Panasonic DMR ES10 no audio output?

[Jayce72]

Just got a Panasonic DMR ES-10 from Ebay that said is was fully working.

Using it as a TBC - input and output through Output 4. Pictures great but no sound at all. Even if I play a DVD - not a thing. If I plug the cables back into the VHS player - it's fine

Am I missing something or is it broken

P.S: I have tried other leads and still no joy
P.P.S: I have looked in the settings and cant see anything obvious

[lordsmurf]

NTSC ES10 can usually bypass audio with no drawbacks, VCR > capture card

For ES15 and others, there is a lag/delay, and you'll get sync issues with bypass.

These units are almost 20 years old, used, and too few were cared for. These were consumer items, so abused, jelly sandwiches in the CD tray. So finding duds is not unusual, though most have 000000 or various ERR type issues.

You said "lead", so assuming EU/UK here, so PAL, not NTSC. No bypass, at least not on my PAL ES10.

[hodgey]

Audio doesn't work properly on my PAL ES10 either, and neither does the S-Video input. I've seen some talk about the cause being video/audio switching chip developing problems but I'm not sure (The EH50 and EH60 are from the same generation as the ES10 with similar hardware, just more advanced models with HDD). In any case as noted you can bypass it with the audio cables and compensate for any potential delay in post. I don't remember the exact number but the PAL ES10 will introduce a slight delay since it is buffering the signal.

[latreche34]

Those 120+ pins chips are not easy to troublshoot or repair, They are litterally an entire circuit board system put on one 1" 1/2 square chip. Use it as a video only machine or just get another one, Sometimes it is just what it is.

[srmusico]

Hello guys . I was also here to create just a really similar post, wow.

I had bought days ago a great AJA KONA LHi with cables and the breakbox. Capture works like a charm, but have issues with the signal and sometimes drops (as i have read AJA is great but needs a good TBC to fix signal).
My VCR is a Philips Digital VHS VR 20D.

Now, for tests , have here my Panasonic DMR ES10 PAL, connected Passthru Svideo back port 4 , and output with SVideo port from Scart adapter (as i have read PAL version have better color output if you use the svideo port from scart).

Image now is stable and AJA seems to work perfectly without any dropframe. But, audio have a delay.

VCR audio output is directly to AJA input.
Do I have to pass into the ES10? i Think that maybe, passing from ES10 could degrade audio...

Thanks you so much for your help!

[latreche34]

Yes you will have to pass audio through the frame buffer of the ES10.

[srmusico]

And passing audio to ES10 won’t degrade the audio signal?
Thanks.

[latreche34]

Highly unlikely, at least not to the audible level, That's what they do to the video anyway, they convert it to digital, apply timing and other digital processing and convert back to analog, So you are okay with video but not okay with audio?
There are alternatives that don't convert back to analog resulting in a slightly better quality and stability but they are rare and very expensive, I would not recommend them to an average user.

[srmusico]

What about re-sync after in edition? the unsynchronized audio is lineal? Thanks!.

[Doohickey]

IMO there's no need to run the audio through the ES10 anyway, you'll only be introducing potential noise from its ageing internal electronics, mains hum, etc.

I've tested my ES10 PAL, it has about 120ms delay, the delay is constant. But I'd recommend also testing your own one. It may vary by using different outputs or inputs (The S-Video output I tested has different video processing from.the scart with S-Video adapter). It also varies by slightly by source VCR, etc... Test it by stepping through your video frame by frame where there's loud short sounds.

So if bypassing it, it means that you need to delay your audio to match, by 120ms either during capture or in editing afterwards. (move audio to the right relative to video, by three video frames, in your video editor).