I'm using the atem mini pro as a webcam in obs, I did this with an elgatos60 capture card and always worked good, today was the first time I used the atem to stream our church service, and the audio was terrible, using the same cords coming from Alen and heath qu-16 mixer aux out to atem mini, very noisy and could not get it right. Going to try this tomorrow, I should mention I'm not very good at this live streaming, but I'm the only one right now who was willing to give it a try since we are in lockdown. Thanks again.
It's a really cool visual, but I can't help wondering since you have perfected the use of the indoor boom mic, whether having the (upside-down) mic in the presentation is caving to fashion.
Is there any update on the configurable audio offset? Apologies if I missed it whilst scanning the comments. Great video, thanks. I was able to use this as part of some informal training for a team I manage doing live streaming and large-scale videoconferencing of university events.
100% YES on the audio offset. It would be nice to feed audio into a mixer and then into the ATEM but right now if I want to keep audio from a mixer in sync with my GH5 I have to go through the GH5. Not ideal at all. Especially when working with the venues house audio.
Yes, this all works with the ATEM Mini Extreme models as well. 👍
Always use this video for audio settings ☺
👍
Wow. Just wow. I’ve been poking around in my ATEM MIni Pro audio settings and got lost a bit. You clarified everything I needed to know in one video. Hats off to you sir. 🎓
I 2nd Kevin's comment. 100%
Thanks KevKev.
Thanks RemekTek Media!
I agree completely, thx a lot 👍🏻🙋🏻♂️
We are lost too. So thank you. Helps us out of theAtem audio hell 😊
This thing is crazy! People who haven’t worked much in broadcast have no idea... a tiny desktop thingy with built-in input scaling, full camera control, audio effects, AND a webcam encoder and livestream encoder? I can’t call it a switcher, because it’s truly a full broadcast equipment rack room in one tiny box. I have a rack with about $6,500 invested (ATEM HD, Vaddio bridge, 4ea DAC-70, 2ea Decimator, a few BM mini converters, plus DA’s) in what just last year was the simplest, smallest package to achieve most of that. This unit revolutionizes broadcast like the iphone revolutionized mobile communication. They are proving their namesake with this stuff.
The engineering for the audio sync delay gets a little tricky when you start considering all possibilities. Its can’t be as simple as a single sync value, because each video source can be different. Example, one camera can be 7 frames, another 9, and if you’re rolling in produced packages from a laptop, that’ll be already in sync. If you have only one delay line, you’ll wind up with only one of those inputs in sync. To fully fix that, they’ll need to add an adjustable delay for each video source as well as the program audio, so that all video sources are adjusted to the same total latency (highest denominator), and adjust the audio line to match.
So glad you said this. Some people left comments on other videos that they thought the ATEM Mini - the original - was too expensive. Not once you put this in context like you did.
@@andinbriwel1092 Good point. My use case is a little more straightforward since it is usually just me with a talking head camera, an overhead camera for product demonstrations, and an input from a presentation computer. But you make a great point - clearly you have your hands in the live production world. Thanks for the insights!
Adrian in thr broadcast world with multiple cameras and multiple frame delays like you mentioned, how have they been solving this problem. I have been doing quite a lot of research about this audio sync issue. Can you please explain how this issue has been tackled over the years
wow!
Thanks Curtis! I’m a long-time Canadian sound mixer usually working in TV and movies, but thanks to Covid, I’ve recently been doing a lot of corporate webinar work. “Broadcast” audio levels have gone right out the window in this webinar Wild West! “ Can’t you make it LOUDER!”? Why, yes I can. Your comments have given me the courage to wrest control of the ATEM audio mixer from the IT guys’ hands. Such a powerful software mixer. Time for me to use it to it’s best advantage. Love your work, you’re always spot on.
Hi Chris, Thanks much and best wishes wresting the ATEM from the IT guys! 😉
Never realized there was a practical application for the "laugh test." I've only been using it with my teen daughters, after telling one of my "Dad jokes." Thanks for the tutorial, Curtis. We just got the ATEM Mini Pro for our middle school media studio and this will help us improve our productions.
You're welcome and enjoy the laugh test!
