I have recently bought both the Pocket 3 and the Mic Mini but it seems like the audio is not correct syncing with the video. The audio track is a few frames behind.

It seems I am not the only person having this issue, so I wondered if anyone has fixed it?

Thanks

Hi there. We're sorry for the trouble that this has caused. Because the audio signal of the wireless microphone needs to go through several links such as collection, wireless transmission, signal processing, and coding and packaging, there may be a minor delay.

When a video is recorded at a normal frame rate, the audio delay may be optimized to the effect that is almost the same as the view quality, and will not affect the audio-visual experience. However, when the recording frame rate is higher, such as at 100fps, the audio delay may be more obvious. Please refer to the recommendations below:

1. If possible, we recommend that you decrease the frame rate to 60fps and below to obtain better synchronous effect of soundtrack and picture.
2. If the shooting frame rate cannot be decreased, we recommend that you align the soundtrack through later processing.

This was recorded at 30fps, nothing out of the ordinary at all.

This clips were all under 2 minutes as well.

Does this mean that footage using the Osmo Pocket 3 and Mic Mini combined will never be usable in a "run and gun" context, always requiring the audio track to be separated and manually aligned?

Or is there a firmware update scheduled that can deal with the problem?

It's a big enough issue even for Chatgpt to know about it, so I'm clearly not the only person it's affecting.

Does it work ok with the standard DJI Mic?
Is this an issue that affects only the Mic Mini Transmitter?

IftiBashir Posted at 3-12 01:52
Does it work ok with the standard DJI Mic?
Is this an issue that affects only the Mic Mini Transmitter?

I only have the Mic Mini, but judging from the online chatter, it does seem to affect the Mic 2 as well.

All digital (2.4G and BT) wireless mic systems have latency. No exceptions. Some are lower latency, however (as low as 6ms)... the DJI mics are on the high side (around 20ms).  The only way to avoid this kind of latency is to use a UHF analogue system, such as the Sennheiser G4 and upwards. That is one reason why UHF still rules in the professional field. (+ much longer range and far less reliant upon line-of-sight).

Fair enough. Knowing this though, it shouldn't be beyond DJI's capability to make allowances for this in the way it lines up the audio and video tracks, considering it's an entirely digital product.

It kinda makes their marketing a little disingenuous too, as it's pitched as a perfect marriage between the two products.

As you'll see, most people do not have a real problem with this. Talking heads, interviews, vlogging, etc. The degree of latency is not typically noticeable for most use cases. For certain highly critical things, yes, it could be. In those cases splitting the audio and shifting the alignment in post should sort that out. Have to say that in over a year of using the Pocket 3 with both the DJI Mic 2 and more recently the Mic Mini I have never needed to do that. What are you filming where this causes an issue?  Another way around it would be to use a wired mic, rather than wireless. That will eliminate practically all latency.

I'm filming talking heads being interviewed, so yes, the syncronisation is obviously out. Not by a huge amount, but it's clearly noticable.

Then I can only suggest using a different system.  You could try the Rode Wireless Pro or Wireless Go II or III which does have some of the lowest latencies of any 2.4G system (around 6ms) but it is still there and may not satisfy you, or, as mentioned previously a UHF or hardwired mic.

What is and what is not acceptable is highly subjective.  The DJI Mic 2 chain measures around 23ms which is a lot higher than many. I have not tested it but I would guess that using the digital low cut filter and certainly NR on the mic would add to this as the more processing involved, the worse the delay. I do not ever have either turned on. It is beyond the threshold of being noticeable if you look for it, certainly. Generally, you need under 10ms for it to be practically imperceptible, though again, some say 20ms is imperceptible (which I feel is optimistic).  I have not tested the Mic Mini latency either, but appears to be similar.