student needs a good all round mic

Jay Massengill · April 14th, 2005, 07:21 AM

It sounds like you had a good plan in place at a fair price.
As Glenn said, it could have been rejected for any number of reasons that may have had nothing to do with you.
When I first started in this work nearly 20 years ago, doing projects for people who where in their 40's and 50's, it was very hard to overcome the ingrained idea that beautiful TV programming spews out of a magic box for FREE. For most of their life experience that was true for the end user. Once it became possible to produce video on a corporate level at moderately sized companies, they had a hard time conceiving that there were actually costs involved for personnel, equipment, materials and time to create the projects they wanted.

Dan Keaton · April 16th, 2005, 07:44 PM

Dear Keith,

I highly recommend the BeachTek DXA-8.

About a month ago, I bought one for a movie we are shooting.

BeachTek says that they use very low noise preamplifiers in their DXA-8. This is true and the difference is dramatic - if your camera has noisy preamplifiers. I tested this with an XL1s. There is lots of noise (hiss) in the XL1s sound, if you need to turn up the preamplifiers to obtain the proper levels.

However, if you use the BeachTek DXA-8 properly, there is no noise. By properly, I mean that you set the gain on the camera, such as the Canon XL1s to a low level (unity gain) and then use the gain control on the BeachTek.

I have not tested the preamplifiers on the GL2, but I assume that they are similar to the Xl1s in terms of noise level.

They other advantage is that the DXA-8 has limiters. This is a very worthwhile feature in that it ensures that you will have usable audio, if your audio peaks would otherwise be too high.

I realize that the DXA-8 is more expensive, but it is really worth it.

The sound that we recorded for our movie after we bought this is much better, using the same microphones and the under the same conditions. I would not go on a shoot without it.

Another soundman on the shoot was also very impressed with the difference.

BeachTek DXA-8 important features are:

Very low noise preamplifiers.
Phantom Power, individually switchable for each channel.
Effective limiters, switchable for each channel.
Stereo / Mono Switch
Ground Switch to eliminate ground problems with certain devices.

The drawbacks are:

High Price
Limited Battery Life, if you use phantom power (carry extra 9volt batteries).

I wish this was powered from the camera, or used AA batteries.

If you start the hear distortion or poping in your headphones, immediatly change the 9 volt battery.

Chaning the battery is very easy, even while the unit is mounted on the camera.

April 16th, 2005, 07:44 PM	#17
Dan Keaton Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Augusta Georgia Posts: 5,421	Dear Keith, I highly recommend the BeachTek DXA-8. About a month ago, I bought one for a movie we are shooting. BeachTek says that they use very low noise preamplifiers in their DXA-8. This is true and the difference is dramatic - if your camera has noisy preamplifiers. I tested this with an XL1s. There is lots of noise (hiss) in the XL1s sound, if you need to turn up the preamplifiers to obtain the proper levels. However, if you use the BeachTek DXA-8 properly, there is no noise. By properly, I mean that you set the gain on the camera, such as the Canon XL1s to a low level (unity gain) and then use the gain control on the BeachTek. I have not tested the preamplifiers on the GL2, but I assume that they are similar to the Xl1s in terms of noise level. They other advantage is that the DXA-8 has limiters. This is a very worthwhile feature in that it ensures that you will have usable audio, if your audio peaks would otherwise be too high. I realize that the DXA-8 is more expensive, but it is really worth it. The sound that we recorded for our movie after we bought this is much better, using the same microphones and the under the same conditions. I would not go on a shoot without it. Another soundman on the shoot was also very impressed with the difference. BeachTek DXA-8 important features are: Very low noise preamplifiers. Phantom Power, individually switchable for each channel. Effective limiters, switchable for each channel. Stereo / Mono Switch Ground Switch to eliminate ground problems with certain devices. The drawbacks are: High Price Limited Battery Life, if you use phantom power (carry extra 9volt batteries). I wish this was powered from the camera, or used AA batteries. If you start the hear distortion or poping in your headphones, immediatly change the 9 volt battery. Chaning the battery is very easy, even while the unit is mounted on the camera. __________________ Dan Keaton Augusta Georgia

April 14th, 2005, 07:21 AM	#16
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	It sounds like you had a good plan in place at a fair price. As Glenn said, it could have been rejected for any number of reasons that may have had nothing to do with you. When I first started in this work nearly 20 years ago, doing projects for people who where in their 40's and 50's, it was very hard to overcome the ingrained idea that beautiful TV programming spews out of a magic box for FREE. For most of their life experience that was true for the end user. Once it became possible to produce video on a corporate level at moderately sized companies, they had a hard time conceiving that there were actually costs involved for personnel, equipment, materials and time to create the projects they wanted.