Nice job, Curtis. As a retired teacher I can tell that you have a gift for clear instruction. You are one of the very few you-tubers that I subscribe to. I'm still waiting for my Atem Mini Pro. Should be here in a couple of weeks. As an aside, my father was a sound engineer and he gave me the bug at an early age. He would be astounded at what can be done today. I remember his reverb chamber was a 4ft x 8ft piece of sheet metal housed in a wooden box with pick-ups attached to the metal.. It sounded wonderful.
Bob Orrett, Peterborough, Ontario.
Hi Bob, thanks! I wish I could hear that reverb!
Another really useful detailed video explanation. Your content is of the type that you click play and just listen carefully to the information presented. Thanks for your work. Good stuff!
Thanks Digital Cactus!
Thank you so much - my sound was always way worse than I was happy with and I didn't expect that changing the settings would have made as much difference. I'm sounding much cleaner now thanks to you.
Glad it helped!
I'm a relative newbie to audio processing, and total newbie to ATEM Mini... This was just what I needed. Curtis, as usual, is an incredible source for information and learning. Thank you!!!
Thanks saltforkmedia!
Hello Curtis,
I am enthusiastic about this video. Your explanatory style is excellent and very easy to understand even for foreign language speakers.
Thanks a lot
Horst
Thank you Horst!
Curtis. This video is nothing short of a master class. Great job. BIG thanks!
Thanks! 🙏
You have taught me more in this video than I have ever known about audio. Thank you sir, may good blessing to you.
Thanks, Mike 🙏
My audio is working perfect for my livestream now. You did a really good job at breaking it down. Thank you.
Thanks Bodguru. Happy streaming!
Wow😃 This contains lots and lots of very valuable information, ESPECIALLY since I think ATEM Mini sales are probably going to explode (during this crisis) due to how much time it saves in post production. I really appreciate the tip starting at 13:33 where you mention leaving 1.5 to 2db of headroom for streaming purposes😃
Thanks silverlightphoto!
Also, I definitely agree about needing the option to set the audio offset/delay. I just did a test using OBS to set the delay (offered in milliseconds) and it worked pretty well. It still would be good for the Blackmagic to have this ability as well. th-cam.com/video/NVr8_-ECiE4/w-d-xo.html
THEY FIXED IT!!! th-cam.com/video/H07ZW72CSD0/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the video! It explains so much that I had no knowledge of and now I have a basic understanding of how an EQ works with just one viewing.
Glad it helped 👍
So clear and concise. Kudos, sir.
Thanks!
Very helpful video. Remember to 'save' your settings (save settings at startup) or when you turn off the ATEM...you'll lose everything. Thanks Curtis!!
Thanks for the reminder, Gary!
I’ll second the request for configurable delay. thanks Curtis for another excellent tutorial.
😂
Wow. Best video ever. So many of my coworkers bought this device for Zoom calls.
Thanks Robin!
“Almost” bought the Roland VR-1HD to “solve” the audio delay. For now I still use ATEM Mini / OBS / ReaDelay / Virtual Audio Cable (PC only) to compensate for delay via my NT1-A and Behringer UMC204HD. Robin is a very convincing Salesman.
Thanks for the info on your signal chain.
FYI with OBS the built-in offset only works if you are streaming/recording from the software (i.e. TH-cam Live) if you are feeding the audio into Zoom, etc via the monitor output you will need to apply an audio effect (ReaDelay) to get a delay.
@@chen23 Thanks Eric.
Thank you for this video. Now we can apply all these precise informations for our clients' livestreams.
👍
Curtis is just the best!!!
I have learnt so much from your videos!
Thanks Akil!
This was the most concise informative video i've seen on audio with the ATEM mini. I was wondering why my sound was clipping although controlled via the mix-pre3 before entering mic1. Controlling output via compressors and limitors did the job.That and setting mic 1 at line in instead of mic in the control software. Thanks Curtis!
Thanks WG Productions! Yes, switching to line level is a big deal. 😀
Bravo - best 16 minutes I've spent on TH-cam this week. And agree on the need to implement some kind of audio sync on the ATEM Mini. You got a new subscriber out this.
Thanks for the feedback Ralph!
Great info. And double down agree with the request for configurable audio delay.
Thanks Orange Frog Photography!
Not just a great tutorial, this is a great resource to understanding the terms for DAW settings.
