Connecting the NTG-3 To A Computer

A

ANGENOUX

Member
Hi guys, I am having some trouble connecting my NTG-3 to a computer. I know it may not be the best mic for that, but I'm going to be adding some effects to the voice for practice, so I can get away with it.

My question is, has anyone ever tried the XLR to 3.5mm adapters? I purchased one but I still can't get the computer to recognize my mic. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, would you mind sharing how you fixed the problem? I've done all I can under Sound in Control Panel & I still can't get it to work. I've also googled to no avail. Can any of you NTG-3 users help me out?

Thanks
 
There's a whole lot more going on than just getting an XLR-1/8" cable.

First, the input on your computer (what kind of computer, by the way?) may or may not be mic-level. it may be stereo, in which case the cable is probably not wired probably. Also, and very importantly, your mic requires +48v phantom power which the computer is most certainly not providing.

To use the 1/8" input on your computer, you need to have an external pre-amp that can provide the NTG-3 with the phantom power it needs. This can be in the form of a small-format mixer. You'll then take whatever unbalanced output is available (on a small mixer, the RCA stereo outputs) and adapt to the 1/8" input.

What recording software are you using, by the way? You may be better off finding a small, USB-based interface (such as the Lexicon Lambda or Omega). That will give you pre-amps with phantom, and a much better input that your computer's 1/8" port.
 
As others have already observed, you have a fundamental problem of power to begin with. The Rode NTG-3 microphone must have phantom power. If the Rode website were working right now I could confirm exactly how much. But even without looking, I can tell you that there is no computer ever made on this planet that will supply phantom power from the little 3.5mm microphone jack.

The second problem is that the microphone preamp inside your computer (it makes no difference what brand or model) is really terrible. It is OK for making Skype telephone calls, but it has several critical shortcomings that make it unsuitable for most production work.

Also as has been suggested, there are mic preamps that will provide line-level to put into your computer, but frankly, the line-level inputs on most computers are scarcely better than the profoundly lousy mic preamps. There are also external mic preamps that have USB ports to connect to your computer. These bypass all the lousy internal analog circuits in your computer and produce much better results. There are even "adapter cables" with tiny "sound cards" built into the cable. They have XLR on one end for the NTG-3, and USB on the other end for your computer. Several people make these and the one I just saw from Alesis is ~$25, about half what the original ones were.
 
For the OP, the Blue Icicle works wonderfully with any condenser mic and provides the needed phantom via the USB connection: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/571273-REG/Blue_ICICLE_Icicle_USB_Microphone.html

I have one. Have used it with an Audio Technica shotgun and Oktava MK012. On mac it's stupidly simple, plug it in, connect the mic via XLR, set mic input in System prefs and use your choice of recording app, Garageband works fine.

For the other guys, get out a little and explore ;) New toys and tools come out all the time.
 
Something else just to keep in your mind is that computers make way more noise than most people notice (human brain is pretty amazing at filtering out everything but what we're trying to hear, but the mic... well isn't)

Ideally you can keep your computer in another room and/or a well ventilated soundproof cabinet. But any steps you take towards keeping fan noise away from where you record will help.

(I know you're just doing this for practice at the moment, but that's something to really consider if you need to record something for a project directly into the computer)
 
There is the Centrance Mic Port Pro, with 48V. It seems to be the best compared to the iCicle, Shure, … . It offers 24bit/96kHz.

The extracts seem of very good quality
 
Thanks for all of the wonderful answers! I figured it was an issue of power or something along the lines of the mic not being compatible with the PC for whatever reason.

Thanks again for clearing this up for me. I've learned so much by visiting these boards & really appreciate your answers!
 
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