Has anyone tried BeachTek DXA-8?

TorS wrote on 6/16/2004, 12:57 AM

Has anyone tried BeachTek DXA-8 ? It is presented as the ultimate XLR adapter for DV camcorders. Two channels with preamps, limiters and phantom power.

I'm looking in that direction, but I could probably get a decent 4 channel mixer for the same money, at least a Behringer. Any input, anyone?
Tor

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/16/2004, 1:05 AM

Yep. Just finished reviewing it. In it's price class, it's the best there is. Sound Devices is dang good too, but more $$. I love this little unit, sounds great. I don't like their meters, but everything else they're building is awesome. Watch for them in an upcoming VASST DVD on the cameras. We do use 2 of them in our studio as well, and just bought a 3rd for a 6 cam shoot coming up in July. The limiters are better than the limiters built into the XL1, and better than the limiters built into the PD 150.

TorS wrote on 6/16/2004, 1:42 AM

Sounds convincing. Gotta start looking for a good deal on it now. Thanks for the info. (You're up early BTW. Usually I've had my lunch before the Americans start posting.)
Tor

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/16/2004, 6:59 AM

No, I was up LATE. :-) Now I"m up early. This is the worst part of these tours, is the very early rises to set up...

pike_bishop wrote on 6/16/2004, 10:48 AM

Tors

We have the BeachTek box at work for our Canon XM-2 and use it with a Sennheiser MKH 416 which together produces excellent results. I would definitely recomend the BeachTek box, I think you'll find it easier to use than a mixer as it fits nicely under the camera.

Martin

TorS wrote on 6/16/2004, 11:40 AM

Thanks, Martin.
I will try to get one. I looked at the DXA-6, which is basically the same as DXA-8 without limiters. But I also notcied that the battery life expectancy is much shorter on the lesser model. It made me think maybe the DXA-8 has better circuitry on board. Anyway, the limiters does it for me. I recorded a choir live on Sunday, using a Tascam DAT. I'm glad I had the limiter on - you won't believe how much dynamics a choir has, even a children's choir. So I go for the limiters. Never leave home without 'em.
Tor

farss wrote on 6/16/2004, 4:54 PM

Don't know about that specific BeachTek unit, we only have the basic DI box but we've had the cable that goes from the unit to the camera fail twice. This isn't a problem unique to the BeachTek gear, we've had the same thing happen regularly with our two XPLRPro units as well.
Man do I hate those weak little cables, probably not so much of an issue when it's your own gear and you look after it. All I'd add is make certain you're monitoring the audio from the camera, just in case!

craftech wrote on 6/16/2004, 7:31 PM

Tor,
How many mikes will you be running?....... Or up to how many?
John

TorS wrote on 6/16/2004, 11:08 PM

John,
The BeachTek won't let me run more than two, so that's easy to answer: I'll be running up to two mikes. There's an extra minijack input for the right channel, but I expect it to mute the XLR if and when I use it.

If I were going for a mixer I'd certainly look for four (mike) channels, but only rarely use more than two.

I have a half plan for having a laptop (with Vegas) double as a multitrack harddisk recorder in the few situations I need more mikes. But that's an even bigger investment and my meagre video income does not allow it yet.
Tor

craftech wrote on 6/17/2004, 6:26 AM

Tor,
Are you planning to run the DXA-8 using the 48volt Phantom power? The reason I ask is that while the instruction sheet indicates a typical 10 hours on a 9v battery (No Phantom), nowhere do they indicate how long you can run the unit with phantom turned on before the battery dies.
I have a Behringer portable mixer that outputs 18 volts phantom using a single 9 volt battery. The battery lasts approximately 2-3 hours at best using only two mikes. I never use it on battery power. I always use it with the AC adapter.
If the DXA-8 is "actually" capable of outputting 48 volts from a single 9 volt battery you don't have the option of AC power and if the battery dies you're stuck. Unless the microphones also run on batteries as well as phantom such as a Rode NT3.
In addition to that, the unit does not have line inputs, only mic inputs. If you want to use a feed from a house mixing panel to mix with one of your mikes, you can't.
I also looked for a written review that would indicate how effective the unit's limiters were, but I couldn't find one. Do they generate clipping? Maybe SPOT can answer these questions.

John