Issue with audio on Weapon 6k mg w DSMC2 expander

[Jeremy Green]

Curious if anyone else has run into this issue: I'm running an external audio recorder that I plug an XLR mic into and then a 3.5 line out from there recorder to plug into the DSMC2 V lock I/O. It works about 60-70% of the time. 40% of the time there is a rhythmic static noise (fortunately I doubled up and recorded onto a card via the external recorder). Seems to be random and independent of any settings. We did a shoot with 5 interviews, 3 were fine, 2 had the noise.

The next day we used a wireless lav mic. Worked great for about 2 hours, then I noticed it started making the noise. When I rebooted the camera it was solved.

Obviously I'm a little paranoid now and plan on using a back up recording device for any and all client videos, I wonder if its an issue with the extension unit or the camera?

Oh, one last question, do all RED setups that can record audio have that delay or is the problem solved when you step up to the PRO I/O? Its driving me crazy.


Thanks dudes!

 

[Maz Mawlawi]

We have similar issued with The Epic W and standard I/O expander (non v lock). It's random audio issues and the noise disappear after a reboot. We are paranoid as well and have started doubling up audio as well. So far the audio quality and reliability on the new DSMC2 bodies is not as good as the old system. Doing some searching it seems a decent amount of people feel this way.

 

[Mike Weber]

I have the same issue plus TWO MORE. We are running an EPIC-W with the V-Lock Expander.
If the camera is powered by the AC supply there is a low hum. We tried all different sources and the same thing happened each time. So we have to run on battery and it goes away.
If we connect a monitor to the SDI port we get another level of high pitched whine. So we cant use that port.
Then all was clear until we hit record. That started the noise that sounds like it's some sort of a digital sync. This is REALLY a problem. Our EPIC MX never had this.
Re-booting does nothing to correct it. Suggestions?

 

[Michael Tiemann]

I have reported similar problems to RED. In the first case it was an S35 Helium. Looking at the noise (down at the audio dample level) i saw a regular period dropout of 256 samples across all 4 audio channels (scratch mics and line inputs).

I managed to reproduce the problem on a second S35, but instead of nearly digital zeros, the 256 samples were highly attenuated.

I could not reproduce the problem on a 3rd S35. And I could not again reproduce the problem on either of the first two cameras. Rebooting seemed to fix the problem for me.

I always record audio to my SoundDevices 970, so nothing lost. But I hope they track down the problem. This was with Beta 6.24 firmware.

 

[Mike Weber]

We just fired up the camera after a morning shoot where we had the noise show up when we started recording.

Upon re-start this afternoon the problem was worse. The noise was there immediately. It was gone when using the internal camera mics. Going direct with a Sennheiser wireless receiver it was worse. Totally un-useable actually. We did a reboot and the problem was gone completely. It would not exhibit itself in pause or when recording. We then attached the SDI monitor which was another level of noise yesterday, and it was gone. Same for HDMI or any cross-configuration of accessory connections.
Yes, we roll an external audio recorder, but for most projects we have always used the on camera audio with great results. I'd rather not have to add that layer to the process when it's not critical. But a potential noise floor like this is not good in any project.

This seems like a bug that needs to be addressed, not one that relies on a crap shoot of re-boots to clear it up.

 

[Mike Weber]

We are still having the same AC hum and clicking problem when using the V-lock expander. Working on battery power, the clicking problem showed up for the first time on a shoot the other day after the camera had been on of over an hour. It would not go away when re-booted. We had never had this problem before. We also took off all attached devices to see if it was coming from them with no change.
When I tried to repeat the problem the next day in the studio, it would not click. Even when leaving the camera on through three batteries.
I just recalled that back to our early RED ONE days (8 years ago) we had a similar issue that was related to the smart lens mount. We actually told to put a small piece of tape over the connectors to temporarily correct the issue, which then was fixed by RED with a firmware update.
Is RED looking at these issues?

 

[Brett_M]

I had this happen last night for the first time on my epic-w!
I'll upload the audio later today.

So many weird random issues with this epic-w that i never had with an 800+ hour used Epic Dragon! I'm running firmware that RED sent me last week to screen blacking out, but it returned me to the audio pop issue, then last night this crazy noise! and my monitor is hot all the time. :/