Curtis, I would love to see a quick explanation of the relationship between the following, since you've become the premiere audio guru to me and many others:
Mic noise floor,
Dynamic range of a mic,
Decibels as pressure levels,
Decibels as signal levels,
Mic sensitivity,
Mic and cable impedance,
Gain settings, and how it affects each of the other items.
I can't think of anything else at the moment, but these are things that took me a while to wrap my head around, especially when discerning between db signal vs db sound pressure.
Thanks Insanejughead. Good idea, I'll add it to the list and hit the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook to brush up.
Great Curtis... Got my ATEM Mini Pro this week. Fantastic machine! Thanks for running through these audio settings.
Congrats Zack! Hope it works well for you!
Thanks for yet another very helpful video! I am doing a live stream for a client in 2 days and its really nice to view your settings and apply with some minor variations before the live. I have soo many other things to set up that i won't have the time to play with the audio processing.
Best wishes on the live stream!
@@curtisjudd Thanks man! We had some serious hiccups! The guy from the venue gave me a horrible xlr out with loads electrical interference going out of it and I had to improvise last minute and put my mics around the room so I can get any sound. Ended up sounding quite decent but I had a couple of minutes of terrible sound on my stream. I guess I learned a valuable lesson never trust other peoples installations and always set up a plan B. Next time my mics are going out of the bag from the begging!
@@budgetsmartgear1167 Good job being prepped with your own mics. I find with venues that I have to make arrangements well in advance so that the front of house mixer knows we need a feed ahead of time. It is also helpful for them to know ahead of time so they can be prepared. But I also put out room mics because the house mix often is tuned to prevent feedback in the PA system and tuned to the room and doesn't sound that great in a recording. The room mics give another option and often sounds more "real". Good job and congratulations!
Thanks, I really feel like I didn't do that well in that particular occasion but next time I will prepare my mics in advance! I did let them know in advance I needed a clean sound output and they assured me they will provide me with one. Instead they gave me a head ache and made me look like a fool in front of the client. I should of have known better than to trust those guys (they are supposed to be professionals). It never hurts to have more options and sources. And by the way the inputs on the Atem mini pro are just terrible I feel that the audio path is fairly low quality.
Another useful post. I hadn't thought about the effect of stream compression on headroom. Thanks for pointing it out.
👍 Thanks Erik.
Thanks for your help. literally helped in our livestreaming. Had struggled for a while getting the sound clarity right
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Fantastic video - wish I had watched before my first time using the ATEM live yesterday LOL
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Also another thing I figured out the hard way, you need to select if you have a mic or line level input. Luckily I had a mixing board so I could bodge it somewhat successfully!
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Curtis. This was absolutely great. Thank you so much. I just ordered the ATEM Mini Pro and this tutorial will help me immensely.
Thanks Indigo!
Thank you! One of the most informative videos I have seen. Clear, direct and to the point. I have shared this several times already. Blackmagic should hire you do their instructional videos - seriously. Thank you so much
Thanks John, I appreciate the feedback!
This was extremely helpful, thank you! I was picking up a considerable amount of background noise and this video helped me eliminate it. Thanks so much!
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Excellent walkthrough, really appreciated here.
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Thank you Curtis. Very Helpful. Was just about to buy a sound mixer but i will try this out first. As allways your videos are a great help.
Thanks Michael.
Great overview that still holds up in late 2021. The latency can be adjusted now which is so handy!
Thanks Allan and yes, nice that you can apply an audio offset!
You know it's good tutorial because you can use it not only with the ATEM.
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Sounds good, as it should. It seems to me to be a fair priced piece of hardware. There is a voice in a podcast that I listen too that is always clipping because he has a boisterous laugh and a strong presence. I think this unit would fare the podcast well, & balance the thresholds of the voices overall. As always, thanks for sharing.
-Will
Hi Will! Oh yes, compression and limiting can definitely help with strong presence and laughing. :)
One of the best videos period on this.
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that is the best video on Atem Mini audio I have seen. Great job!
Thanks Richard.
Thank you Curtis. Pleasing mid range bump for your voice sounds better. I'll try this on my ATEM Mini Pro Iso.
Thanks. 👍
Thank you for taking the time to thoroughly explain what these settings do. I am very appreciative.
Thanks Tom.
