I don't see a checklist for audio on the XDCAM EX settings. And my quick test render found no issue:

Hmmm... I have that checked. See anything out of place with the other settings?

Can you share the MediaInfo data of the rendered XDCAM ?

Muted track? Muted master audio?

Do you have a silent audio stream in the rendered video or not audio stream at all?

(By the way, as a total aside, if you're doing red car renders etc., no need to introduce interlacing. I, and I assume the other testers, just rendered XDCAM EX in a custom template at 29.97p)

This is going to sound very newbie but where is the media file data located?

Also Nick... I used that because was the only one that used 29.970 fps... which one should I be using with a native frame rate of 29,970?

MediaInfo is an independent program you can download from the Internet.

ok... I downloaded and here's the results.

And found this in the tree (Audio).

Re-checked all my settings and re-rendered in XDCAM but still no audio... Rendered in MC and Sony and audio is there... Any ideas? other suggestions?

According to the file infos you posted the audio stream in your XDCAM file is present.

Did you try importing and playbacking the rendered XDCAM file in the Vegas Pro timeline?

Hmm...Have not tried that... I will do that now though and post results.

Also Nick... I used that because was the only one that used 29.970 fps... which one should I be using with a native frame rate of 29,970?

On the Video tab of the rendering Custom Settings, change Field order to Progressive. You can save then that as a new template if you want. Might not make much difference, and I am making an assumption that others were doing the same, but I wouldn't want you to get misled by results caused by rendering differently. By the way, it's not really a useful template in production, but seems to have been picked up as a benchmark.

Anyway, back to the audio topic...

This is strange but when I opened the rendered file in VP the audio does play... So why does it not play in the original rendered file? And yes Nick, I will try that too.

I just tried your suggestion Nick but did not change. No audio in the rendered file... but when I re-open it in VP, audio does play. Truth is, I never use XDCAM at all. I just started using the last few days to do the red car test since others were using that for comparison. Trying to get a few test renders compiled before they install the new card so I can have documented results with present card to compare against the new card. :)

I think the player you used just can't handle this kind of file correctly.

What player do you use? I use VLC and Win10's Movies & TV.

Windows Media Player (Version 12.0.7601.23517) My OS is windows 7 Pro... I downloaded VLC but have not installed it yet. Had any issues with this player at all?

I also noticed I'm unable to open any mov file too. I know this is a product of quicktime but what can be used, if anything to open mov files without installing quicktime?

I downloaded VLC but have not installed it yet. Had any issues with this player at all?

No. It's kind of a standard for getting thing played. Huge range of format support and all the codecs are built into it. It doesn't rely on your system having the codecs installed.

..but what can be used, if anything to open mov files without installing quicktime?

VLC.

K... I'll go forward with installing it... Thanks Nick.