Sign Video xlrPROJR at DVinfo.net

Dustin Waits · May 19th, 2004, 01:50 PM

I am buying an Audeo Technica AT897 for my trv950 soon. I'm going to be using it on a boom for shooting short movies and using it probably on camera (well on a side handle thing) for shooting on-the-go bmx footage. I was thinking of purchasing the xlrprojr from sign video. Does anyone here use it? To my understanding, its the same as the xlr pro, but with only one xlr input instead of two. Does it work just as well as the xlrpro? Also, I sometimes hear talk about "preamps". What are these? Will I need one? I'm planning on using some where around 10-15 feet (I'm guessing) of cable when using the boom if that makes a difference. Thanks.

Mike Rehmus · May 19th, 2004, 07:52 PM

I always seem to want more XLR inputs than I have. So you might want to think about the 2-input adapter. Sign makes good products.

You should not require a pre-amp. That is a short cable and should be no problem at all.

If you have a boom with an internal cable and the connector is on the butt of the boom, you may want to consider having (or building) a cable that has a right-angle female connector so when the inevitable happens, and the boom is set vertically, on the ground between takes, the cable is not broken by being bent right at the strain relief.

Bryan Beasleigh · May 19th, 2004, 07:59 PM

An impedance matching device will isolate the mic and cable run from the unbalanced input on your camcorder. Balanced cable will try and reject interference. The sign video, beach tek or even a matching transformer will do the job.

A preamp will amplify the mics output so it is fed into the camera at a much higher level. External preamps are of a lot higher quality than those onboard. The benifits of an external unit are many.

Do some reading on preamps and the different setups available. Type "preamp" into the search utility and read.

One of the more reasonable is the Beach tek DXA-8 ($370)

http://www.dvfreelancer.com/articles/beachtekDXA-8.html

http://www.beachtek.com/dxa8.html

You could also use a sound devices single channel ($300)

Read the links I've included. Both the Sound Devices and the Beach Tek support balanced inputs . The Sound devices MM1 has only one input but has top of the line electronics. lt has 65db of gain in 11 stages (click stops on a dial) that's more than enough gain for any application.

Both units have phantom power. Phantom power is a power supply that will allow you to use almost any microphone on he market. Without phantom you are stuck with battery operated mics and there are only a few decent ones. The AT 897 is one of the decent battery powered mics .

Both units have limiters. limiters will compress very loud sounds so they will record properly. without limiters , loud passages distort and you lose the audio all together.

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mp1master.htm

The Beach tek DXA-8 has two channels and attaches to the bottom of your camera

Dustin Waits · May 19th, 2004, 09:10 PM

Thanks all. The reason I decided with the projr instead of the pro is basically a money issue. And because of this, I'm glad a preamp won't be needed, otherwise I would be in trouble. As long as the projr works good and doesn't poop out on me, then it should be fine. I can wait for a later date to upgrade to the pro if I need too. Thanks for all the info!

Gareth Watkins · May 20th, 2004, 01:22 AM

Hi Dustin,
I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility.

Brian there recommended the Pro over the Junior for the simple reason that you will almost certainly in the future want to plug in more than one mic....
I didn't initially feel I'd need to, but only on my second shoot I found it a useful option....and was glad I'd gone for the larger unit.

The XLR Pro fits very nicely under the 950 body and now remains in place on my camera...(To my mind its a better place for a sound unit than on top like the PDX10, for example, as the camera is nicely balanced with it in place)

It's a nicely made metal unit, if somewhat homemade looking, like most of the small industry US made sound and flash add-ons I've bought over the years (like Quantum flash batteries and Lumydine studio flashes). But they all do the job very well and are tough.

It has allowed me to plug in a variety of mics and as long as they are either battery powered or dynamic they work fine... I use a shotgun mic with the unit and often a headset / mic combo for interviews...

The XLR Pro has two extra mini jack inputs so I can plug in a wired (can't afford wireless yet) Lav mic...
The sound levels can all be nicely balanced and has given me sound far far superior to the on board mic....

I got mine for 140 dollars US... it's worth the extra 50$

With this unit I've used cable up to 7metres (about 20ft) the guy at Zotz reckons it will handle 50 feet with no problem....

Cheers

Gareth

Bryan Beasleigh · May 20th, 2004, 10:26 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Gareth Watkins : Hi Dustin,
I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility. -->>>

The unit is passive and offers no preamplification. It's simply a matching transformer with attenuation. It may also provide some redimantary mixing capabilities.

Mike Rehmus · May 20th, 2004, 12:16 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Bryan Beasleigh : <<<-- Originally posted by Gareth Watkins : Hi Dustin,
I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility. -->>>

The unit is passive and offers no preamplification. It's simply a matching transformer with attenuation. It may also provide some redimantary mixing capabilities. -->>>

But it works well in most situations. Not everyone needs a pre-amp for their work. With a limited budget, the passive adapter is a good choice. The Sign Video products are rugged and last a long time even in the hands of less-than-gentle users.

Bryan Beasleigh · May 20th, 2004, 08:51 PM

I still have my battle scarred beach and there is nothing really that can go wrong with either unit. My only point was that it does not boost the signal as Gareth had noted.

Truth is anyone can get away with a $9.50 adapter cable. At the worst they may have to have a 50 cent capacitor soldered into the XLR to block any dc from the camera. Chances are that won't happen.

