Juicedlink or Beachtek as preamp?

T

trw_mavrik

Active member
Hi Guys

I'd like to buy a pre-amp to boost the signal from my Xlr mics to my AF101 and was just wondering if anyone had any experience with either a Juicedlink or Beachtek? I mostly film short films and weddings.

Ideally, I'd go for a Mixpre-D but just can't justify the expense at the moment.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

T
 
If you need to boost your mics maybe you need new mics.
There is a setting (somewhere) in the menu that will get you a bit more gain.
 
trw,
If you're looking for pre-amps that are less noisy than the pre-amps built in to the camcorder, take a look at the various pre-amps and field mixers made by Sound Devices.
 
Hi

Would love one of the sound devices but theyre a wee bit out of m budge at the moment. The mics Im trying to boost are the Rode NT3 and NTG3 which I bought a couple of months ago.

Regards

T
 
For the price, why not get the Tascam DR-70D ($300) - you could also get the Tascam DR-60Dmkii (*not* the DR-60D) for $200, but the form factor on the 70D might be a better fit. The only issue is battery life - it's poor on the Tascams (you could add a USB powerbank to solve the battery problem, but that adds bulk and weight).
 
OldCorpse said:
For the price, why not get the Tascam DR-70D ($300) - you could also get the Tascam DR-60Dmkii (*not* the DR-60D) for $200, but the form factor on the 70D might be a better fit. The only issue is battery life - it's poor on the Tascams (you could add a USB powerbank to solve the battery problem, but that adds bulk and weight).
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Doesn't seem like there would be very much difference in quality though. I have a 60D, and I think it only sounds slightly better than my AF100 audio. I don't know, is the 70D that much better than the 60D?

Shawn
 
ShawnMi said:
Doesn't seem like there would be very much difference in quality though. I have a 60D, and I think it only sounds slightly better than my AF100 audio. I don't know, is the 70D that much better than the 60D?
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Tascam claim to have improved the preamps on the 70D (and the 60Dmkii) from the preamps on the 60D, so presumably they are better, but how much better or if you can hear it under all circumstances, I don't know. I ordered the 70D from B&H and it should arrive soon - I already have the 60D so I can run some comparisons between those two, but I don't have an AF100, so can't compare to the preamps in that.
 
as already mentioned you need to jump to Sound Devices level to see any real jump in quality - the af101 pre amps are pretty good, for all the hassle I doubt the Tascam will improve sound much
 
The number one thing to do is get your mic close to the source. People think a shotgun mic is like a telephoto lens. It does not work that way.
There is more than enough gain on the AF100 to get your NT3 and NT3G in to trouble.
Do you normalize your audio in post?
If you are set on buying an external preamp, be sure it has balanced +4 dB line outputs. I don't think the juiced link or beachtek units do. The tascam do not have a +4 dB (professional) line out either. The 1/8" -10dB (consumer) "line" out is not a proper match for the AF100 line inputs. There is no point to pre-amping a mic up to line level only to then pad it back down to mic level then boost it again in the AF-100. Save up for the MixPre-D.
Regarding the question in your original post the answear is no.
 
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OldCorpse said:
Tascam claim to have improved the preamps on the 70D (and the 60Dmkii) from the preamps on the 60D, so presumably they are better, but how much better or if you can hear it under all circumstances, I don't know. I ordered the 70D from B&H and it should arrive soon - I already have the 60D so I can run some comparisons between those two, but I don't have an AF100, so can't compare to the preamps in that.
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I would be interested to know if the 70D is audibly different/better than the 60D. I thought the major differences between the two were form factor and additional xlr/1/4 inch combo jacks. To the original post, I agree with Ed Jeffersen and ade4fall, the AF100 has pretty decent preamps as is. Microphone placement + proper limiting>normalization in post should produce the same or better results as a sub $500 preamp (going into the camera)... even then, I think you would need a $2k+ external recorder to get an appreciable jump in quality.... in my opinion, at least.

Shawn
 
Well this is what Tascam says about the DR-70D preamps:
  • High-quality recording inputs through Tascam original High Definition Discrete Architecture (HDDA) microphone preamps
  • NE5532 operational amplifiers for even higher audio performance (also used on DA-3000)
From my understanding, the 70D has the same preamps as the new improved DR-60Dmkii. This is what Tascam say about the preamps compared to the older 60D:


"TASCAM's DR-60DmkII, an update of the award winning DR-60D, [...]

The DR-60DmkII is the next generation of 4-track solid-state recording, based on TASCAM’s decades of recording innovation. The upgraded HDDA microphone preamps provide up to 64dB of gain, capturing every nuance of a performance."


So the idea is that the preamps in the 60Dmkii and 70D are definitely improved over the original 60D.

How do the 70D preamps compare to Sound Devices MixPre-D preamps, I have no idea. But here's what I would say as a general observation: nobody, with *maybe* the exception of sound professionals can tell the difference between the sound that comes out of a 60D and a MixPre-D - that's just a fact. The reason to get the MixPre-D are many, but it's not because of the sound quality impact of preamps specifically compared to f.ex. 60D.
 
On eBay I see used Sound Devices MixPre ( the old model ) sell for $450-500, which would be a better investment in the long run and it would be significantly better sound-wise.
 
OldCorpse said:
Well this is what Tascam says about the DR-70D preamps:
  • High-quality recording inputs through Tascam original High Definition Discrete Architecture (HDDA) microphone preamps
  • NE5532 operational amplifiers for even higher audio performance (also used on DA-3000)
From my understanding, the 70D has the same preamps as the new improved DR-60Dmkii. This is what Tascam say about the preamps compared to the older 60D:


"TASCAM's DR-60DmkII, an update of the award winning DR-60D, [...]

The DR-60DmkII is the next generation of 4-track solid-state recording, based on TASCAM’s decades of recording innovation. The upgraded HDDA microphone preamps provide up to 64dB of gain, capturing every nuance of a performance."


So the idea is that the preamps in the 60Dmkii and 70D are definitely improved over the original 60D.

How do the 70D preamps compare to Sound Devices MixPre-D preamps, I have no idea. But here's what I would say as a general observation: nobody, with *maybe* the exception of sound professionals can tell the difference between the sound that comes out of a 60D and a MixPre-D - that's just a fact. The reason to get the MixPre-D are many, but it's not because of the sound quality impact of preamps specifically compared to f.ex. 60D.
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Thanks for the links, and I definitely agree with everything else you said. I probably won't be in the market for an external recorder for some time, but I'm looking forward to hearing some comparisons between the 60D and it's updated siblings. FWIW, I still prefer the sound of my ancient Tascam DA-P1 to the 60D... it may be my imagination, that old DAT just seems cleaner. If I could only bring myself to record on tape again. :-)

Shawn
 
trw_mavrik said:
just wondering if anyone had any experience with either a Juicedlink or Beachtek?
Click to expand...
I have two of their older models, CX211 and they work well with my Tacam DR-05, Canon HV40 or 550D. That being said, I'm no pro in video, but when I needed to shoot run&gun videos, this setup never let me down. And I got decent audio, even when recorded in-camera.
David W. Jones said:
You are not going to see an advantage using the Juicedlink or Beachtek over the built-in Mic pre amps
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I'm not sure to get the info here. I've seed good results with the JL preamp between mic and camera.
 
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