Excellent expert advice Curtis. My webstreaming camera is a Sony A6000 which does not have an audio in, so in my case I am running L/R stereo from my Rode Rodecaster Pro into Mic 1. It works ok, but the volume out of the Rodecaster is quite low, not sure why that is. I think your video could help me boost/refine what I have coming into the Mic 1 port on the mini. I really love the ATEM Mini Pro, it's an amazing device. Finding all kinds of unique ways to use it, combined with other apps, not necessarily using it to switch to several cameras, but as an external workhorse to handle recording/streaming what's coming out of the computer.
Thanks Gary and I agree! I used the ATEM Mini Pro to record this video.
Yes!! Offset for audio!!! Using OBS where it can be done. But the 1 frame is working quite well with the new update for the Mini.
Thanks for a concise explanation of the audio features!
Thanks Anthony.
Another great informative video Curtis! Thanks so much! I have watched twice and will watch again when my ATEM Mini Pro comes in.
👍 happy streaming!
Finally a video to help guys like me with sound. Very informative and helpful. Thank You!
Thanks Keith!
Great video. Of course now we have settable frame delay on the audio. Well done BMD.
Thanks RemekTek Media. Yes, nice addition BMD!
You called this an overview. I call this a detailed tutorial. Blackmagic should put a link to this video in the user manual since they don’t cover these settings at all. With the ATEM Mini, Blackmagic has made professional broadcasting tools accessible to the masses, but that’s not helpful if there’s no training on how to use the tools. This tutorial is absolutely critical for anyone not using the most expensive mics that don’t require EQ to sound good. I use the original Rode wireless lavs and they must be EQ’d to sound good. Now I know how to do it. Thank you.
Thanks so much Lenzy! I really appreciate the feedback and hope to have more of this in the near future.
Now that was just excellent. Sixteen minutes well spent. Many many thanks 👏
Thanks Paul.
I found this very useful. Nice job making a complex subject very simple.
Thanks Heath!
Hi Curtis, thanks for your review and your suggestions, always very appreciated. Let's all keep pushing Blackmagic to finally introduce the audio offset feature in general for all their mixers(already present in the Atem Television Pro 4k and in the flagship, the Constellation 8K), including Atem Mini and Mini Pro. Lip sync is definitely an issue. Since headphones out can't be added, let's hope they at least do this!
Yes. And in the next gen, a headphone output should be top of the list!
@@curtisjudd Indeed!I found out that, if you connect the other ATEMs through ethernet via the ATEM Software Control, you can have audio monitoring on your computer(if connected to the same network, of course). This is not possible with the Atem Mini yet. That would be one step forward(hoping not to have a significant latency, obviously).
I need to grab one of these. Good explanation as always CJ.
Thanks Darious! Hope you're staying well!
good perspectives in a package thanks again!
Thanks Juuso.
@@curtisjudd you got good sense of needable views in your vlogs, you make it simple enough and clear as you have gone through the things in practise and theory. It also is gentle and open and positive. Natural teacher. You.
This is probably the single most important explainer vid I have come across to get my sound for livestreaming with my ATEM Mini Pro ISO right. I am wondering if these settings also work with ISO recording direct to SSD with the ATEM Mini Pro ISO. ISO is supposed to take in the highest possible quality without taking any kind of settings into account. Anyone tested if these settings have an influene on recording with ISO? Kudos to Curtis for such a great job.
Thanks Stef. When I have recorded with the Pro ISO, it seemed to apply the audio settings.
Excellent guide! I got my ATEM Mini Pro in the mail just a couple days ago and although I got it primarily to consolidate my various HDMI sources (multicams), it's the audio settings that I'm really looking forward to playing with.
Thanks Luis! I hope you enjoy the ATEM Mini Pro!
Great information, thank you!!. This helped me tremendously as a newbie to streaming. I would love a one-on-one session.
Glad it helped! Happy streaming!
Hi Curtis - really enjoy your comprehensive and objective reviews. I just purchased an ATEM Mini Pro for live streaming and multi-camera Zoom meetings. Question #1) Since the ATEM Mini doesn't have a headphone jack, how are you monitoring your audio adjustments? Question #2) After making audio adjustments On the ATEM Mini is it possible to save those setting for future streaming sessions without having to go back and make all the adjustments again? THANKS for your help!
Thanks BB. 1) I attach a small HDMI monitor to the ATEM's HDMI output and then connect headphones to that monitor. There is quite a bit of latency, but it at least allows my technical director to confirm the audio doesn't have issues. 2) Yes, go to file, save startup state and the settings will be save for future sessions.