I've used them on a TRV20 and a VX2000.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=158476&is=REG

May 19th, 2004, 01:50 PM	#1
Dustin Waits Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Myers Beach, Fl Posts: 243	Sign Video xlrPROJR I am buying an Audeo Technica AT897 for my trv950 soon. I'm going to be using it on a boom for shooting short movies and using it probably on camera (well on a side handle thing) for shooting on-the-go bmx footage. I was thinking of purchasing the xlrprojr from sign video. Does anyone here use it? To my understanding, its the same as the xlr pro, but with only one xlr input instead of two. Does it work just as well as the xlrpro? Also, I sometimes hear talk about "preamps". What are these? Will I need one? I'm planning on using some where around 10-15 feet (I'm guessing) of cable when using the boom if that makes a difference. Thanks.

May 19th, 2004, 07:52 PM	#2
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	I always seem to want more XLR inputs than I have. So you might want to think about the 2-input adapter. Sign makes good products. You should not require a pre-amp. That is a short cable and should be no problem at all. If you have a boom with an internal cable and the connector is on the butt of the boom, you may want to consider having (or building) a cable that has a right-angle female connector so when the inevitable happens, and the boom is set vertically, on the ground between takes, the cable is not broken by being bent right at the strain relief. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

May 19th, 2004, 07:59 PM	#3
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	An impedance matching device will isolate the mic and cable run from the unbalanced input on your camcorder. Balanced cable will try and reject interference. The sign video, beach tek or even a matching transformer will do the job. A preamp will amplify the mics output so it is fed into the camera at a much higher level. External preamps are of a lot higher quality than those onboard. The benifits of an external unit are many. Do some reading on preamps and the different setups available. Type "preamp" into the search utility and read. One of the more reasonable is the Beach tek DXA-8 ($370) http://www.dvfreelancer.com/articles/beachtekDXA-8.html http://www.beachtek.com/dxa8.html You could also use a sound devices single channel ($300) Read the links I've included. Both the Sound Devices and the Beach Tek support balanced inputs . The Sound devices MM1 has only one input but has top of the line electronics. lt has 65db of gain in 11 stages (click stops on a dial) that's more than enough gain for any application. Both units have phantom power. Phantom power is a power supply that will allow you to use almost any microphone on he market. Without phantom you are stuck with battery operated mics and there are only a few decent ones. The AT 897 is one of the decent battery powered mics . Both units have limiters. limiters will compress very loud sounds so they will record properly. without limiters , loud passages distort and you lose the audio all together. http://www.sounddevices.com/products/mp1master.htm The Beach tek DXA-8 has two channels and attaches to the bottom of your camera __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ".......holy smokin rubber lips...what a ride!"

May 20th, 2004, 10:26 AM	#6
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	<<<-- Originally posted by Gareth Watkins : Hi Dustin, I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility. -->>> The unit is passive and offers no preamplification. It's simply a matching transformer with attenuation. It may also provide some redimantary mixing capabilities. __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ".......holy smokin rubber lips...what a ride!"

May 20th, 2004, 12:16 PM	#7
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	<<<-- Originally posted by Bryan Beasleigh : <<<-- Originally posted by Gareth Watkins : Hi Dustin, I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility. -->>> The unit is passive and offers no preamplification. It's simply a matching transformer with attenuation. It may also provide some redimantary mixing capabilities. -->>> But it works well in most situations. Not everyone needs a pre-amp for their work. With a limited budget, the passive adapter is a good choice. The Sign Video products are rugged and last a long time even in the hands of less-than-gentle users. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

May 19th, 2004, 09:10 PM	#4
Dustin Waits Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Ft. Myers Beach, Fl Posts: 243	Thanks all. The reason I decided with the projr instead of the pro is basically a money issue. And because of this, I'm glad a preamp won't be needed, otherwise I would be in trouble. As long as the projr works good and doesn't poop out on me, then it should be fine. I can wait for a later date to upgrade to the pro if I need too. Thanks for all the info!

May 20th, 2004, 01:22 AM	#5
Gareth Watkins Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: France Posts: 578	Hi Dustin, I have the 950 too, and recently bought a Sign Video XLR Pro from Zotz....to boost my sound caperbility. Brian there recommended the Pro over the Junior for the simple reason that you will almost certainly in the future want to plug in more than one mic.... I didn't initially feel I'd need to, but only on my second shoot I found it a useful option....and was glad I'd gone for the larger unit. The XLR Pro fits very nicely under the 950 body and now remains in place on my camera...(To my mind its a better place for a sound unit than on top like the PDX10, for example, as the camera is nicely balanced with it in place) It's a nicely made metal unit, if somewhat homemade looking, like most of the small industry US made sound and flash add-ons I've bought over the years (like Quantum flash batteries and Lumydine studio flashes). But they all do the job very well and are tough. It has allowed me to plug in a variety of mics and as long as they are either battery powered or dynamic they work fine... I use a shotgun mic with the unit and often a headset / mic combo for interviews... The XLR Pro has two extra mini jack inputs so I can plug in a wired (can't afford wireless yet) Lav mic... The sound levels can all be nicely balanced and has given me sound far far superior to the on board mic.... I got mine for 140 dollars US... it's worth the extra 50$ With this unit I've used cable up to 7metres (about 20ft) the guy at Zotz reckons it will handle 50 feet with no problem.... Cheers Gareth

May 20th, 2004, 08:51 PM	#8
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	I still have my battle scarred beach and there is nothing really that can go wrong with either unit. My only point was that it does not boost the signal as Gareth had noted. Truth is anyone can get away with a $9.50 adapter cable. At the worst they may have to have a 50 cent capacitor soldered into the XLR to block any dc from the camera. Chances are that won't happen. I've used them on a TRV20 and a VX2000. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=158476&is=REG __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ".......holy smokin rubber lips...what a ride!"