28Mar Azden FMX vs Beachtek DXA vs Juicedlink RM333 vs Tascam DR-60d test and comparison video
As promised, here’s a comparison between the Azden FMX-DSLR, Beachtek DXA-SLR, Juicedlink RM333 Riggy, and the Tascam DR-60d. If you’d like to skip the closeup look at the 3 audio adapters and go right to the audio tests, they start at 5:30 in the video.
No matter which XLR audio adapter you choose, they will all improve the audio recorded by your DSLR Camera. If you just want the best preamp with the most gain the Juicedlink RM333 Riggy is the clear winner. If you are after ease of use and the most features the Tascam DR-60d has a clear advantage. If you are just looking for an XLR audio adapter that’s easy to use, the Azden FMX-DSLR and Beachtek DXA-SLR should fit the bill.
As I said in the video, there isn’t really a right or wrong answer here. There are situations in one unit might come in handy more than another, but it all depends on what you need. However, out of the whole group the Tascam DR-60d offers up the most value. At it’s current price of $199 with a free copy of pluraleyes you really do get your money’s worth.
March 28th, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Thanks for the comparison video, it’s really helpful! The DR-60D is looking like a really good buy right now, despite the unfortunate form factor and battery life. I’m curious about your opinion of the preamp quality of the ART USB Pre, which you mentioned in a previous post. At around $75, it’s one of the cheapest options available (next to the iRig Pre), but if the sound quality isn’t there, it’s not worth it. Thoughts?
March 28th, 2014 at 2:52 pm
I had good luck with my art USB dual pre, but they are kind of hit or miss. Some people get units that end up working well for camera audio while others have lots of hiss and noise. Apparently they don’t do a lot of quality control. Even my unit (one of the lucky ones) has a bit of noise and doesn’t sound quite as good as the iRig Pre.
March 28th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
nice write up…. NEVER occurred to me to use the line out instead of camera out! gonna try that out this weekend….
March 29th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Great comparison Deejay, just wondering how well these would perform compared to a sound devices MixPre-D? Not too far out of the budget range.
KrisD
March 29th, 2014 at 8:49 pm
Not sure, I’ll see if I can get my hands on a Sound Devices mixer when I get back from NAB.
April 1st, 2014 at 3:48 pm
The tascam is amazing!!
The build is like a tank.
The one feature that I love is the tascam’s ability to record two mics and two different input levels which can save your shoot at times. i used it during a drumming instructional video and used the quieter track for the drum and the louder track for vox.
Battery life is okay. Use the adapter whenever possible.
April 7th, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Great comparisons and thanks for knowing enough to put actual silence into the test; most guys don’t get that that is where to really hear the preamps. However, listening with high quality cans at the 720p version of the video I couldn’t tell much difference between the preamps of any of them. And I’ve got 20+ years of experience as a sound engineer. What made you decide the 333 had the best pres?
Would you be willing to try one more objective test for us? To really put the preamps to the test, I would suggest a test like this: place each unit on full gain and instead of speaking from 4ft from the mic, stand back 20 ft and talk or play your guitar or something. The test of a preamp is really it’s SNR and you can’t get a real sense of that when you have a strong signal (like 3-4 ft from the mic and a well projected voice like yours) and the units not pumping out much gain.
Thanks in advance!
February 25th, 2015 at 11:20 am
I think the tests should not be from far away as this introduces all typs of room tone and other artifacts into the test, So in my opin I think the test should be run with a dynamic such as the Sure 57 and then a shotgun at normally used distances for each, as the best sound is achieved when your relatively close to a mic and is why pro films as you know use a dedicated Boom Operator to get the mic as close to the source as one can.
A dynamic mic is lower in sensitivity and will require a good preamp to get clean usable gain plus it will not pic up as much room tone thus allowing us to hear just how much hiss and noise our pre actually has.
Example try to get a usable level out of a 57 plugged directly into A DSLR like a Canon and you will be greeted with very noisy signal and not much drive. So if the outboard unit can provide very clean high gain output from a dynamic then that is a good test of just how good the pre really is.
They tested a JuicedLink similar to this way and it was pretty impressive. The next test should be run with a good shotgun as this is what most will be using on a film.
April 7th, 2014 at 1:26 pm
Sorry one more request. Give us at least 20 seconds of silence and string them back to back in one clip. That way we can really hear the shifts.
April 8th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
I really want to get one of those Tascams. I have a question, though. Say I wanted to power the Tascam with a USB battery pack, can you think of any way to attach the battery pack to the rig? I already have a battery pack so I don’t really want to look for one that has a mount on it…. I’m thinking I need some sort of tripod/shoe accessory thats just, like, a tray or something that I could set the thing on. Or maybe strap it to something? Any ideas?
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