Beachtek DXA paperweight?

[Ty Ford]

Hello Peter and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Your presumption that a mic operates at aux level is misguided.

Just because a plug fits into jack, doesn’t mean it belongs there.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Peter John]

Thanks for the reply Ty,

That is what I thought until I read this in the Beachtek DXA-4p’s operating instructions before I posted my question:

“The auxiliary input allows you to attach wireless [my emphasis] microphones that use standard mini-plug connectors. This signal is sent to the right channel…”

“AUX Input
To attach audio devices with mini-jack connectors, use the AUX input on the adapter. This sends the signal to the right input and you should therefore disconnect any cables from the right XLR connector to avoid interference”

Putting this together leads me to ask is the way a wireless microphone sends a signal via a mini-jack output different to the way a hardwired mic like the Sennheiser MKE300 does? Hard for me to understand how this could be possible as I guess if I just plugged the mini-jack of a wireless mike receiver into the mini-jack input socket of the camcorder the wireless mike would interface with the camcorder same way as the fixed mike, would it not? Does the wireless mike receiver have some sort of built in amplifier that the fixed mic does not?

Maybe I have no other option than to buy an XLR/mini jack converter and see if that works, which I guess it will do, though a big XLR jack would further increase the size and reduce the portability of this little system.

[Ty Ford]

Peter,

“The auxiliary input allows you to attach wireless [my emphasis] microphones that use standard mini-plug connectors. This signal is sent to the right channel…”

“AUX Input
To attach audio devices with mini-jack connectors, use the AUX input on the adapter. This sends the signal to the right input and you should therefore disconnect any cables from the right XLR connector to avoid interference”

>>>I dislike all Beachtek products for professional use. I am not alone. Just guessing, but by “audio devices”, they may be referring to devices other than microphones, which you have proven doesn’t work. For, semi-pro audio devices that use unbalanced I/Os, LINE LEVEL is -10…somewhere between mic level and pro line level.

Putting this together leads me to ask is the way a wireless microphone sends a signal via a mini-jack output different to the way a hardwired mic like the Sennheiser MKE300 does? Hard for me to understand how this could be possible as I guess if I just plugged the mini-jack of a wireless mike receiver into the mini-jack input socket of the camcorder the wireless mike would interface with the camcorder same way as the fixed mike, would it not? Does the wireless mike receiver have some sort of built in amplifier that the fixed mic does not?

>>>>Are you referring to a Lav or other mic requiring a transmitter to become wireless? If so. they require a bias voltage (not phantom power) unless the mic has its own battery, or is a dynamic mic.

Maybe I have no other option than to buy an XLR/mini jack converter and see if that works, which I guess it will do, though a big XLR jack would further increase the size and reduce the portability of this little system.

>>>>If you’re talking about a mic without a transmitter, you’d need the specified power supply and and phantom power for a lav, unless it has it’s own battery compartment.

Regards,

Ty (oddly, audio is not plug and play) Ford

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[Peter John]

It is good to get feedback that motivated me to look for further information that I found here

According to this review Sennheiser MKE300 does work with Beachtek DXA via the AUX mini-jack, so that is not the problem.

But that did not explain why I got no sound – until I started moving around the cable that connects the DXA adapter to the camcorder and the levels started jumping around all over the place, even though the only sound I could get was like a dog scratching itself.

Conclusion is that my Beachtek DXA adapter probably has a faulty cable

[Peter John]

dang, got the link wrong:

https://www.gkgraphics.com/reviews/camcorders/accessories/beachtek/dxa-2/index.html

[Ty Ford]

Peter,

Excellent news (I guess), but also indicative of the reason you don’t see much Beachtek gear in pro use.

Can you replace the cable?

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Jordan Wolf]

Peter,

When you wiggle the cable, where does the crackling noise/intermittent signal begin to occur? Does it happen when you wiggle the 1/8″TRS connector…in the middle of the cable…where the cable enters the Beachtek?

Soldering on a new connector isn’t too difficult; soldering a whole new cable on might not be too hard, either, but it would depend on how adventurous you are. Plus, doing so could void your warranty.

Wolf
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[Peter John]

Thanks,

Looks like this may be solvable.

The crackling noise comes when I wiggle the cable where it enters the Beachtek, so I guess the problem is with the connection rather than the cable itself. That is not bad news.

One cause for a little concern is that when I wiggle the wire the levels go up and I get a scratching noise but there is no way no matter which way I wiggle the wire that I can hear sound of my voice or any background audio coming through from the mic.

I found an old post elsewhere by somebody else who also had a Beachtek cable problem. He just cut off a little bit of the cable and solderered it back on again and that worked for him. He says as a result he was happy for his high school electronics class. I don’g have a soldering iron or an electronics class so I will just find a local technician who I can ask to do this.

Warranty is not an issue as this is an old model.

What I fond interesting is that there does not seem to be huge differences between the various models of these Beachtek DXA adapters in terms of compatibility with different camcorders. Perhaps I am wrong. At least in this case having a battery in the mic and not needing phantom power seems to make life simpler in terms of compatability, as all I really want is to use the Beachtek as a big switch to enable control of audio levels without having to dive into the menu system.

So far so good.

Let’s just see what goes wrong next 🙂

[Ty Ford]

Peter,

I’m sorry and don’t wish to sound snobby, but a “review” by someone at at graphics house is not compelling for me. I have held workshops here at my studio at which people with a supposedly good amount on audio knowledge have been way off base on some of their considerations.

As I mentioned before, I think :). The connection MAY work, but not ideally. So you’ll get something, but, in this particular case, you may end up with more noise than you should because the input expects an Aux level and mics don’t push that kind of juice.

Trying to find short cuts can work, sometimes, if you really know your stuff. Most of the time, however, following “best practices” gives best results.

Regards,

Ty Ford

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[Peter John]

Hmmm, so what are the alternatives?

forget about the AUX input and use a micro-jack to XLR converter cable to connect the mic to the Beachtek —though this kind of defeats the whole purpose of putting together a well functioning little system and also means more trouble on the job in terms of more cable plus weight and risk of connectors not staying in place.

buy a different mic with XLR connector or upgrade to a camcorder with easily accessible audio controls. Not sure if I want to do that as budget is tight and all I need this for is to produce small promo videos like this: https://sites.google.com/site/peterlowefoto/tanoso

try to get the cable fixed then compare the quality of audio coming from the mic into the camcorder via the Beachtek AUX compared to direct plug in mini jack of mic into camcorder.

forget about the Beachtek and continue to have to adjust the audio levels via the menu system.