JuicedLink DT454 design fault, BeachTek DXA-SLA XLR may be answer

[Ben Edwards]

Had anyone used the BeachTek, it turns out the juicedlink has a major design fault that makes it close to useless for me. The two stereo channels are combined to one mono channel which is played in both headphone cups! I therefore can not monitor lav and boom separately while recording interviews. I have not jet been able to clarify if BeachTek does proper stereo monitoring.

[Laurence Kingston]

I have a Beachtek DXA-SLR on order. I'll let you know after I try it out.

By the way, right now you can buy a refurbished DXA-SLR directly from the Beachtek website for $100 off the list price. The refurbished unit still has the 2 year warranty. It also comes with their cool mounting bracket that lets you share a hotshoe mount with both a wireless receiver and a microphone. That is the deal I have on order.

[Laurence Kingston]

I just got the Beachtek DXA-SLR today. The way it works is that there is a stereo/mono switch on the front. If you are in the stereo position, what goes into the left mic input goes into the left ear and what goes into the right mic goes into your right ear on the headphone jack. In mono position, right and left are summed to both the headphones and the camera mic input.

[Robert Rozak]

Ben,

I'm Robert, the design engineer of the juicedLink DT454. I take it from your comment that you prefer to monitor 2 separate mics in the 2 separate earcups of the headphone, that you must be a fairly experienced audio person.

The vast majority of our customers are not "professional" level audio people, but more "prosumer" type customers. Most of them don't have the experience that you probably do monitoring different mics in their own earcup, and have an easier time adjusting comparable levels of multiple channels in their headsets when the headsets are set to mono. You may remember in your past, the first time you were monitoring 2 different mics in separate earcups, and how disorienting that can be. For the past couple years that we've been shipping the DT454, this is the first time such a request has come in.

However, I didn't want people to just set the entire device to "mono" just to have the earcups mixed, because then you are not recording each of the 2 microphones on their own tracks inside the camera (each right/left track of the camera would have both microphones present, so if somebody coughed into one of the mics, the audio from the other mic is compromised).

My preference for these users was to have mono headphone monitoring, while recording each mic to its own track in the camera, so they have more control in the final mix in post production. This is the "stereo" setting of the DT454. The "mono" setting is offered as a feature, but it is not the way I would recommend people record (although, it is a frequently requested feature).

Then, also, the "stereo" setting allows for each of the right/left meters of the DT454 to act independently. These meters, by the way, can be calibrated to the level requirements of different cameras, which, I believe, is a pretty unique feature for these types of devices. The meter is not of much use if it can't be calibrated to the camera. This is important even on cameras which have their own meter like the 5D/60D/T3i, because the meter on those cameras is only visible during setup, not while you are recording.

So, I had my own reasons for setting the DT454 up that way, and I just wanted to explain this to you. I'm sorry it didn't work well for your situation.

You can monitor each mic independently while setting up your equipment with the DT454. This is helpful while setting up, because if you hear something that you do not like, you can isolate which microphone it is coming from. The procedure would simply be to use the individual mic potentiometers to "turn off" or "turn on" each individual channel. I understand this is not something you can do on the fly while you are recording, though, and not specifically what you were looking for.

All of that said. I understand what your are saying, from the perspective of a more seasoned professional, and appreciate your comments, and will consider your perspective in future revisions ...

[Steve House]

Just FYI, more full featured mixers allow for user-selected headphone routing. My SD442, for example, allows one to set it so the left output channel only appears in both earcups, likewise the right channel only in both, a stereo routing with each output channel going to its associated earcup, and a summed mono L & R mix going to both earcups. Of course such flexibility comes at a price ...

[Robert Rozak]

Steve,

Yeah, I understand ...

For a small form-factor device like the DT454, I kind of had to pick the configuration that I felt was the best fit for the greatest number of users. My post, above, explains my rationale ...

-Robert

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Robert Rozak

Steve,

Yeah, I understand ...

For a small form-factor device like the DT454, I kind of had to pick the configuration that I felt was the best fit for the greatest number of users. My post, above, explains my rationale ...

-Robert

Makes sense to me. IMO, you've brought an excellent series of products to the market that are well worth their price. Size and target price point require some feature set compromises and the lack of a selectable headphone source isn't likely to be a signifigant one for most users in your target market. When comparing the 454 to a mixer costing well over 5 times its price, it's not surprising that there are some differences in the feature set.

[Laurence Kingston]

When I use my Beachttek DXA-SLA, I get a loud pop in my headphones (monitoring through the Beachtek, not through the camera) as the DC-Bias on my Nikon D5100 kicks in. According to Beachtek tech support, a 25db attenuating cable will minimize this pop and match the levels better at the same time. Would the DT454 also get this pop, and would I need an attenuating cable to match the levels of the output to the input of the camera?

[Tom Morrow]

Personally I prefer hearing both channels in both ears, and I'm actually more interested in the JuicedLink knowing it mixes them together. I was considering moving to an expensive SD mixer for partially that reason; my ears hear differently.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Same for me. I prefer mono monitoring.

[Laurence Kingston]

I tried the 25 db attenuation cable and the levels match much better between the D5100 and the DXA-SLR without it. I personally like monitoring the input channels through separate ears better. The Beachtek was the better choice for me.