Blackmagic Design announces new ATEM Microphone Converter

New from Blackmagic Design is the ATEM Microphone Converter, an audio analogue-to-digital converter that lets users add additional microphones to ATEM switcher models such as the new ATEM Television Studio HD8.

A MADI connection means customers don’t have to configure any complex settings because the connection is a simple BNC cable. The design features a low noise floor of -129dBV, a dynamic range of 131 dB(A), low distortion of 0.002% and uniform tolerances across all channels, as well as a monitoring output with scrolling waveform displays.

The microphone converter plugs into the ATEM Television Studio MADI port, so no complex setup is required and additional units can be daisy chained for more sources. Each converter has four analogue inputs that are mic/line selectable and have 48V phantom power.

The unit features a familiar converter-based design that has space for the analogue electronics required for high-quality analogue-to-digital audio conversion (ADC). It features combined XLR/TRS input sockets allowing both XLR or jack cables to be connected. It also includes a MADI output with the converted audio, as well as a MADI input which allows multiple ATEM Microphone Converters to be daisy chained so more than four channels of audio can be embedded into a single MADI connection.

The converter’s MADI output embeds the four analogue inputs as MADI channels 1, 2, 3 and 4. It also includes a MADI input, which is used to loop multiple converters when customers need more than four channels of audio on a single MADI link. This means if a second converter is connected to the input of another, the upstream converter will stack its four channels above the four channels on the downstream converter.

Each analogue input channel has an ultra-low noise, fixed gain preamplifier scaled to drive a high dynamic range audio ADC, which removes the need to use an analogue microphone preamplifier in the design, so the input does not suffer from preamp gain step clicks or ‘zipper noise’.

The ATEM Microphone Converter steps outside conventional audio industry design practice of using an individual audio ADC, as each input implements analogue-to-digital conversion using eight high dynamic range audio ADCs that function collectively as one ultra-high dynamic range audio ADC. This means each input channel’s dynamic range is 131 dB(A).

A common problem with mic converters is the higher noise floor where electrical noise is generated in the preamplifiers. The ATEM Microphone Converter eliminates this by incorporating a design where the input is converted directly using its ultra-high dynamic range conversion so customers pass RAW audio to the switcher where the switcher can then apply as much gain as required for the correct audio level. This means customers don’t get an injection of noise caused by an analogue gain stage; instead they get an low fixed noise floor of -129dBV regardless of digital gain applied.

With the wide dynamic range input that eliminates the need for an analogue preamplifier, microphone levels are adjusted by a digital preamplifier gain stage that allows compensation for the specific brand of microphone used. The digital preamplifier is processed in the full internal 32-bit RAW audio bit depth, so users are able to adjust with greater precision than the MADI audio standard can support.

The ATEM Microphone Converter also includes an HDMI video monitoring output so customers can connect a simple TV or computer monitor for a full status display. It includes four scrolling waveforms over the last 60 seconds of time. There are also audio meters to show the level at the input connector and indicators to show the switch settings for mic/line input selection and phantom power. Plus, if customers daisy chain converters the monitoring output will adapt and display more than four channels.

“We are very excited by this product because we spent a lot of time innovating on the analogue conversion design for incredibly high quality,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “We didn’t want to design a cheap converter, we wanted to design the best, so the benefit to customers is their microphones will have a very low noise floor so there is no background noise. The noise floor of this converter is lower than all the microphones we tested! That means any customer can get radio station audio quality without any technical knowledge. The converter does it all.”