Thanks Curtis, this is just what I needed. Really thorough, detailed breakdown!
Thanks Jack, happy recording!
Thank you! This was so helpful, I was really struggling to tune the audio on my ATEM mini before and this definitely made a big difference.
Glad it helped Elliot!
Thanks for the tips Curtis. I've used the mixer settings a little, but since my ATEM input audio mix is from a Soundcraft Ui16 live mixer, I don't want to edit or shape sound redundantly.
Eventually I'm swapping out the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB interface for an Audient id44 mkii to get things to the next level.
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Hi Curtis, you do a fantastic work!!! Can i know how u connect your xlr mic into your Atem Mini??
Hi @Y=mx+c, I use a Sound Devices MixPre as a preamp, then feed the output of that into my camera, then my camera to the ATEM via HDMI. So the audio comes in via the camera.
Thanks for this video Curtis! Great as usual ;-)
Blackmagic people, here you have another vote for the delay feature request. Definitely it is a must to take the most of your amazing device. Thanks!
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Perfect timing brother! I too just received the ATEM mini for my church so this audio tutorial is perfect!
Congrats - I hope it works well for you!
I'm still playing around with the ATEM mini, but I found attaching a microphone directly to my laptops 3.5mm jack sounds much better than using the ATEM or a camera and HDMI capture card. My laptop seems to be performing some sort of magic with it's microphone input. My laptop itself has noisy fans, but it feeding audio through the 3.5mm jack gets rid of any noise. if I use a USB microphone I get the fan noise. This happens if I use the Rode Videomic NTG or a Zoom attached to the laptop via USB. Sounds great through the 3.5mm jack, but lots of noise as a USB mic.
Odd finding but go with what works.
Thanks so much Sir I used this exact settings and the huge hum noise from my mixer reduce completely.
Thanks
That's great news!
Awesome tutorial!
Thanks!
I just subscribed to this channel sooo hard!🥰
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Outstanding! I will apply what you have taught me with my atem mini. Thank you for taking the time to share this valuable information! 🙏
Thanks Rob 👍 Happy streaming!
Curtis, are these settings/principles good for interview/spoken word audio? You've given a great explanation about how, why, and when to use EQ, Compressor, Expander, and Limiter. This seems applicable to any audio. I will definitely refer to this video when configuring audio for the ATEM Mini Pro.
Yes, should apply in most spoken word audio situations, regardless of hardware.
@@curtisjudd Thanks Curtis for your answer. This really helps.
Like Delcan commented already, the Atem mini (pro) has 4 stereo inputs via the camera and in fact 4 channels pre-amped within the 2 microphone inputs. The two Mic inputs, which can be delayed now, can be split into 4 channels with the atem software. Each channel then has its own eq etc. The pre-amp DA-converter is good enough for speech. For music I would chose to connect a serious sound mixer and switch the mic inputs to line inputs (bypassing the pre-amps) which can be done in the atem software settings. All in All this is an absolute amazing complete mini TV studio. Of course it has its little downsides but boy this thing can do a lot very well for its price.
Thanks for the update and clarification computerjantje.
Thank you Curtis for your excellent video. It has been really useful in helping me get some decent results on the live streaming of church services. Being in an old church, one area where I’m continuing to struggle is in mitigating the echoing, hall like sound, particularly with speech. Due to budget constraints I use three Panasonic DC60 cameras with hdmi outputs to deliver the video and sound so am reliant on the Atem mini pro to make any adjustments to the audio settings.
In summary are you able to give any advice that might help mitigate or even remove the echo, reverb like distortions.
I’d look to microphones to help solve that problem.
Good point on why you leave plenty of headroom, for lossy encoding.
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I didn't even know the AMP (ATEM Mini Pro) included such advanced audio processing TBH. My retail AMP just arrived in the post and it looks like a great investment ... I was going to pair it with a Rødecaster Pro or GoXLR but now I won't need to since your video shows the AMP can do everything I need.
👍 Hope it works well for you!
WOW Curtis, Bang on for info, just at the right time at the place.... im i nobody who trys .. but this Atem mini ( pro) just wht i was looking for.. absolutely top notch content, you know i hit the Subcribe
Thanks Michael - glad it was helpful!
