Limited Audio Device Selection in Decklink Capture

[marshalleq]

Hi, perhaps I'm misunderstanding something, but it appears there is a more limited audio device selection in the decklink mode than in the Audio mode.

I am capturing audio from a Blackmagic Analog to SDI device, from a prosumer VCR which has unbalanced line outputs. Obviously the Blackmagic device has balanced inputs which creates sound that is quite quiet. Boosting the audio input by about 10db in the BM Analog capturing device mostly gets round the issue, but I'm fairly certain the audio quality is not quite up to par.

So I'd like to try one of my other Audio Capture devices such as Focusrite which is seen correctly in the Audio Tab. I thought this would be a simple matter to select it in the decklink tab, but it doesn't seem to be there, even though there is an analog option - not sure what that's for.

Has this been omitted due to audio sync issues or something? Or is there an easy way to capture the sound from something other than embedded SDI audio?

Thanks.

[privatezero]

Hi @marshalleq - the audio capture and decklink tabs function somewhat independently of each other and use different methods of capturing streams 'under the hood', so unfortunately it isn't possible to mix audio devices detected in the audio tab into video capture. The Analog option in the Decklink tab is for selecting analog input on Blackmagic devices that support it (Like the old Intensity Shuttles).

For your levels issue - have you checked the 'Use HiFi Audio Levels' box in the Blackmagic Desktop Video Setup app? That somewhat confusingly named option is what allows you to toggle between consumer and pro line level inputs on your Blackmagic device.

[marshalleq]

Thanks for the extra help here - I actually don't seem to have that option in my Ul, but I do have a slider which allows me to increase the gain. I've purchased a Behringer Ultra DI20 as well which is an active system to convert unbalanced to balanced audio, in the hopes it would sort out any noise issues that may be around. I guess this will have to do for now, unfortunately the Behringer doesn't increase the volume, so if I want to do that outside of the gain sliders, I'll have to get something else, perhaps a small mixing desk. I'm just a bit suspicious of the added noise from the Blackmagic, but I think it's actually the old tapes I'm using are probably mono track analog complete with tape hiss rather than the better stereo ones included in the helical scan. Thankfully there are wonderful noise reduction systems these days!