Beachtek vs jucielink

I had a JL unit for a while and had to send it back. The BT units are supposed to be even noisier than the JL units but I wouldn't touch either one at this point.

Look for a high quality portable mixer/pre amp like the mixpre or the Shure FP24 and get a padded cable.
 
Can't find anyone selling the Shure FP24 but did find the Mixpre at B&H. So from what I gather I plug the 5d into the mixpre and my mic into the mixpre and it should be all good?
 
I have a JL Riggy for my BMC and it's super quiet, S/N wise in the same league as my Wendt mixer.
 
Postmaster said:
I have a JL Riggy for my BMC and it's super quiet, S/N wise in the same league as my Wendt mixer.
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Totally agree. The Juicedlink units have been very quiet. I prefer them to the Beachtek's on this front.
What you must know is that they are only for use with very short cables (like what is included in the package).
If you use an unpadded cable that is much longer it will be noisy.

Frankly for the cost and small size of the Riggy, they are pretty great.

A mixing unit is for another purpose and generally you run longer cables to them.
Different units, different purposes.
 
New_Zealand said:
Can't find anyone selling the Shure FP24 but did find the Mixpre at B&H. So from what I gather I plug the 5d into the mixpre and my mic into the mixpre and it should be all good?
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Yes. Exactly. Look on eBay for a used FP24 or used mixpre if you are on a budget. Set the 5D audio gain to about 7 steps from the bottom (not less). A -25 or -35 padded cable like this is what you need. It runs from the "tape out" on the mixer to the camera's audio input.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=746645&Q=&is=REG&A=details
 
JuicedLink all the way. For the price, best preamp available. I have both a Beachtek DXA-4 and a JuicedLink CX211. The BT doesn't feature any preamplification while the JuicedLink does. Depending what you need (preamp or only XLR to 3.5mm) both can do a good job. Both are well built and don't feel like a toy.
 
Glad to see this thread. It looks like the riggy thingy is kind of a new product for JL and does not have much info from users I have seen. I prefer that the JL are made to connect to the camera as I do not want a bunch of stuff hanging around. I will look at the Riggy. Thanks.
 
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Chris Santucci said:
I had a JL unit for a while and had to send it back. T
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I wonder why you had such a bad experience with the JL Chris? As I said, mine is super quiet and Robert is a nice guy and he absolutely knows, what he is doing.
Have you talked to him about your problem?

As a heads up: the Riggy outputs a (pretty hot) mic signal not line -if you tread it like a line signal it sure gets noisy though.


Frank
 
The thing (CX211) was picking up radio stations, sometimes 2 different stations at once, any place I used it and with nothing attached to it. I sent an audio file to Robert and I seem to recall jiggering with a pot on the board (with his guidance), which didn't do much, so I sent it back. It also had a pretty prominent noise floor that was just unacceptable. Maybe it was a defective unit, but Robert never responded after I sent it back so I can't go there.
 
I found a comparison made by JuicedLink regarding the noise floors of about 7 recorders. While the JL faired well in the low noise area I thought its sound was noticeably tinny and lacking low mids to low end compared to the other winners of the test (SD 702 & Tascam 680). Quite is great but sound quality is the final judgement for me. I think I will keep looking.
 
Chris Santucci said:
... Set the 5D audio gain to about 7 steps from the bottom (not less) and a -25 or -35 padded cable.
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Chris, doesn't that sorta 'activate' the bad-sounding pre-amps in the 5D when you do this?

I thought the idea was to turn the 5D gain down to 1 notch above 0 to stop using them as much as possible.
 
In my experience, having the 5D audio gain set to one step up from OFF seems to cause the camera to deliver slightly distorted audio.

From what I remember, manufacturers of these kinds of preamps recommend setting the 5D gain to 1/3 or so.

I've gotten the best results with the settings I mentioned with the mixpre.
 
Didn't read this whole thread.

I found the audio quality of the juiced link to be nice and comparable to other mixers out there. What I didn't like was that on the model I have (DT414), is there is no alternative powering options. Power has to come from a 9volt battery. I got some rechargeable nine volts for it, but I would prefer something I can tap from a single power source.

So, if they have a dc in for powering options, they are great. Otherwise just ask yourself if changing 9volts every 3 hours or less is ok for you. And if you have no choice, well, there is an audible step up in audio quality vs running an electret mic straight into a dslr mini jack.

I suppose you could mod the battery connectors to accept other 9v power sources.
 
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