Blackmagic Design UltraStudio 4K Mini (BM-BDLKULSDMINI4K)

Simple connectivity to my Mac with Thunderbolt 3. Inputs & Outputs HD to 4k using Adobe Premier and DaVinci Resolve

I've been torn about this device ever since I bought it, and after several months using it in a variety of situations, I think it's time to write the review. As background, I'm a professional audio engineer, and a broadcast video producer for the Air Force. I'm also a YouTuber, and do a bit of streaming to Facebook and Twitch as well.Overall, the 4K Mini does some specific jobs well enough, but there are so many little UX frustrations that all add up to this being a disappointing purchase for the way I had hoped to be able to use it.I'll put the good up front. If you are looking for a device to capture uncompressed DCI 4K directly to your computer, this is it. The quality of the capture is excellent, especially when coming out of a worthy camera. It's got all the connections you need for everything up to, and including high end 4K Cinema cameras. If uncompressed capture is your primary use case, and you don't need much else, then you should read my review as more of a 4-4.5 star review. It does its main function perfectly fine.If you are looking to stream to YouTube, Twitch, etc. this will also work for that, with some caveats. More on that in a bit. I've used it with both OBS and Wirecast, and it is easily recognized in both applications.Now, for the not so good.My original hope for this device was that it could possibly be my new portable studio centerpiece of I/O for both audio and video production. I think this device really could be a game changer for multi-disciplinary content creators with some UX/UI and firmware tweaks. Unfortunately, it just can't fill that role in it's current state. None of these things individually are deal breakers, but when you add them all up, it's just kind of a baffling mix of limitations.1) Do not expect to be able to get any feedback from the device to test connections until you are basically almost ready to go. You will not see video on the mini display until thunderbolt is plugged in to the computer AND a valid application on the computer is actively drawing a video feed. If there's power to the device, why can I not at least see audio meters and the raw video feed? I have to open up Media Express or Wirecast, etc. before it even displays anything on the screen, just to start seeing what signal levels are getting to the hardware.2) Audio is probably the biggest weakpoint overall, but there are a few distinct issues. For one, whether I use the analog inputs, embedded audio, or the mic input, it is incredibly difficult to get a good, usable signal. I have used multiple preamps, microphones, etc. with proper gain staging between the devices, and it doesn't send a usable signal to the software. In one test, the audio recorder was sending a signal that was audibly clipping at the output stage, and when it got into the mini, it barely registered at -32dB. There is only one place to adjust the input gain, and it's not helpful.3) There is a microphone input on the device. If you are recording audio into the mic input and you monitor yourself talking, there is no way to adjust the input buffer. Basically, there's always audible delay if you try to monitor yourself. Additionally, there has to be a video signal present, and the audio channels aren't individually addressable.4) The user interface, button layout and menu navigation just aren't well thought out. I've been using the device for months, and I still accidentally hit the wrong button for the submenu that I actually want. Some options require a button press, others require scrolling on the scroll wheel, some menus scroll down the screen, others don't.Altogether, for a device at this price point, it just feels like rushed/incomplete design and cut corners.So, I'm using it for video, and it works well for that. But I basically still need to keep other gear with me to be able to make up for the audio shortcomings.Again, I hope Blackmagic Design can address some of these things with firmware, but my guess is it's just not the focus of this product.

I could not get this working with my Mac at first. My Mac was not detecting the BlackMagic device. I called BlackMagic Tech support and they could not figure out the problem. They recommended that I return it because it appeared to be dead. The replacement came two days later with the same issue. How could this be possible? Two $1000 units that were DOA. I think not. So me and one of the other guys here researched forums and figured out that the USB-C cable that is included with Macbook Pros is ONLY for power, not data. You need to buy a true USB-C thunderbolt cable if you want this to work properly. The tech support guys should have known this. The first unit was fine I am sure. Now that it is working, I love it.

I am really happy with Blackmagic. They have great products. It must be something really bad with this particular one though: I bought 2 items, one from Amazon, one from another source. Guess what? Both were completely dead. The screen wouldn't even light up. Not a cheap piece... I am giving it another try. If that doesn't work, you know the answer.

We have one of these in our office and I am totally satisfied with it and highly recommended. But when purchased another ultrastudio for our mobile studio, the box was empty and nothing was inside of it. :(

If you think you can record 4K on the Sd card you're mistaken. The Ultra studio is only an encoder (or pass through). The SD card feature only acts as a card reader to your computer and has issues with UHD 4K resolution. Even though I purchased the correct specs for the SD card it does not playback the 4K footage. Another downer is that the unit has to be connected to a computer in order for it to work. There is minimal control on the interface of the unit. It's all for looks unfortunately.

Great quality

This thing was a total waste of money, it won’t show a signal at all to the system on a Mac. Have tried tech support and have got no reply to help assist.