Review: Beachtek MCC-2 and Kamkit DSLR Accessory Mounting and Control Brackets

Keeping Stereo

In my use of the MCC-2, the only caveat I encountered was the time I had bumped the mono/stereo switch inadvertently. I was recording lav on one channel and shotgun on the other- on an airplane. If the signals stayed separate, I'd have been fine. But the jet noise flooded both channels, rendering the lav audio useless. This was with Canon's prosumer XA25 which I reviewed previously.

With Canon's XLR adapter attached, the XA25 shows left and right audio meters. Without the XLR adapter (I had no XLR mics so I used the smaller MCC-2 instead), the camcorder shows only one, MONO, meter. That's a #fail if ever I saw one. If the meter was stereo, I would have seen the audio was the same on both channels and fixed it. Even with isolating earbuds, the airplane noise was pervasive in my ears and I was unable to hear that the audio was mixed.

So I'd rather the mono-stereo switch were recessed and need a ballpoint pen to switch than be easily, and accidentally, flicked with your finger. However, most cameras have stereo meters. So if you are pay attention to the switch, wear good headphones, and watch your meters, you should be fine. Having that happen to me once has not stopped me from using the MCC-2 and keeping it as a key part of of my camera kit during the review period.

Conclusion

Beachtek offers myriad other audio solutions and accessories in addition to those I've reviewed here. Each one does certain things and solves certain problems. The MCC-2 is an audio solution that works well for me. Other Beachtek audio adapters may be more suited to your needs and I hope to review some of their other adapters in the future.

I like what Beachtek is doing here and, while not every one of their products is what I need, my needs are perfectly met by the MCC-2 and the Multi-Mount. If your audio needs are similar, I think you'll find the MCC-2 to be a very handy DSLR solution.

DISCLOSURE

Beachtek provided a Kamkit and MCC-2 for review.
No other relationship exists between Beachtek and myself.