Footage started importing into Premiere 3 frames out of sync

[Fly Line Prods]

Hello!  I've been editing with Premiere for years.  I shoot most of my footage on a Sony A7s iii at a constant frame rate of 23.97 fps and record my audio through the Sony XLR-K3M and directly onto the same media card that my video goes to.

I've used Premiere 2020-22, and always imported the footage directly from the files on the media card, and everything has been fine... until a couple months ago.  Suddenly, all of my audio was consistently 3 frames behind my video.  I haven't changed anything about my workflow, other than upgrading to a dual channel wireless mic (from single channel) and recording 4 channels of audio instead of 2.

This is the test I ran:  I rolled on footage of myself talking with both the older mic and the newer mic.  I played both clips back in the camera, and they were both in sync.  Then I imported both clips into Premiere 2022, and they were both out sync when I viewed them on the source monitor and when I put them into a sequence.  Sure enough, when I slid all the audio forward 3 frames, everything was spot on.  I went back to look at some of my older projects to see if I had just missed them being out of sync, but no, they were perfectly in sync.

Any ideas why I'm suddenly having this problem?

My specs:

Premiere 2022 v22.6.3 (Build 2)

2018 MBP running OS Catalina v10.15.7

[Kevin-Monahan]

Run both media files through Media Info and screenshot the tree view. Post those screenshots here. Usually, it's a second system sound problem where one device recorded 23.976 FPS and the other recorded true 24.0 FPS. The other possibility is an audio bug; the Premiere Pro team can help you verify that in the bugs forum.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Fly Line Prods]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "run both media files through media info and screenshot the tree view."  Were you referring to Properties?  I did grab screen shots of one timeline in sync and another one that was out of sync.  

Audio in both cases was recorded directly to camera, not to a separate audio recorder.  The only thing that was different between the two -- and I haven't had a chance to run further troubleshooting tests on this, is that all of the in sync recordings were shot with 2 chanels of audio, and the out of sync recordings were shot with 4 channels of audio.

[Peru Bob]

One clip is 23.976 fps and one clip is 23.98 fps.

You may want to see what  MediaInfo says:
https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

[Fly Line Prods]

I ran a few more tests.

Test #1

Recorded 4 channels of audio with XLR-K3M (Sony A7s iii attachment that allows pro mics to plug directly into the camera)

input = digital

Test #2

Recorded 2 channels of audio with XLR-K3M 

input = digital

Test #3

Recorded 2 channels of audio with XLR-K3M 

input = analog

The results of all three tests were the same.  The audio was consistently 3 frames behind the video.  When I slid the audio track forward 3 frames, everything was perfectly in sync.

I output all three test videos, but the file was too large to upload here.  But it's on public Dropbox folder.

What seems so strange to me is that I haven't had this problem in the past, and now it's consistent.  Is there any setting in Premiere that could have inadvertently been changed that would affect this?  Or for that matter, is there a way to just automatically offset the audio 3 frames ahead when importing (without generating those out of sync flags in each clip)? 

[lizcelotto]

I had a similar issue recently. I also recently started using Soundcore Space A40 when editing. Wonderful sound and not tethered to a headphone's cable. Guess what? There is a sync delay in the audio from the earbuds! I kid you not.

Though the audio and video appear to be in sync on the timeline - no off frame warning sign, it looks like the sync is off and I adjust accordingly- just a few frames. My client alerted me about his final file's sync being off. I went back to check and there is truly a different syncing experience between listening with the earbuds and listening through speakers or through cabled headphones. The earbuds are the problem.

I have other truly mystifying issues with Premiere like why does audio from a completely unopened project end up on another project's export file.

[Michael Del Polito]

Any update on this?  I am having the exact same problem and am looking for a fix that doesn't involve manually adjusting every file.

[Fly Line Prods]

No update that I’ve seen. I’m on v23.1 currently and my Sony A7s iii footage consistently imports 3 frames out of sync. When I play footage on camera directly from card, it appears to be in sync.