Hey guys,

I have had issues in the past trying to use my Beachtek XLR DXA8 with my Sony FX7, noise problems etc.
Can you please go through a basic run down on how i should install this on my FX7 to work correctly.
See mine came with no instructions and i really want to play around with it.

So a start to finish simple step system of what i should be doing would be great, can i just run it off the camera battery along with any equipment i have plugged into the XLR slots or do i need to use it with a battery aswell. I have very large camera batteries so this is no issue to suck there power down.

You help is appreciated as always thank you.

I have not used this device, but the Beachtek manual is online:

http://www.beachtek.com/pdf/DXA-8instructions.pdf

Here's the single most important piece of advice from the manual when using a BeachTek device:

Initial Setup
Set the camcorder to “manual” audio to deactivate the AGC. Turn the
gain control on the camcorder to a very low setting – about 20% of
maximum.

Yes, you must put a 9V battery in the DXA-8.

Power
Install a fresh 9 volt battery in the adapter. Turn on the PWR switch
to activate the unit.

Ive owned the DXA-8, and it's just plain old noisy too. They discontinued it. It's passive, meaning you can't make your mic any louder than it is going in without a preamp. So you may as well try plugging your mic in directly to the camera.

I have the DXA-6 which is passive as far as mic gain is concerned but does supply phantom power.

I've never used the DXA-8, but the manual does indicate it's not passive but uses preamps.

It's certainly possible those preamps aren't the greatest and could be noisy, but I know it's also easy to simply overpreamp when feeding a mic-level only camera input and that results in unneccessary noise.

What specific models of mics are you trying to use?

There are other points to check and test but for the moment tell us about your mics.

Yeah you get a little gain with the DXA-8, but it's discontinued.

Discontinued or not, it's the one he has and asked about.