This is just what I needed. Very helpful. My question - how are / what is source monitoring the sound?
Hi Mark, That is the big problem which has not been easy to solve for Blackmagic. I monitor from the program monitor connected to the HDMI output, but that has a lot of latency so it isn't practical to use when you're in the show and controlling the switcher at the same time. So for practical purposes, I use that to monitor while setting up and for the first few seconds of my livestreams but I have to take them off because it is very confusing to hear yourself with that much latency. The main issue is that HDMI camera output always has quite a lot of latency. I don't see an easy way to solve that issue.
@@curtisjudd Blazing fast response. Thank you. Was hoping you'd found the silver bullet. I appreciate the time you've spent to put together this comprehensive tutorial. Best one I've seen.
Great info Curtis. Thanks. Just one suggestion - you should have put a big reverb or some slap back on when you did the laugh tests!
Hahaha! Good idea for next time!
Curtis Judd Audio actually since it appears you are on here right now maybe a quick question. I see that dynamics and eq are built-in to ATEM and are exactly same as ones in Davinci Resolve (which makes sense). Wondering if there are other effects or inserts possible should one need to use a different plug-in?
No, just what is currently there though it may be possible for them to add more but I’m not sure whether the hardware will support others.
Curtis Judd Yes, that’s probably a can of worms they’d prefer not to open given more processing power required, etc. It’s already quite a good complement of basic tools needed for clean audio and more than you’d expect from a switcher. Thanks for the info.
Such a helpful video!!! Thank you Curtis!
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👏👏👏 Thank you Curtis! Fantastic explanation of the ATEM features AND how to use them in a meaningful way. Great content from you, as always. 👍
Thank you Dieter
Hi Curtis, is there a video (or online course) I could watch to learn how to get my lighting like yours? Thanks!
Hi Melvyn, I am working on a course, but in the meantime, some of my light reviews have a behind-the-scenes look to see how we achieved various looks. Here's one from earlier this year: th-cam.com/video/boXkf9T1_ro/w-d-xo.html
@@curtisjudd thanks! I will check it out
Thanks for this. I was struggling filtering out noise from a Rode podmic, but with adjustment of the settings I've got something that sounds really good.
Glad it helped! Happy streaming!
Thank you Curtis! Great video as always.
Thanks David.
Perfect Curtis, thank you. That will improve my livestreams in the future.
You're welcome and best wishes!
Such a bad ass video! Saved so I can watch it every time I need to setup a new voice for my ATEM ISO.
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This was terrific, Curtis. I just got an ATEM Mini Pro, and these settings recommendations have helped me dial in my audio in my new live-streaming setup. Question: I'm having a difficult time figuring out how I can silence my my microphone when I'm monitoring audio so that I don't hear my voice delayed in my headphones. I want to have my headphones on while I livestream so I can listen in on the audio from my MacBook Pro if I'm referencing a video, etc. For the life of me I can't figure out how to silence my vocals while still sending them out over the live-stream. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Depends on how you have your audio routed. Which devices are you using for audio?
@@curtisjudd I ended up buying your livestream course and found out that there really isn't a solution when you're headphones are pulling audio from the monitor you're running your HDMI out to. I'm running my HDMI out to an HDMI audio extractor and then to a Dell display (for my multi viewer from the ATEM Mini Pro). There's a 1/4 second to 1/2 second delay in my vocals, and I was hoping there was some way to mute what I hear in the headphones but still push it out to the livestream. I think the only way to deal with that is with software - OBS, for example. I just got done with my first livestream and decided not to monitor my vocals and just keep an eye on my meters. Your course is AWESOME, by the way. So valuable to someone like me who's doing live-streaming for the first time. 🙌🏻🤘🏻
@@matthewTobrien Yes, this is a tricky matter for those who self-produce shows, which is a big part of the customer base with the ATEM Mini models. The headphone jack on the new Mini Extreme models helps a bit. There's still latency, but not quite as much.
Those expanders are amazing! Great tip!
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So useful, but how you recommend monitoring the audio? I tried a HDMI audio extractor but it just caused hiss.
I monitor the audio by plugging headphones into the little 7” HDMI monitor/screen I have attached to the HDMI program output on the ATEM.
