It is difficult to provide accurate Xlr Mic information, but we have gone through the rigor of putting together as much Xlr Mic related information as possible.
how to hook up a condenser mic to laptop (xlr to usb i think?)?
what is a good way to do this? i dont Xlr Mic want bad sound quality, but i also dont want to spend a whole bunch of money. ive got the xlr cable, i just dont know how to adapt it to my laptop. i've got reording software, so this is all i need! thanks!
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You can do a couple of different things.The most lossless (least amount of signal loss would be something like this http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB-main.htmlits an m-audio xlr/1/4″ to USB box, but it costs about 130 bucks.For a much cheaper, but less sound quality option, you can get an XLR to 1/4″ adapter, and then adapt the 1/4″ to 1/8″ and plug that in to the sound cards line out line in the laptop.I suggest, however, saving up for the m-audio box, because in that sense you can also adjust gain and go right to a digital recorder if you choose to in the future.
A mic preamplifier would work. Might have to spend a little over $20…unless you can find one used.
aesthetics, age, pin layout (also applicable under age,) manufacturer
XLR provides phantom power of about 50 volts, and your headphone mike needs 5v or less (my PC’s soundcard puts out about 3 volts, but it’s supposed to be 5v), so the basic problem is supplying power to your mike and disconnecting the XLR lead that supplies phantom power. What you can do is get a 3-cell battery clip, or a two-cell and a one-cell (so you’ve got 4.5 volts in series) and use that to power your headset mike. Here’s a schematic I threw together for you:http://www.flickr.com/photos/11888359@N08/2851742640/
Jessica – Yes that will work ok as long as you are not using a really long mic cable. The 1/4 inch type cable is more prone to picking up hums and noise but that is only a problem when you are using a cable longer than 15 feet or so.Your sound should be the same from that mic from either the 1/4 inch input or a XLR input.By the way, if you ever want to upgrade to a better interface that is not too expensive, this is the one I have and the quality is great:http://www.zzounds.com/item–LEXALPHA
microphone cables ARE XLR cables. there is no difference except what you may find on the other end. It could be XLR to 1/4″ or more standardly XLR to XLR.
Ideally you will need a transformer to go from the XLR output to a 1/4″ or other connection. Getting a cable that goes from 1/4″ to 1/8″ will probably work, but I have my doubts about the quality. You should go to a music store and shop around for an audio interface box for your computer. Many have XLR mic inputs built in and they will have studio quality sound. Another route would be to buy a mixing board to plug your mic into and out of the mixer to a line level input on your computer.
Depends on what kind of quality you’re looking for. If you just want something that works and don’t care about it being studio quality, you could just buy a Rock Band USB mic and plug that in. If you want absolute maximum quality, the mixer and XLR condenser mic is the way to go.
Go to your nearest music store and ask if they can make a female mini-jack to male XLR cable. That should do it.
You did not tell us which camcorder.If your camcorder has a 1/8″ (3.5mm) audio in jack and your external mic uses an XLR connector, then yes, using that “tail” should work – but I would not recommend doing that. It is too easy to put too much starin on that and break the 1/8″ plug in the cacorder’s jack.Use of an XLR adapter (like those from juicedLink or BeachTek) is strongly recommended. They also have an added benefit of providing easy-to-get-to audio gain controls/knobs and provide a mono/stereo switch so if your lavaliere mic is mono (and recording to only one channel in the camcorder when connected using the “tail”), move the switch on the XLR adapter to stereo and record the same audio to both channels.
