Audio quality in Dahua System

[Enrique Llorens]

Hi all.

My name is Enrique Llorens, and I work at a music school. Recently we acquired a Dahua System for our Main Hall consisting of a DM957VWFI-F4N1 camera and a DHI-XVR4104HS.
Our main purpose for acquiring this hardware isn't security, but recording all the activities done in the hall with a decent quality. Video quality its OK, but in terms of audio quality...we're having issues.

We have a system of mics in the hall connected to a mixer. Our idea was to connect the audio we get from the mics to the Audio-in of the DVR. Our first problem is that the DVR audio-in it's a monophonic one. I think we can deal with it.

But the real problem starts when we export recordings done with the system. We use Smart PSS to view and export the videos recorded by the camera. But when we export to .mp4 format, the sampling rate is only 16000 hz., and if we export in .avi format, the sampling rate is only 8000 Hz. Not a very good quality for a music school...!

It is possible export videos recorded with the cam with CD audio quality (44100 hz)? Is there any software that supports this sample rate? Or simply it's a hardware limitation and nothing can be done?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for my english.

Enrique

 

[looney2ns]

Hi all.

My name is Enrique Llorens, and I work at a music school. Recently we acquired a Dahua System for our Main Hall consisting of a DM957VWFI-F4N1 camera and a DHI-XVR4104HS.
Our main purpose for acquiring this hardware isn't security, but recording all the activities done in the hall with a decent quality. Video quality its OK, but in terms of audio quality...we're having issues.

We have a system of mics in the hall connected to a mixer. Our idea was to connect the audio we get from the mics to the Audio-in of the DVR. Our first problem is that the DVR audio-in it's a monophonic one. I think we can deal with it.

But the real problem starts when we export recordings done with the system. We use Smart PSS to view and export the videos recorded by the camera. But when we export to .mp4 format, the sampling rate is only 16000 hz., and if we export in .avi format, the sampling rate is only 8000 Hz. Not a very good quality for a music school...!

It is possible export videos recorded with the cam with CD audio quality (44100 hz)? Is there any software that supports this sample rate? Or simply it's a hardware limitation and nothing can be done?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for my english.

Enrique

Do you have the audio bit rate in the camera set as high as it can go?

 

[fenderman]

Buy a camcorder....

 

[Enrique Llorens]

Buy a camcorder....

Yes, a camcorder would be great... but our idea was to make recordings unattended. We can't keep an eye on the camcorder (not to say edit and process) in all our activities (more than 200 concerts and gigs annually). We need an fully automatic solution, even it has a cost in terms of quality. My question is if it's possible a better audio quality. If not, we will assume it.

Thanks for your answer

 

[Al*_*]

The best solution would be good imagery and good audio quality. Also with camcorders you would need an extra microphone so that wouldn't necessary would be the best advice (even if it was not meant serious).

Go with a good camera, separate lightning and separate audio. The problem with audio has been talked true here on the board. A nice thread for audio directly attached to the cam you find here

If you can afford a little bit more go with something more serious

https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/bullet-mic-review.13744/

 

[fenderman]

The best solution would be good imagery and good audio quality. Also with camcorders you would need an extra microphone so that wouldn't necessary would be the best advice (even if it was not meant serious).

Go with a good camera, separate lightning and separate audio. The problem with audio has been talked true here on the board. A nice thread for audio directly attached to the cam you find here

If you can afford a little bit more go with something more serious

it was meant seriously, camcorders have ok built in mics, and its cheap and easy to attach a great external mic....you need an external mic with an ip camera anyway....why would an external mic on a camera not be the best advice but an external mic on an ip camera be good advice?
using an ip camera to record a musical performance is like using a bike to move a piano..

 

[Al*_*]

you are right

 

[tangent]

using an ip camera to record a musical performance is like using a bike to move a piano..

I wonder if @Mike has ever used a bike to move a piano lol.

Recently we acquired a Dahua System for our Main Hall consisting of a DM957VWFI-F4N1 camera and a DHI-XVR4104HS....

We have a system of mics in the hall connected to a mixer. Our idea was to connect the audio we get from the mics to the Audio-in of the DVR. Our first problem is that the DVR audio-in it's a monophonic one. I think we can deal with it.

That camera isn't made by Dahua.

There are two options that make sense to me, recording the audio & video on a camcorder and recording the audio on a computer (preferably multi-track). The camcorder is actually a very good option. The audio codecs on an IP cam or DVR aren't optimized for music, most are codecs used for voip telephone calls. AAC is probably the best choice, but you can't set the bit rate and I'm sure it's pretty low. There's a big difference between an mp3 with a 64kpbs bit rate and one with a 256kbps bit rate.

There are tons of options for recording audio on a computer, you'll find more detailed information elsewhere. One of the simplest and free software options is Audacity. You'd have to add the audio to the video is post production. I don't think using an IP camera would actually save you from having to do video editing.

Surely there are some tech savvy students or teachers at the school that could help come up with a solution or help with the editing. Maybe it's time to add a video production class to the schedule.

There are probably also some ways you could mount a camcorder to keep it out of reach and even automate it's operation some, but this would likely exceed your budget.