Sending Audio to ATEM for Recording

I have found this person to offer very good advice in matters of sound for video and recording. Here he specifically discusses the matter of the ATEM and sound settings.

I hope this is helpful.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
I would avoid stacking adapters. Instead build yourself a dedicated cable that serves your purpose. In your case a receiving 3 pin XLR to TRS 1/8" plug - cable.
Wouldn't that be a dual XLR to 1/8" trs, since the input is unbalanced stereo?

More generally, when building a dedicated cable, it's not a bad idea to double-check that you are building the correct cable...and I think we all know that already.
 
Yes.... and pick a quality cable like Canare L4-E6S for your adaption.


Yea it is a different world to forget about the house mix. I agree with BCAP, if you can turn off the house amps, do it.

If you have some good NFMs to set up you can mix it like that. The ATEM box is reasonably accurate.

Otherwise I'd bodge whatever I had to do get to listen to what is going out on that line.


Save yourself tons of hassle and just mix the show mono.

I guarantee that no parent of a child in the show, or any teacher, will complain about that. Ever.
 
Save yourself tons of hassle and just mix the show mono.

I guarantee that no parent of a child in the show, or any teacher, will complain about that. Ever.

One thing we discovered in the transition to the streaming age was that a vast majority of stream viewers watch on phones and tablets. I'm guessing the majority of them are also using the device speakers and not $200 ear pods or whatever too. Clarity over quality for online audio IMHO. Both when possible.
 
One of the reasons I was a popular mixer for youth theater is that I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS a star, and mixed accordingly. Not so much as to jeopardize some artistic integrity, but to enough of a little bump in dialog for the shy kids to make sure mom, dad, and the grandparents clearly heard the lines.

Mixing line by line on a big PA in an auditorium is a different skill set from mixing for streaming or delivery on a phone or tablet. What the streaming service does to audio (and what happens if you use ReStream to feed FB and YT and.. and...) complicates things as well.
 
Last edited:
On of the reasons I was a popular mixer for youth theater is that I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS a star, and mixed accordingly. Not so much as to jeopardize some artistic integrity, but to enough of a little bump in dialog for the shy kids to make sure mom, dad, and the grandparents clearly heard the lines.

Mixing line by line on a big PA in an auditorium is a different skill set from mixing for streaming or delivery on a phone or tablet. What the streaming service does to audio (and what happens if you use ReStream to feed FB and YT and.. and...) complicates things as well.
@TimMc When you posted: "I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS a star."
I suspect you meant: "I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS THE star."
I also suspect when you posted: "On of the reasons I was a popular mixer" you meant to post:
One of the reasons I was a popular mixer
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
@TimMc When you posted: "I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS a star."
I suspect you meant: "I understood that to a kid's family, the kid IS THE star."
I also suspect when you posted: "On of the reasons I was a popular mixer" you meant to post:
One of the reasons I was a popular mixer
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
Almost, Ron.

THE star is already apparent. What I can do as the mixerperson is to make sure the other kids aren't in the star's shadow (at least in my dept, what LX does is another matter).

Fixed the other one..
 
A properly designed cable can do the job just fine, but there is a big and dangerous trap lurking here. Casually connecting a stereo TRS to a balanced, mono output results in one of channels having a polarity inversion (out of phase). Most audio codecs cannot handle that gracefully, and will sound horrid. Mono summing results in full cancellation of the audio. The proper cable will go from two connectors to the one TRS, and will be wired unbalanced.
 
Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread.

To answer some of your questions -

The play we are doing is curious case of the dog in the night
We are putting a lav mic on each character because the kids will be wearing the mask while performing (the drama teacher decide that would be better than having shotgun mics hanging from the ceiling)

Good to know about the "delay" that will occur if we take the audio from the mixer directly to the ATEM.

The alternative plan is to record audio from the camera as mentioned @Malabaristo if the mixer to ATEM does not work as intended.

I'll keep ya'll updated and may post more questions as well =D
when the drama teachers start making tech implementation decisions, buckle up, baby! In this case, tho, I think I agree - tho you are adding the complications of ?a dozen or so kids who can have transmitter mute accidents, etc. Might want a SM57 or PTZ or 2 at downstage end for 911 coverage.
 
Good day everyone,

I'm glad i found this forum, as I'm quite new to the AV world, recently got hired as a AV + IT at a school.

In 2.5 weeks our school will be recording a play (no audience due to COVID), and i was wondering about the setup + settings to get this working.

The external company we hired shared they will use an ATEM, which includes a 1/8 audio input jack. For the school, we have a LS-9 32. we will be using 14 microphones inputs (Lav Mics) , + 4 inputs for Qlab on a mac mini Using Echo AudioFire 12

I spoke with the external company and to keep it simple with the equipment we have - he suggest we use a XLR to 1/4 Cable with a 1/8 adapter which he will be plugging it into the ATEM's audio input to to send the mix from the board to the ATEM.

On the LS-9, i would be putting all 18 inputs into one mix and send it to the house speakers/stage speakers/ ATEM. I will be mixing live during the show as if the show is live, and have created scenes on LS-9 for each scene for the play

I do have some questions about this setup - hope to hear others with similar experience and share best practices

- Any specific setup i should / need to do on the LS-9 to ensure the audio is output to the ATEM correctly?
- I'm a bit concern because when i tested it on a macbook pro with the cable, in the System Preferences > Sound > Input, it's not showing it as an option, rather it's only showing it as an Output as an external microphone. (This may have to do with the port on the new macbook pros)
- any thing else i may have missed?

