I just got a new Osmo Pocket 3 a few days ago.  I updated the firmware.

1)  When using the camera without the Mic 2, it appears to record in stereo.  This is good.
2)  When using with Mic 2, it appears Mic 2 is mono in the video file (this is fine), but the internal camera mics only record mono in the back up audio file (bad).
Can I make it record from the camera in stero?  It has 3 microphones.  Seems it should be able to handle recording at least 2 channels (3 would be better, but is probably asking too much).  I can't find a setting for this.
Thanks.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When Osmo Pocket 3 is connected to TWO DJI Mic 2 transmitters simultaneously, stereo audio recording mode can be used. Please note that at present, the DJI Mic 2 transmitters are not available for individual purchase. When you buy the Osmo Pocket 3 Creator combo, only one Mic 2 transmitter is provided. As a result, stereo recording mode is not supported. Thank you for your understanding.

DJI Paladin Posted at 12-5 19:05
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. When Osmo Pocket 3 is connected to TWO DJI Mic 2 transmitters simultaneously, stereo audio recording mode can be used. Please note that at present, the DJI Mic 2 transmitters are not available for individual purchase. When you buy the Osmo Pocket 3 Creator combo, only one Mic 2 transmitter is provided. As a result, stereo recording mode is not supported. Thank you for your understanding.

Thanks for the quick reply.  I understand that the single mic2 is obviously mono.  That isn't my issue.
When using the mic2 with the camera, the camera is ALSO only mono, despite being saved in a separate audio file.  If I turn the mic2 off, then the camera records just fine in stereo.  
So I have 2 files.
1: video file with either stereo audio from camera, if mic2 not in use or mono audio from mic2, if it is in use. (Both are as expected)
2. Separate audio-only file with stereo audio from camera, if mic2 not in use (as expected) or mono audio from camera  if mic2 is in use (this is not as expected, since it should be the camera's stereo audio, as of the latest firmware update).

fans33d75fd3 Posted at 12-5 19:26
Thanks for the quick reply.  I understand that the single mic2 is obviously mono.  That isn't my issue.
When using the mic2 with the camera, the camera is ALSO only mono, despite being saved in a separate audio file.  If I turn the mic2 off, then the camera records just fine in stereo.  
So I have 2 files.

Thank you for your response. This is normal. As long as you are using one DJI Mic 2 connected to the camera, it will not support stereo recording unless you are using TWO sets of DJI Mic 2 transmitter simultaneously. We totally understand this request of yours and will continue to record this and forward to our relevant team for attention. We appreciate your understanding.

Hmmm.  It may be "normal" but it's not well implemented.  There is no reason at all for the wave format file created from the three internal mic capsules to be reduced to mono if the DJI Mic 2 happens to be in use.  The Mic 2 and the internal mics are two different sources writing to two different files (wave and AAC).  If the user did want the wave file to be in mono, that can be accompished when editing.  But if the user wants it to be in stereo to capture the ambience of the scene, and it's been recorded in mono, there's no way to convert mono to stereo.

At the moment, to create a stereo wave file from the internal mics while using a wireless mic for the video track, it is necessary to use the original DJI mic via its receiver plugged into the Pocket 3 via USB-C.  Or, as in the video I posted in the main thread discussing this problem, you can use a 3rd party wireless mic.  It is rather unfortunate that the DJI Mic 2 sold in the combo pack cannot be used in this siituation at the moment.

Please do think about the proposal I made whereby when using the new audio backup option, the existing audio menu should be retained so that the audio being written to the wave format file from the internal mics can be configured exactly as usual, but with the unused quadrant of that menu (lower right corner) being used to take the user to a separate submenu for configuring the audio going to the AAC component of the video file from the external device.  This would give the greatest usage flexibility and options, and there would appear to be no techical reason why it can't be done.

DJI Paladin Posted at 12-7 02:31
Thank you for your response. This is normal. As long as you are using one DJI Mic 2 connected to the camera, it will not support stereo recording unless you are using TWO  sets of DJI Mic 2 transmitter simultaneously. We totally understand this request of yours and will continue to record this and forward to our relevant team for attention. We appreciate your understanding.

From a feature point of view, this issue makes no sense.  From a software programming point of view, I fully understand how it happened, and see it as a purely software bug which should be a fairly quick fix with the next release.

In the meantime, can I just plug in ANY USB-C mic, wired or wireless, and get the stereo output from the camera to the backup audio file, as well as the Mic2 on one of the, presumably, now two audio channels on the video?  

fans33d75fd3 Posted at 12-7 14:57
From a feature point of view, this issue makes no sense.  From a software programming point of view, I fully understand how it happened, and see it as a purely software bug which should be a fairly quick fix with the next release.

In the meantime, can I just plug in ANY USB-C mic, wired or wireless, and get the stereo output from the camera to the backup audio file, as well as the Mic2 on one of the, presumably, now two audio channels on the video?

