So Anxious

So I'm still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my check to order my camera rig. Despite being able to afford the camera currently, I would rather wait and order everything at once. A self created pseudo christmas; if you will.
I've managed to find the camera available, however, it will cost me slightly more then I expect (about $50) but hey, whats ten pounds on the ass of an elephant.

While waiting, I decided to do some research into audio. In the big leagues, there's someone that worries about this for you, the audio guy, but as an aspiring independant, broke ass film maker, I feel it's important to know, at the very least, a little bit about capturing good audio.

That being said, I learned there are two major problems with the DSLR variety of cameras I'm interested in. First is AGC (automatic gain control). Essentially AGC tries to keep the audio at a consistant, middle of the road level. A nice idea in theory, but it doesn't work. During moments of silence, the AGC kicks up the gain levels to balance things out, and you just end up with a bunch of noise. FUN!
The other problem is there is no headphone jack on many DSLR cameras.

Well thanks to the BeachTek DXA- SLR these problems have been solved. I wont go into a lot of detail, but it is a small device which can mount under your DSLR camera, plugs into the mic jack, has two XLR inputs, level control, a headphone jack, and an AGC disabling switch. It is a very nifty piece of gear. If your having audio issues with your DSLR, I would surely look into this more.

I don't have the money for one at the moment, but imagine that further down the line, this will become an important addition to my rig, atleast until Canon comes up with a good Firmware update for the T2i