To Rode Videomic and Beachtek Users....

[Chris Scharff]

Just a quick inquiry, I would like to use my Videomic with the Beachtek DXA4 so I can use two channels of sound and I need to get an adapter 3.5mm(1/8) female to a male XLR and the only one I found was this at B&H:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search

My question is that I found a cheaper version at Ram Electronics:
(Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the two they offer)
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/adapters-xlr.html

And I wanted to know what the difference was between the two that Ram offer and/or if these are just as good. Any suggestions? I am audio illeterate. Thanks.

[Michael Wisniewski]

You can plug the Videomic directly into the DXA-4's auxiliary input, located between the trim/control knobs. The signal is sent to the right channel. Set the right channel to MIC.

If you're already using the auxiliary input, get the Rode XLR-mini adapter because it's mono.

[Chris Scharff]

Great, thanks Michael.
The reason I was asking was because I wanted to record a live show, one channel hooked up to the board (XLR), and the other with the Videomic. So I'm the aux. input overrides the right channel so I can do that,
that straightens it all up for me. No need for an adapter then, perfect. Thanks again.

[Chris Scharff]

Hey Michael,
I spoke too soon, I tried exactly what you said and it did not work for some reason. I tested everything, camera, Beachtek, and everything is fine but it simply did not work.
Any suggestions?
Or could you answer my above question about the adapter I could possibly buy to fix this/bypass it? I'm lost. Thanks again.

[David Ennis]

Chris, for the VideoMic, the adapter at the bottom of that page with the white jack is the one you want.

But you shouldn't need it, and simplest is best. I suggest that you play around some more. Plug the mic into the AUX jack (with the right channel switch set to MIC as Michael said, and the Mono/Stereo switch set to Stereo. Plug the Beach into the camera and headphones into the camera. Turn everything on. If you don't hear anything, try wiggling or partially inserting the plug. The Beach expects a mono plug but the VideoMic uses a stereo plug, so there may be a contact alignment issue.

If you get nothing, don't take it lying down. Email Harry Kaufmann at Beachtek (harry@beachtek.com)

[John Rofrano]

I use my Rode VideoMic all the time with my BeachTek DXA-2S AUX input. The switch must be in the MONO position not the stereo position. If you use the stereo position you will get nothing (as you have seen). The right channel will control the volume. Hope this helps,

~jr

[David Ennis]

Beachteks only accept a mono input. Their Stereo/Mono switch only controls whether the signal is applied to both channels or only one-- I don't believe it controls what sections of the plug the input is taken from on any of their models. It certainly doesn't with my DXA-8. Chris has probably tried both settings anyway.

[John Rofrano]

Oops! You are correct. I just took mine out of the case and tested it and the stereo mono switch is just routing the input to one or both channels. The mic actually works in both settings on my DXA-2S. I stand corrected. It should just work regardless of the stereo/mono switch position.

~jr

[Chris Scharff]

Originally Posted by Fred Retread

Chris, for the VideoMic, the adapter at the bottom of that page with the white jack is the one you want.

Hey Fred, just to confirm. Is it the jack with the white or red jack. Here it says white, but in my e-mail notification on this post it said red. Just wanted to double check, and make sure the post wasn't edited later.
I figure I could still use this adapter with a long XLR cable for when I wanna put the mic on a boom far from the camera. Thanks.

[David Ennis]

Yes the white one is the right one. When I first posted and said red, I asked myself "are you sure you remembered that right?" so I went back and checked. Sure enough, I had switched them in my memory.

The Rode puts the same signal on the tip and the ring of its plug. The red adaptor would take those identical signals and put them on pins two and three of the XLR connector. But pro gear like the Beachtek expects the signal to be the difference between pins 2 and 3.

[Todd Kivimaki]

Do you need the adapter to use the VideoMic with the DXA4? I have both and when the Videomic is plugged into the AUX port my sound is barely loud enough, not useable. I also tried this on a SignVideo XLR Pro, and the same thing.

What am I doing wrong, can I pulg the Rode into the AUX port and have it work? I have a wedding tommorrow and was hoping to use both but I guess I won't be able to.

Thanks,
Todd

[Ty Ford]

While the output of the Rode VideoMic is pretty loud, most Aux inputs are -10 or line level and that means most mics aren't loud enough to drive aux inputs.

You may get signal if you crank the gain somewhere, but it'll likely be noisy.

Beacktek may have broken this rule in their design of their aux input, dunno.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Guy Bruner]

I've found that using a stereo to mono 3.5mm adapter (Jameco or Radio Shack) makes using the aux input much better.

[John Rofrano]

There must be something unique about the DXA4. With my DXA-2S AUX input I actually have to turn the VideoMic down its so loud! Does your camera have a mic input sensitivity control and is it set too low? The specs on these two devices look identical and the aux input is usually for a wireless transmitter which would be mic level not line level.

~jr

[David Ennis]

Todd, the Beach's Aux input is controlled by the right channel's mic/line level switch--I think I recal this being part of past correspondence I've had with Harry Kaufmann at Beachtek. I have a DXA-8 whch is mic only, so I can't check myself. So make sure yours is set for mic.

If it is and you still have the problem, l have the notion that this is a flukey problem of plug/jack mismatch. You're puttng a stereo plug into a mono jack. And not just any mono jack, but one that is wired in parallel with an XLR jack. If the jack thinks it's touching the sleeve of a TS plug and it's really touching the ring of the Rode's TRS plug, or (more likely) bridging between the ring and the sleeve, you're screwed.

If you used a stereo to mono plug adapter on the Rode and plugged it into the Beachtek's Aux jack with the right channel set to mic level, I'd be surprised if you didn't get all the volume you can handle. [Edit--I see that Guy suggested this above] For a quick check you could paint some nail polish on the Rode plug's ring (it's removeable).