Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

You are correct, there is no way to notice an audio sync issue on a sub-frame level if that's the only audio track in use. However if you are combining tracks there will be a delay effect.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

That's ok, I was wondering about the reasoning behind the concern.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

FCP, like Premiere mentioned above has the ability to shift the audio track in smaller increments.
From Apple:

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

I don't know how to eliminate the problem, other than placing a wired mic close to the source. Due to the speed of sound being 1,126ft/sec, video shot at 24fps, will have an audio delay of 1/2 frame for every 23 feet of distance between the source and the mic. I haven't done any testing with my wireless, but I'd think the processing electronics would introduce a small amount of delay which would be more constant (easier to fix in post) as opposed to shooting near and far subjects where the distance the sound travels causes a variable amount of delay.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

hello , again, I also seem to have some performance issues with fcp(7). I used to be able to listen to audo playing at a faster speed in the viewer, but that seems to be gone. And material in the timeline will sometimes not play directly but show the colorball and for several seconds not play, then I will hear the mediadrive. Now I have a 2011 27 inch Imac full specs, two drives 1 TB Sata drive (MEDIA) and flash drive for the programs and OS. I maxed out the memory and have a good benchmark score so I cannot be the computer. I edit in proress material from my 5D. Could it be the speed difference between the flash drive and SATA drive?

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

A flash drive? I hope you don't mean one of those USB sticks. Those are much too slow and the USB connection isn't so fast either. Preferably the OS (and by default the programs) should be on the internal drive but it can be on an external drive connected by FireWire800 or Thunderbolt. USB can be used but it will slow down the computer.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

There's no delay in analogue processing, and to be honest, my digital radios to all intents and purposes have negligible delay. Distance is the key.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

no both are internal drives, latest fastest technology.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

Download the free AJA system test program from their website, run the tests with the file dimensions you are using (probably 1920x1080) and see what speeds you are getting from your media drives. How are your SATA drives connected to the iMac, FireWire or Thunderbolt? Generally if you have high quality solid state drives you should call them SSDs so not to confuse them with the cheap thumb flash drives that are everywhere.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

yes I have one SSD drive and one sata drive, they came preinstalled. The disk whack test score is 80 mb/s for the media(sata) drive. How well is that ? I have also one lacie external sata drive, firewire connected (800) that gives almost the same score.

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

80 is good. More than enough for ProRes. How full are the drives? Have you ever run a disk repair program such as Diskwarrior?

Re: 1/2 frame difference audio
 

Thanks William, I figured it out, everytime I could hear the drive starting up and because of that the color ball appeared. Its a new computer and I simply forgot to change the settings !! my drive kept going in to sleep mode....I feel a bit stupid...