Excellent instruction as always, thank you Curtis. When I play a video from one of my computers to a Zoom meeting, there is a delay in the voice. Can you demonstrate how to resolve that delay? Thanks, GB
Thanks G B. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about how Zoom.us works. You might check with the group at "Office Hours with Alex Lindsay." They seem to know quite a lot about using Zoom for live-streaming.
Curtis, you said something about about 15:40 that confused me. If the request is for BlackMagic to add the configurable offset so that you "don't have to necessarily feed audio to the camera," how are you capturing your audio feeds now when using the ATEM Mini? Is synchronization only an issue when using external audio equipment?
Hi Su Omynona, Currently, I feed audio from my microphone to a preamp which then sends it to my camera, which then sends the audio to the ATEM Mini. If instead, I plug the preamp directly to one of the audio inputs on the ATEM Mini, the sound would be out of sync with the camera feed.
@@curtisjudd Thanks for your feedback! I forgot about the discrete audio inputs on the ATEM mini. I was imagining you had a setup in which audio piped in downstream of the ATEM somehow. So the issue is undoubtedly within the device. They should fix that. Wouldn't it make sense for camera makers to consider adding a form of timecode/genlock to their prosumer-level gear, considering more content producers are setting up multi-cam studios in their home?
Why at your laugh test at 13:25 did the spike go above your limited level of -3db? We’ve been playing with our Mini pro and when we play media, sometimes it clips to 0 and blows everyone’s ears out. Even when we set the master limiter to say -5, the limiter still allows it to blow. It seems your limiter is doing the same thing to some degree. Thoughts? -P
It is not a brick wall limiter so you need to leave some headroom. I'd recommend you set the limiter to -3dB.
Thank you Curtis for a reset.
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YOU REALLY ARE THE BEST.
Thanks Josh.
Thanks for this overview. But please confirm - when you initially opened up the Equalizer at 1:58, were Bands 2, 3, 4 and 5 already turned on, but their Gains were at 0 and so weren't actually affecting the sound at all? Is there an advantage or reason to leave them on if you aren't actually using them? (It looks like Band 6 is off...) Thanks.
Hi George, Yes, they were on and set to 0 which makes no change to the sound. No advantages either way. I'd do it whichever way you're more comfortable with.
@@curtisjudd Thanks. Am looking forward to trying your suggestions as soon as I get the software installed. Have been getting excellent results when recording my pipe organ and singing with a Zoom Q2n-4K, but running it into the Mini to stream to Facebook have been pretty disappointing straight out of the box and no way to really monitor levels, etc. Special thanks for 12:20 showing that there are channel settings AND Master settings, and how they relate.
Thanks Curtis, Excellent Video, Explained perfectly!
Thanks Arkayn!
Your videos are so informative! Thanks. For the latency issue I purchased a secondhand Datavideo AD-100M. An expensive fix for now but hopefully Blackmagic will resolve this issue soon.
Thanks Taylor - that's great to know. I'll need to check that out!
Thanks for the video, first time watching your video and you got yourself a new subscriber here,
I'm using the atem mini pro as a webcam in obs, I did this with an elgatos60 capture card and always worked good, today was the first time I used the atem to stream our church service, and the audio was terrible, using the same cords coming from Alen and heath qu-16 mixer aux out to atem mini, very noisy and could not get it right. Going to try this tomorrow, I should mention I'm not very good at this live streaming, but I'm the only one right now who was willing to give it a try since we are in lockdown. Thanks again.
Thanks Willy, I hope this helps make better sound for the streams!
It's a really cool visual, but I can't help wondering since you have perfected the use of the indoor boom mic, whether having the (upside-down) mic in the presentation is caving to fashion.
Interesting thought. For large diaphragm condenser microphones, usually you want them a bit closer than a boom mic as they are not as directional.
I really hope they listen to you about the audio synk. :)
Thanks for a great video!
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Is there any update on the configurable audio offset? Apologies if I missed it whilst scanning the comments.
Great video, thanks. I was able to use this as part of some informal training for a team I manage doing live streaming and large-scale videoconferencing of university events.
Yes, they added the offset feature a couple of years ago 👍
100% YES on the audio offset. It would be nice to feed audio into a mixer and then into the ATEM but right now if I want to keep audio from a mixer in sync with my GH5 I have to go through the GH5. Not ideal at all. Especially when working with the venues house audio.
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