BeachTek DXA-5D XLR Adapter - Picture!

Evan Donn · January 25th, 2009, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Labelle

Captain Obvious @ Jan 8th 2009 2:33PM
From what I've read of the previous Zoom recorders, their time-chip is sooo cheap that if you're recording for video, you're screwed:
( the wandering clock-frequency means if you get the beginning & the end to match the video, the middle *won't* )

I know people have had some issues with sync but I've never run into them in my limited experience with the first generation H4. I suspect they show up most when you're recording long events, etc - but considering the 5D can only record 12 minutes at a time I don't expect sync will be much of an issue.

Also the workflow I see myself using with this combo is to run the output from the zoom into the input on the camera, in essence using it like the beachtek adapter, but with higher quality backup recording that I can use in situations where the in camera track doesn't come out the way I'd like.

Jack Tran · January 25th, 2009, 01:51 PM

The 'Cheap Time Chip' or the 'Sync' problem is quite common to most (if not 90%+) digital recorders (just made that number up, but alot of them arent exactly sync with the video. It kinda drifts by a second over a 20min video clip, for my olympus recorder.

Its really easy to 'stretch or shrink' the audio from the recorder to match the video. I do it just by looking at peaks, takes less than 1 min to do if you understand what im talking about.

I have to disagree about the 'wandering clock frequency', for a 20min clip, once i sync it, it stays synced.
Maybe if you are recording for a straight 1hr, it might 'wander', but that shouldnt be a problem since no one records for a straight hour...

Cant wait to get my 5D mkII with a zoom h4 (or h4n)!!

Mike Demmers · January 26th, 2009, 07:07 AM

1) make the whole thing a giant grip. Not necessarily the shutter/AE controls (not shooting videos in portrait anyway)

2) built in SD or CF audio recording (nothing fancy, just build in the functionality of a 3 year old iRiver for redundant recording)

Or some way to plug in/mount one of the Zoom uniits.

3) maybe provide Power to the camera since its blocking the battery slot.

love the LCD though

Which would be just so much cooler if the variable brightness of the display could be saved as a special setting and used like one of those lighted lens caps to force the camera to preset settings.

-MD

Bill Binder · January 26th, 2009, 03:59 PM

Just a quick comment...

Sync and drift between video and an external audio recorder (that are not physically synced or jammed) have NOTHING to do with "cheap" or "expensive" or "consumer" or "pro."

You could take an absolutely killer pro audio recorder (say a 744t), run it at 24/48 or 16/48 (in a non timecode sync just stand alone mode), and if you manually sync that with your head of your video clip, if you have a long enough clip it will likely drift significantly (say over an hour). This is pretty normal and is expected no matter what recorder you are using.

If you don't have the luxury of jamming TC, like you can't with the 5D2, there is an easy fix for extended clips (although with a 12 min. max, this may never happen), just slate the tail of the clip in addition to the head. Then sync the head with the head slate, and stretch/compress the audio clip until the tail slate is also synced.

Dan Chung · February 1st, 2009, 11:24 AM

Just saw the latest Beachtek ad on the Digital Journalist site. It looks larger than I imagined.

Dan

Matthias Krause · February 1st, 2009, 02:29 PM

That looks super clunky...

Jon Fairhurst · February 1st, 2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthias Krause

That looks super clunky...

On the other hand, XLRs are a thing of beauty, audio-wise. :)

Jon Oskar · February 1st, 2009, 04:40 PM

What is the difference between the Zoom H4 and the Zoom H4n? Is the old model no good for sound recording?

Ed Kukla · February 1st, 2009, 07:25 PM

somebody needs to make a beachtek style adapter that will hold the zoom recorder in it AND have rails for a matte box and hedon zoom motor plus small power supply

Jordan Oplinger · February 2nd, 2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthias Krause

That looks super clunky...

yeah, it should be a grip!! ugh.

Bill Binder · February 3rd, 2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

On the other hand, XLRs are a thing of beauty, audio-wise. :)

Yeah, right up until the point you pad the signal and run it mini-jack style into a crappy preamp and A/D with AGC no less.

Jon Fairhurst · February 3rd, 2009, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Binder

Yeah, right up until the point you pad the signal and run it mini-jack style into a crappy preamp and A/D with AGC no less.

Touché! :)

Jim Giberti · February 3rd, 2009, 03:32 PM

On the upside it looks like a good place to sit your production notes and spare lenses.

Jim Giberti · February 3rd, 2009, 04:04 PM

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't get what makes this special for the 5D2. I've got a couple of Sound Devices MixPres that are rugged, small, great preamps with pan, slate, headphone amp, meters, XLR ins and outs and a minijack tape out that feeds the 5D perfectly. What makes this a 5DII development?

