Studio 1 vs Beachtek
 

Anyone have any pros/cons or experience to help me decide which XLR adapter to purchase for my GL-1, I'm trying to decide between the Studion 1 XLR-Pro and the comparable Beachtek. Any help would be appreciated. I'm wondering why they both seem to have good reputations but the Beachtek is about $50 less in price.

I haven't used the Studio One, but I've used the Beachtek with excellent results.

I think that the Studio One (might) do a couple of things the Beachtek doesn't, but if you're just looking for balanced (XLR) to unbalanced, attenuators, etc., the Beachtek works well.

Studio 1 vs Beachtek
 

I have the Studio One, but have not used the Beachtek!
The studio one boasts (copied from instructions shipped with the Studio One XLR-Pro):
"When designing the XLR-PRO we paid attention to the noise problems such as 60 cycle hum from the cameras AC adapter, motor noise, zoom motor noise, auto focus noise, etc. We built the Pro with each transformer being heavily sheilded. This is one thing that really sets us apart from other XLR adapters, as they either have no shielding or a single layer of sheilding material and rely on the metal case to help with sheiding. We also have a ground switch, please make sure you carefully read and follow the instructions on setting the ground switch for your camera."(end quote)
This ground switch is a two position switch where you select the best position for eliminating hum.
I don't know about the Beachtek, but the Studio One Pro also has two 1/8" inputs as well as the two XLR's.

According to my pro friend, he much prefers the Studio1. He says it doesn't have the hum or feedback he's experienced with the BeachTek.

looks pretty cool:

http://www.studio1productions.com/xlr-proback.htm

No one that's actually owned a beach tec has actually complained.(That I've seen) It always my friend says or "I've heard".

I called beach tec and asked about the grounding problem, the owner told me that he will respond to and solve any outstanding problems. He also said that this bit about grounding hasn't been an issue.

Beaser, this guy's a long time pro, and I take in his advice 100%. I've also used some of his cams over the years. If you want to see some of his work, just watch some of the car commercials shot out here (made for North America...Nissan, Honda etc). He's also a film cam operater (movies), and has written a number of reviews which you've probably read.

Hi Bryan,

I used to own a Beachtek and I was not completely happy with the performance of the product. It occasionaly had a hum and I didn't care for the overall fit and finish of the product. In defence of Beachtek I will say, I was not the original owner, and I used it under some pretty harsh conditions, and some very long hours. Have I replaced it? Yes. Am I satisfied with the replacements? No. I have tried units from Beachtek, Shure, Studio One, Rolls and i think one or two others over the years without complete happines. Oh well, that's my problem, not yours. I know many users of each of these products who were very satisfied with their purchases.

My next victim, err I mean, product I'll try is from http://www.sounddevices.com/index.html They have a couple of units with phantom power that I'm looking at. They are very pricey, but one of their products is being used on Mt. Everest. I would buy another Beachtek, but I don't think I would be completely satisfied.

Jeff

Frank
I didn't doubt your or your buddy's sincerity or experience, I just wanted first hand comments.

I spoke with the tech/owner of Beach Tec and explained some of the public axiety about his product. he basicall said , if someone has a problem he always takes care of them.

Jeff kinda put it the way I expected. You have to spend a bundle on a portable mixer, which I'm not willing to do.

I'm going to give Beach a chance to live up to his promise. Their office and plant is close by.

Well beaser, I used his PD100A many times with the Beachtec attached. I noticed a hum. Now he's got a Studio1 on his GL-1, I tried that too. I didn't hear no hum. Hmmmm.

And you naturally picked the phone up and called Beach Tec and asked what could be done. Frank, I've been in various forms of electronic vocations for 40 years (not production audio)and I some times go with a hunch. My hunch is that any problems can be overcome. The man said he'd back his product, I choose to give him that oportunity should the necessity arise.

Bryan,

Go with your gut feeling. Local support is very important. I wasn't 100% satisfied with the quality of the unit I tried, but I'd try it again if I felt it would suite my needs. If you have talked to the owner and feel confident with his assurances I would not hesitate.

Jeff

RE: the hum from the beachtec and the MA100. Spoke with a local audio guru and he recommended a work-around for hum, this is to jerry-rig a couple of alligator clips and wire to make a ground.

Apparently some of the beach tec units had a top plate that was isolated from the rest of the enclosure by paint. The fix was to remove one screw and scrape the paint from around the screw hole. One could go nuts and use a serrated washer.

This kind of issue is really not a big deal. The options are to spend considerably more with no real guarantee things will be any better.

Beaser, I never suggested to not buy a Beachtek. I just said that my pro friend recommended Studio1 over the Beachtek. Another friend of mine, he's ordered a 2nd VX2000 today (crazy guy making 12 grand a month on Xmen 2), is going with Beachtecs. (But then he's new to the video game.) All I'm suggesting is think it over before jumping the gun. Perhaps see if you can rent or borrow a Beachtek first, and try it for a week or so. My buddy had lots of problems with his. He called it Beachcr_p. Perhaps he had a bad one, perhaps they weren't as good a few years ago. I don't know. But if I were to buy one, I'd want a money back guaranty. That's for sure. But then I'm a poor guy, who can't take chances buying something I'm not going to like. I'm a poor guy living in a rich area, remember?

FYI-
Talked to Dave at Studio 1 and he noted the fact that their current unit plugs into the mic jack and not the RCAs on the rear. He said that he was working on a newer model (maybe out by end of month) that will use RCAs.