In the spirit of pure research, I tried it.  Only one external audio source can be active at any one time.  The Mic 2 wireless mic is given priority, so if you plug in a USB-C mic, when the Mic 2 is subsequently turned on, the USB-C mic is replaced as the input source by the wireless mic.  Messages on the screen tell you what is being used.  Turn off the wireless mic and the USB-C mic is reactivated, again with a message.  All in line with my expectations, not in line with your hopes, sorry!

(Yes, I tried it the other way round too - USB-C is ignored if connected after Mic 2).

fansfe82067d Posted at 12-7 18:40
In the spirit of pure research, I tried it.  Only one external audio source can be active at any one time.  The Mic 2 wireless mic is given priority, so if you plug in a USB-C mic, when the Mic 2 is subsequently turned on, the USB-C mic is replaced as the input source by the wireless mic.  Messages on the screen tell you what is being used.  Turn off the wireless mic and the USB-C mic is reactivated, again with a message.  All in line with my expectations, not in line with your hopes, sorry!

(Yes, I tried it the other way round too - USB-C is ignored if connected after Mic 2).

I was afraid that might happen with dissimilar mics.  Thanks for testing it out.

fans33d75fd3 Posted at 12-7 14:57
From a feature point of view, this issue makes no sense.  From a software programming point of view, I fully understand how it happened, and see it as a purely software bug which should be a fairly quick fix with the next release.

In the meantime, can I just plug in ANY USB-C mic, wired or wireless, and get the stereo output from the camera to the backup audio file, as well as the Mic2 on one of the, presumably, now two audio channels on the video?

We appreciate your feedback. I will gather this concern of yours as a suggestion and will forward this to our developers for future consideration. Thank you for your understanding and support

This really should be a feature. From a creative perspective using the internal mics to record ambience to a stereo external audio file while the main video records the mono mic track is BY FAR  the best default answer.

Being able to choose Mono / Stereo for this backup track is a software option that should be included in a future firmware.

I’m on my travels in India with the P3 right now and I’m having to use the Mic 2 all the time as it’s so noisy here -  it’s hard to concentrate on my voice, but I loose so much of the environment. The Backup Audio feature in stereo would complete it.

There is already a thread about this (with a conclusion) which you may find helpful called Audio Recording Logic - Mono/Stereo

djiuser_YtM9llHT8aUI Posted at 12-28 23:21
This really should be a feature. From a creative perspective using the internal mics to record ambience to a stereo external audio file while the main video records the mono mic track is BY FAR  the best default answer.

Being able to choose Mono / Stereo for this backup track is a software option that should be included in a future firmware.

While far from ideal, I've ended up detaching the mic2 from the pocket 3 and use it to record independently.  It's definitely a sub-optimal workaround, though.  Hopefully they fix this soon.

djiuser_ITbqYOIlCxmG Posted at 12-29 00:31
There is already a thread about this (with a conclusion) which you may find helpful called Audio Recording Logic - Mono/Stereo

It has to be fairly straightforward - anyway thanks for the link. Nice to see it’s going to be considered.

fans33d75fd3 Posted at 12-29 03:54
While far from ideal, I've ended up detaching the mic2 from the pocket 3 and use it to record independently.  It's definitely a sub-optimal workaround, though.  Hopefully they fix this soon.

With pieces to camera it’ll mean resyncing all the audio in an editor for those clips using both. The clips will all have different lengths, which I could imagine makes it all a little messy. A work around though… thanks

djiuser_YtM9llHT8aUI Posted at 12-29 10:14
With pieces to camera it’ll mean resyncing all the audio in an editor for those clips using both. The clips will all have different lengths, which I could imagine makes it all a little messy. A work around though… thanks

It does require resync.  Both editors I've used for video have sync audio functions, though, which make it pretty painless.
One thing I did learn, though, is to ALWAYS stop audio when you stop video, then restart it when you restart the video.  That way, each audio file corresponds to one, and only one, video file.  Makes it a lot easier when you go to reassemble stuff later.

fans33d75fd3 Posted at 12-29 10:24
It does require resync.  Both editors I've used for video have sync audio functions, though, which make it pretty painless.
One thing I did learn, though, is to ALWAYS stop audio when you stop video, then restart it when you restart the video.  That way, each audio file corresponds to one, and only one, video file.  Makes it a lot easier when you go to reassemble stuff later.

Thank you - really appreciate that. Yes I use Davinci which does a great job of syncing,

The biggest issue with the internal mics is always wind noise when recording ambience. The P3 could do with tiny stick on foam or something…

djiuser_YtM9llHT8aUI Posted at 12-29 21:19
Thank you - really appreciate that. Yes I use Davinci which does a great job of syncing,

The biggest issue with the internal mics is always wind noise when recording ambience. The P3 could do with tiny stick on foam or something…

I tend to leave the wind noise setting on all the time.  It's a pretty good implementation, having no effect that I can hear when there's not enough wind to trigger it, and when it does cut in, it does a reasonable job of cutting down on the noise while avoiding a horribly processed sound.  Part of what it does is to narrow the stereo image but if the choice is between that and a whole lot of noise, I'll take temporary mono.  There are a number of YT videos about making DIY muffs for the Pocket series cameras.