Adaptor for Countryman B3?

mainstreetprod

mainstreetprod

Veteran
I've been using an ancient Sony ECM50 wired lav forever. Today the connection started getting crispy sounding so time to move on. I have two Sennheiser G2's with Countryman B3 mics, terminated with locking 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo mini jacks. Trew audio says the adapter to convert these to wired XLR use is $120. Not sure I want to go that route as $120 would go a long way towards purchase of a dedicated hardwired lav mic. Any cheaper way to adapt my B3's to XLR (phantom powered) use?
 
Contact countryman, they can convert the lavs to other terminations.

I believe Senn and possibly PSC make adapters to do what you want. Not sure if that was what Trew was trying to sell.

Grant
 
The reason for the cost is you not only have to convert the physical connector, you also have to convert the 48v phantom power on the XLR down to the differently wired 5v the lav capsule uses. The $120 "converter" is actually a power module to properly convert the voltage and wiring scheme. There are a variety of these on the market - Ambient's "Eumel" for example - as well as power modules from the mic's manufacturers but they all seem to be in the >$100 range. Just bite the bullet.....
 
Actually, $120 is a decent price. Many manufacturers want $180+.
A slightly lower cost alternative is the Oscar SoundTech (OST) XLR adapter/power supply. It goes for $70 + $15 (for the Sennheiser/TRS locking jack).
 
Haven't been able to find the OST adapter for under $100. Since they sell a lav mic with the adapter for about $170, I'm leaning that direction, after reading through pages and pages of threads posted by sound pros who, for the price, really like their mics.
 
Got the price list from Dave but went ahead and ordered an 801. Figured it might be an upgrade from my "vintage" Sony lav.
 
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The ECM50 was the first manufactured tie-clip lapel mic, and used an XLR 'N' cell battery module as I recall. Similar to the superseded ECM55 which is still in production today I think. The 55 was a little smaller and used a AA cell or Phantom Power. News casters loved the beefy sound and I never had any issues with the sound of either. Unllike some of the cheap POS lavs out today.
 
I have a "true" lav. A Shure 570S. It's 4.25" long about .75" in diameter, weighs a lot and was designed to hang by a string around your neck. You can see ones like it on some old newscast recordings. Rocket launches from the 60's and such.

A clasic. And it's a dynamic so no batteries.
 
Rick R said:
The ECM50 was the first manufactured tie-clip lapel mic, and used an XLR 'N' cell battery module as I recall. Similar to the superseded ECM55 which is still in production today I think. The 55 was a little smaller and used a AA cell or Phantom Power. News casters loved the beefy sound and I never had any issues with the sound of either. Unllike some of the cheap POS lavs out today.
Click to expand...

My ECM50 was purchased used around 1998, and it was probably 15 years old at the time. Was not pampered in any way. Still works, just can't completely trust the connection at the transformer (some static if the wire moves). Came with a couple of N cells, but never needed them, always used phantom. The huge metal windscreen made it 'til last year.
 
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