Thanks a bunch
First off any streaming company should not have to ask you to provide all kinds of adapter s for anything. You should be able to give them a male XLR and tell them it’s professional line level +4 dB
But as it seems your hiring a very inexperienced armature streaming company here’s a bit about the ATM mini Pro
The 1/8” mini jacks ( there are 2 of them) can be configured in the ATM software as eather a mono mic input or as a stereo line input. However the stereo line input is set up expecting the lower consumer -10 dB line level.
The simplest thing to do needs 3 things.
1-female xlr to 1/4” male (goes from output of the console to DI input
2- a DI (a direct input device that can take an instrument or line level device like a keyboard and make it mic level) you don't need an expensive active DI for this use but you do need a DI with an actual transformer inside.
3- a XLR female to a mono T-R mini jack
This will work but there are far better ways
The use of a small mixer designed for just this use between your output and the ATM it should be located with the ATM. They have a USB output than can be directly connected to the ATM and configured in the ATM software
These mixers have XLR inputs (some just one or two) most are capable of padding down (reducing the level) to match the mixers needs
They also have 1/4” and rca outputs if a device the audio needs to be sent to can’t take the digital input then a simple L+R rca cable to a stereo 1/8” mini will suffice. The ATM 1/8” mini input being configured for stereo line input.
As to your console setup. You need to create a separate mic to feed the ATM. All the EQ settings used to make the main output to the PA system will sound horrible on anything else but the PA system
? Why is the PA suystem even on to begin with if there is no audience?? You will have far far better results if the mics arn’t being amplified only to be picked up yet again by other mics. That sound will be hollow and empty!
You need to make separate mix to feed the record/broadcast!
Use an AUX send routed to an unused OMNI output
If the PA must be used for some stupid reason depending on your skill level and attention span doing a school show
Make the AUX mix a post fader but exclude the channel strip EQ so you can make it different from the PA feed EQ’s
With this setup muting and fading mics happens on both main and PA outputs simultaneously.
If your wide awake and paying attention make the aux mix PRE fader Pre EQ it will sound the best but you will have to be working in 2 layers continuously!
Whatever method make a macro thst takes you instantly to the aux mix and mix on faders!! I can’t stress this enough.
If any hymns or buzzes arise be sure all the streaming equipment is plugged into the same service and same phase as the pa gear. If nessary run power cable from the same outlets powering your console to the streaming gear to eliminate ground loops
Good luck
 
First off any streaming company should not have to ask you to provide all kinds of adapter s for anything. You should be able to give them a male XLR and tell them it’s professional line level +4 dB
But as it seems your hiring a very inexperienced armature streaming company here’s a bit about the ATM mini Pro
The 1/8” mini jacks ( there are 2 of them) can be configured in the ATM software as eather a mono mic input or as a stereo line input. However the stereo line input is set up expecting the lower consumer -10 dB line level.
The simplest thing to do needs 3 things.
1-female xlr to 1/4” male (goes from output of the console to DI input
2- a DI (a direct input device that can take an instrument or line level device like a keyboard and make it mic level) you don't need an expensive active DI for this use but you do need a DI with an actual transformer inside.
3- a XLR female to a mono T-R mini jack
This will work but there are far better ways
The use of a small mixer designed for just this use between your output and the ATM it should be located with the ATM. They have a USB output than can be directly connected to the ATM and configured in the ATM software
These mixers have XLR inputs (some just one or two) most are capable of padding down (reducing the level) to match the mixers needs
They also have 1/4” and rca outputs if a device the audio needs to be sent to can’t take the digital input then a simple L+R rca cable to a stereo 1/8” mini will suffice. The ATM 1/8” mini input being configured for stereo line input.
As to your console setup. You need to create a separate mic to feed the ATM. All the EQ settings used to make the main output to the PA system will sound horrible on anything else but the PA system
? Why is the PA suystem even on to begin with if there is no audience?? You will have far far better results if the mics arn’t being amplified only to be picked up yet again by other mics. That sound will be hollow and empty!
You need to make separate mix to feed the record/broadcast!
Use an AUX send routed to an unused OMNI output
If the PA must be used for some stupid reason depending on your skill level and attention span doing a school show
Make the AUX mix a post fader but exclude the channel strip EQ so you can make it different from the PA feed EQ’s
With this setup muting and fading mics happens on both main and PA outputs simultaneously.
If your wide awake and paying attention make the aux mix PRE fader Pre EQ it will sound the best but you will have to be working in 2 layers continuously!
Whatever method make a macro thst takes you instantly to the aux mix and mix on faders!! I can’t stress this enough.
If any hymns or buzzes arise be sure all the streaming equipment is plugged into the same service and same phase as the pa gear. If nessary run power cable from the same outlets powering your console to the streaming gear to eliminate ground loops
Good luck
You've got to keep an ear open for those: "If any hymns or buzzes arise"
"same phase as the pa gear. If nessary" Is "nessary" a HOW term?
@TimMc Can you recall hearing any buzzy hymns? Is "nessary" in your Funk & Wagnall??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Last edited:
You've got to keep an ear open for those: "If any hymns or buzzes arise"
"same phase as the pa gear. If nessary" Is "nessary" a HOW term?
@TimMc Can you recall hearing any buzzy hymns? Is "nessary" in your Funk & Wagnall??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

I am aware of some individuals getting a buzz while singing hymns... or perhaps it's before singing... and some baptistries have become electrified but the buzz is brief and frequently terminal :(

If we're Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft, perhaps Chic Corea's Hymn to the Seventh Galaxy would be appropriate (RIP, Chic).

As for Nessary - I believe it's for things pertaining to the character "Nessa Rose", the baby sister of Elphaba in WICKED! and on whom Dorothy's house (actually her Auntie Em and Uncle Bill's house) lands in The Wizard of Oz.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back