Noah Yuan-Vogel · February 3rd, 2009, 04:57 PM

My understanding is that the big difference here is that it can mostly overcome the issues with the 5dmk2's automatic gain. by mixing an inaudible tone into one or both of the output channels. perhaps it even gives you levels before the tone. you could do this with your mixpre, but youd need to add another device to generate the tone, and of course then you have to be careful about the calibration and monitoring of that tone and of the other sources which might be made more difficult by using an external tone generator. I am attempting to accomplish the same thing with an inexpensive 3channel field mixer (needs that extra 3rd channel for the tone generator). Of course editors will have trouble with this since it will likely mess with their ability to monitor levels or normalize audio unless they isolate and remove the tone from the channel(s).

February 1st, 2009, 11:24 AM	#20
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	Just saw the latest Beachtek ad on the Digital Journalist site. It looks larger than I imagined. Dan Attached Images

January 25th, 2009, 01:51 PM	#17
Jack Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Houston USA Posts: 90	The 'Cheap Time Chip' or the 'Sync' problem is quite common to most (if not 90%+) digital recorders (just made that number up, but alot of them arent exactly sync with the video. It kinda drifts by a second over a 20min video clip, for my olympus recorder. Its really easy to 'stretch or shrink' the audio from the recorder to match the video. I do it just by looking at peaks, takes less than 1 min to do if you understand what im talking about. I have to disagree about the 'wandering clock frequency', for a 20min clip, once i sync it, it stays synced. Maybe if you are recording for a straight 1hr, it might 'wander', but that shouldnt be a problem since no one records for a straight hour... Cant wait to get my 5D mkII with a zoom h4 (or h4n)!!

January 26th, 2009, 07:07 AM	#18
Mike Demmers Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Portland OR Posts: 159	1) make the whole thing a giant grip. Not necessarily the shutter/AE controls (not shooting videos in portrait anyway) 2) built in SD or CF audio recording (nothing fancy, just build in the functionality of a 3 year old iRiver for redundant recording) Or some way to plug in/mount one of the Zoom uniits. 3) maybe provide Power to the camera since its blocking the battery slot. love the LCD though Which would be just so much cooler if the variable brightness of the display could be saved as a special setting and used like one of those lighted lens caps to force the camera to preset settings. -MD

January 26th, 2009, 03:59 PM	#19
Bill Binder Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 542	Just a quick comment... Sync and drift between video and an external audio recorder (that are not physically synced or jammed) have NOTHING to do with "cheap" or "expensive" or "consumer" or "pro." You could take an absolutely killer pro audio recorder (say a 744t), run it at 24/48 or 16/48 (in a non timecode sync just stand alone mode), and if you manually sync that with your head of your video clip, if you have a long enough clip it will likely drift significantly (say over an hour). This is pretty normal and is expected no matter what recorder you are using. If you don't have the luxury of jamming TC, like you can't with the 5D2, there is an easy fix for extended clips (although with a 12 min. max, this may never happen), just slate the tail of the clip in addition to the head. Then sync the head with the head slate, and stretch/compress the audio clip until the tail slate is also synced.

February 1st, 2009, 02:29 PM	#21
Matthias Krause Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: NYC Posts: 203	That looks super clunky...

February 1st, 2009, 04:40 PM	#23
Jon Oskar Regular Crew Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 41	What is the difference between the Zoom H4 and the Zoom H4n? Is the old model no good for sound recording?

February 1st, 2009, 07:25 PM	#24
Ed Kukla Major Player Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: All over, USA Posts: 512	somebody needs to make a beachtek style adapter that will hold the zoom recorder in it AND have rails for a matte box and hedon zoom motor plus small power supply

February 3rd, 2009, 03:32 PM	#28
Jim Giberti Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Bethel, VT Posts: 824	On the upside it looks like a good place to sit your production notes and spare lenses.

February 3rd, 2009, 04:04 PM	#29
Jim Giberti Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Bethel, VT Posts: 824	Maybe I'm missing something but I don't get what makes this special for the 5D2. I've got a couple of Sound Devices MixPres that are rugged, small, great preamps with pan, slate, headphone amp, meters, XLR ins and outs and a minijack tape out that feeds the 5D perfectly. What makes this a 5DII development?

February 3rd, 2009, 04:57 PM	#30
Noah Yuan-Vogel Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New York City Posts: 613	My understanding is that the big difference here is that it can mostly overcome the issues with the 5dmk2's automatic gain. by mixing an inaudible tone into one or both of the output channels. perhaps it even gives you levels before the tone. you could do this with your mixpre, but youd need to add another device to generate the tone, and of course then you have to be careful about the calibration and monitoring of that tone and of the other sources which might be made more difficult by using an external tone generator. I am attempting to accomplish the same thing with an inexpensive 3channel field mixer (needs that extra 3rd channel for the tone generator). Of course editors will have trouble with this since it will likely mess with their ability to monitor levels or normalize audio unless they isolate and remove the tone from the channel(s).