The $0-$500 price range is consumer grade. There is no consumer grade camcorder with XLR audio-jacks.The Canon FS series of flash memory SD card and ZR960 miniDV tape based standard definiton camcorders have a 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo audio in jack so an XLR adapter (like those from juicedLink or BeachTek) would be used in order to use mics which use an XLR connector. They do not have a headphone jack – but you can use the AV-out (Red-right audio; White-left audio) RCA jacks connected to an adapter to connect headphones and monitor the audio being captured. “XLR port” and “XLR connector” are the same thing on a camcorder.The only camcorder I can think of that uses a 3CCD array and is in the $0-$500 price range and is standard definition is the Panasonic PV-GS320. It is miniDV tape based and has no audio-in jack (and certainly no XLR audio-in jacks).Most camcorders starting at about $250 (and over) have some sot of image stabilization. At the low end this will be “digital” stabilization. Optical stabilization is a lot better and typical of more expensive camcorders.There is no consumer camcorder in the $0-$500 with “good” low-light performance. In this price range, the lenses are less than 37mm diameter size. They are not big enough to capture enough light to behave well under low lighting conditions. As well, the imaging chips are too small (typically in the 1/6 inch range) to grab light under low light conditions. As the price goes up, the lenses get bigger… so do the imaging chips. This paragraph covers the “Lux 2 to 7″ portion of your requirements as well. You may find these entry-level consumer cams reporting in at about 6 lux. The video is grainy at that level.There is no consumer camcorder that has useful software bundled in the box. The bundled Microsoft MovieMaker (Windows XP SP2 and newer and Vista) and Apple iMovie editors are WAY better than any software bundled with the camcorder.The least expensive camcorder – of which I am aware – that has XLR audio-in is the Sony HVR-A1U. It is a miniDV tape based DV/HDV camcorder with a single CMOS chip and a 37mm diameter lens. It has a headphone jack and LANC port. It has manual audio control and a single lens ring that can be either manual zoom or manual focus – but not both at the same time. It is about 4x more than you want to spend.The least expensive standard definition camcorder using a 3CCD imaging chip array that has a mic jack and manual audio control and a proper headphone jack and good manual zoom and focus is the Canon GL2. It is about 3x more than you want to spend. It is miniDV tape based. It has a 1/8″ (3.5mm) stereo audio in jack so an XLR adapter is required.I have both a juicedLink CX231 and BeachTek DXA-6. They both work well under different audio environments.Then there’s the Panasonic AG-DVX100 (about 4x more than your budget) and the Canon XL2 (about 7x more than your budget. Both the DVX100 and XL2 are miniDV tape based, standard definition, pro-grade camcorders which have large lenses (72mm, if memory serves) and 3CCD imaging chip arrays in the 1/3″ range. They do quite well in low light environments. They also have proper headphone jacks and good manual audio, zoom and focus controls.
I did exactly that for a makeshift PA system for a large room and it worked great for the three years I needed it. I pieced it together with what I had lying around.
Most XLR cords have one end that is female and one end that is male. Most mics are considered “male” so the female end attaches to it. Male has the three pins, female has three holes. It also depends on what your trying to plug the mic into, but in every sound board I have set up the male end of the cable plugs into the board, and the mic attaches to the female end of the cable.
what is a mbox2 and a mpc2500? do they have xlr inputs? if they do, any brand cable will work. it doesn’t really matter. it depends on how much money you want to spend and how long a cable you want. do the mbox2 and mpc2500 have phantom power? the condenser mic’s will need power in order to work. again, with that, it doesn’t matter kind of cable you use, just as long as it’s an xlr.
Consumer soundcards don’t cut-it for any kind of recording – you need something designed for the job.You’ll need something with a mic preamp.The mic preamp will also need phantom power to power the condenser mic (unless its one of the mics that can be powered from battery like a Rode M3, AKG C1000s, etc).Probably an external audio interface is your best option, either Firewire or USB. Firewire is preferred for audio, but not all computers have it. Lots of the recent interfaces are USB anyway to appeal to a larger market…Check out some of the offerings from M-Audio, such as the Fast Track Pro…http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro.htmlI’ve had good experiences with some of the older Edirol interfaces. I had an Edirol FA-101 for a while which worked really well.I now have Motu interfaces (probably upgrading to RME soon), but these are probably pushing the boundaries of ‘cheap’!You could also get a PCI soundcard like an M-audio Delta 44 or Audiophile 2496, then get a separate cheap preamp (ART Tube MP?).There are some silly XLR->USB adaptors on the market (”Blue-Icicle” rings a bell) but you would sacrifice quality with these. The preamps are rubbish and AD conversion is poor. They lack any kind of decent outputs or monitoring options, and you cannot expand them in any way if you grow out of them. At least if you invest even in just an entry-level 4-in/4-out interface you have some flexibility and expansion possibilities.Unfortunately none of this stuff comes cheap; you can easily spend a few thousand [insert your local currency here] and still not have much to show for it!
It would help to know the make and model of wireless.Most good systems use a standard XLR mic connector. Just connect it to the sound system like any mic with a XLR cable. Many wireless also have a 1/4 inch output for short distances. If the receiver is within 10 feet of the mixer, you will be ok to use a 1/4 inch cable. It might be good to buy a XLR and a 1/4 inch cable just to be safe.
Boom Mounted:This is the preferred method of working with a shotgun mic and the method used in 90% of all professional work. The advantage is that the shotgun can be brought much closer to the talent or subject’s proximity, thereby resulting in a much better signal to noise ratio, isolating the talent or subject’s sound effectively from unwanted ambient sound while still retaining the richness and superior bass response that a shotgun records as compared to most other types of mics. The downside is that you must use a bigger crew……The above is a quote, from a really complete and thoughtful commentary, on just what you are looking for. Link is below.