A fuming England hierarchy were on Wednesday night considering a formal protest at the decision review system, believing technology has failed them.
England remain convinced Australia's centurion Carey was out, caught behind, when on 72 on Wednesday's opening day of the third Test at Adelaide Oval.
The tourists reviewed the initial not out decision but Carey survived as replays showed a noise spike before the ball had reached his bat.
The technology's operators, BBG, conceded after play an operator error was most likely.
"Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing," BBG founder Warren Brennan said in a statement.
"In light of this, BBG Sports takes full responsibility for the error."
Carey survived to make 106 which helped Australia reach 8-326 at stumps on day one in Adelaide, as they attempt to take a 3-0 lead and wrap up the series.
"I thought there was a bit of a feather or some sort of noise when it passed the bat," Carey admitted after play.
"It looked a bit funny on the replay, didn't it, with the noise coming early.
"If I was given out, I think I would have reviewed it, probably not confidently, though. It was a nice sound as it passed the bat.
"Snicko obviously didn't line up, did it?
"It's just the way cricket goes sometimes, isn't it, you have a bit of luck and maybe it went my way today."
England's bowling coach David Saker said the not out verdict bewildered the visitors.
"They boys were pretty confident," Saker said.
"I think the calibration of snicko (has been) out quite a bit and that's been probably the case for the series.
"There's been some things that don't really measure up.
"And at that stage, I can't remember the exact score, but it was a pretty important decision.
"So those things hurt but we'll get through it.
"But you'd think in this day and age, you would think the technology is good enough to pick things up like that."
Australia were 6-245 at the time of the flashpoint.
It is the second Snicko drama of the series, after England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was given out after a lengthy review during their second-innings collapse in Perth.
Asked if England had officially raised objections, Saker replied: "No, I don't think we've done anything about it so far, but I'd say maybe that might change.
"There's been concerns about it for the whole series.
"We shouldn't be talking about that after a day of play, it should just be better than that."
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