XL1S Mic Connector
 

I am about ready to order an XL1S but need to know if the BeachTek DXA-4S adapter that I use with my Sony camera will work with the Canon. Output on this adapter is a stereo mini plug , but drawings on page 18 of the XL1S User's Manual seem to show the mic connector as having two male plugs. Are they both mic lines or is one power and the other stereo mic. I think the BeachTek adapter designed for this camera uses RCA plugs, but I could be mistaken on that.

Can anyone verify that the DXA-4S will work?

Thanks,
Ed

XL1 mic input: the smaller one is power and the larger one is stereo audio.

I can't swear to it, but I think they are different. I know
Elite Video shows 2 different ones in their catalog.
I have one that does work with the XL1

Hi Ed,

I hope you notice my reply to your old, old post. I am having the same problem now.. There is a guy selling the Beachtek XLR Adapter on ebay, but the photo shows a stereo mini plug (Sony?) and not the RCA (XL-1?) Beachtek shows on its website.

Are you using your Sony Adapter with your XL1 now? Do you plug it into the plug of the onboard mic or do you use an adapter, plugging it into the RCA at the rear of the camera?

Cheers, Peter

That was awhile back!
 

Hi Peter,

I contacted Beachtek and was told that the Sony and Canon adapters use the same camera mount and electronically they are the same. The only real difference is the audio connector. It works fine with the XL1S when plugged into the mic jack. You could also get a mini-plug->RCA adaper and connect to Audio 1 or 2 ports.

As a side note, I purchased the MA200 with my camera and was disappointed to learn that you cannot input line levels to the XLR connectors, only mic levels. I often use line level output from a mixer and connect directly to the RCA jacks, bypassing the MA200. When balanced line levels are necessary, I'll use the Beachtek since it can accept both line and mic levels.

It is easy to build a pad (attenuator) in a balanced line to take the typical +4 dBU down to around -35 dBV or so for a MA-100/200. And it would all fit in a XLR shell. You can buy premade pads in XLR shells from folks like Shure. Any you probably can buy pre-made -40 dB cables (although I do not have a pointer to a specific product for you.)

If you decide to run line levels (or attenuated line levels) into the MA-100/MA-200, do some empirical checking beforehand. See the earlier string labeled "MA-100 Sound Balance" in the XL-1 forum.

It's quite possible to do this, but you can easily put the adapters into hard limit if you're not careful.