tinpanalley
Active member
Is there any way to get a Rode Videomic Go into a Tascam DR40? The DR40 does provide phantom power but is there more to it than that?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Is it possible...
- Thread starter tinpanalley
- Start date
GaryNattrass
Veteran
Yes there is more to it, the Rode needs PLUG IN POWER not PHANTOM POWER the two are totally different!
Plug in power is low voltage and un-balanced whilst Phantom power is 12v-52V balanced.
You will need an adaptor to convert the phantom power to plug in power or it is probably just easier to buy a stereo phantom power mic!
The spec of the Rode is:
Plug in power is low voltage and un-balanced whilst Phantom power is 12v-52V balanced.
You will need an adaptor to convert the phantom power to plug in power or it is probably just easier to buy a stereo phantom power mic!
The spec of the Rode is:
| Power Required | Plug-in power required (330uA @ 2.5V) |
tinpanalley
Active member
Ok, I figured.
The thing is, having the DR40, I don't want to record directly into my 7D. Seems silly to me. This is a very casual but nice looking web video to promote a campaign and I'd like to do something better than use in camera sound and better than mounting the DR40 on my camera. I thought about ATR3350 lavs which I can pick up at a shop near me. Any advice? I'd like to keep costs low.
Thank you!
GaryNattrass
Veteran
Depends what you are recording, if it is speech then you should not even be using a mic on the camera and a lav may help either straight to camera or to the tascam.
A camera mic is generally only useful for generic effects and you need to choose the right mic for the job and it may be that the right mic will work better into the camera rather than involving a sep recorder.
You may just end up with a nice looking web video with dreadful sound!
A camera mic is generally only useful for generic effects and you need to choose the right mic for the job and it may be that the right mic will work better into the camera rather than involving a sep recorder.
You may just end up with a nice looking web video with dreadful sound!
tinpanalley
Active member
All wonderful points. I'll be getting mostly talking heads at close range outdoors/indoors in the quietest places I can find. There may be some natural sound recorded but for that I'll probably use the Tascam on its own. The thing is that I have an Oscar Soundtech lav coming in the mail that won't arrive before I need it and I don't want to spend too much on something else in the meantime for something that will predominantly be heard on laptops, tablets, and desktops with regular speakers. This is why the ATR3350 lav occurred to me. I agree that a lav on the people talking would be better than the Rode at a distance.
Rick R
Veteran
The ATR3350 should work with the DR40. Mic level; Phantom Power OFF.
At some point you should probably get one of the Sescom adapter/attenuator cables to send audio to both the audio recorder, camera & HPs. For instance: http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Audio-Cables/DSLR-Audio-Cables/Sescom/LN2MIC-TAS-MON.xhtml
At some point you should probably get one of the Sescom adapter/attenuator cables to send audio to both the audio recorder, camera & HPs. For instance: http://www.markertek.com/Cables/Audio-Cables/DSLR-Audio-Cables/Sescom/LN2MIC-TAS-MON.xhtml
tinpanalley
Active member
Thanks for the input. You've helped me immensely before.
So this is basically an input adapter to go from the ATR3350 to the Tascam with essentially a tap to headphones? With the 7D, the DR40 and some headphones, how would I wire one of these up? Also, as an aside, any chance you know how long the 3350 will run on one of those cell batteries?
Rick R
Veteran
The Sescom adapter goes from the Tascam's HP (headphone) output to the camera's audio input and has an additional output jack for HP monitoring. Any mic(s) would be plugged into the Tascam normally. The camera gets the 'same' audio as the recorder.. except at the camera's inherent lower quality. It makes syncing a lot easier and more accurate, either manually or via PluralEyes.
"any chance you know how long the 3350 will run on one of those cell batteries?"
- I have not used the 3350 specifically, but generally it would last a long, long, long, long time. (many years if shut off between uses.. about the shelf life of the battery)
"any chance you know how long the 3350 will run on one of those cell batteries?"
- I have not used the 3350 specifically, but generally it would last a long, long, long, long time. (many years if shut off between uses.. about the shelf life of the battery)
tinpanalley
Active member
Ahh, I see, so it's for also giving you a guide track on the video recording. I just figured I'd slate the shots and sync in post and not bother recording anything onto the camera itself. But I like the idea of hearing through the camera since it's likely to be closer to my face. I feel like I'd rather hear what's coming out of the Tascam though.
As for the batteries, I guess there are some super paranoid people out there then because I've heard of people switching the batteries on this lav after every few hours because they claim it helps avoid the sound degradation as the battery loses power.
tinpanalley
Active member
I can't imagine why this would be a problem, but as long as I have a female-minijack to male-XLR adapter, there's no reason the DR40 shouldn't be able to receive the signals from the ATR3350 lavs, right?
Steve House
Veteran
You have to be careful as there are adapters and then there are adapters. "Female mini-jack to male - XLR" doesn't convey the entire story. The ATR 3350 is wired with a dual-mono output plug - a stereo mini-plug wired with the tip and ring connected together so the same mono signal goes to the left and right stereo channels on a consumer camera's stereo external mic input. A female TRS to XLR could be wired in one of two different ways. If it's intended to adapt a balanced TRS to a balanced XLR it's wired tip-pin 2, ring - pin 3, shield-pin 1. It's rare to find an off-the-shelf mini TRS-XLR wired this way but it's very common to find 1/4-XLR cables like this and people frequently encounter it with 3.5mm when they 'stack' adapters. Plugging the ATR into such an arrangement will short the XLR pins 2 and 3, signal hot and signal cold, together resulting in no sound. You need to insure the 3.5mm-XLR adapter is wired to connect both tip and ring to XLR pin 2, shield to XLR pin 1, and XLR pin 3 to pin 1. The Rode VXLR adapter is wired properly - others you find off the shelf may not be, you need to read the specs carefully.
Rick R
Veteran
As Steve stated, a 'simple' off the shelf 3.5mm (1/8") to XLR adapter is usually wired incorrectly.
However in your case with the DR-40, the XLR/1/4" combo jack is wired in parallel, so a 1/4" TS (mono) plug adapter should work. (which 'some' photos show a 1/4" TS adapter plug included with the ATR3350.
BTW, The DR-40 Mic/Line operation is selectable via a side-panel switch.
Side note: OTOH, the Zoom H4n's combo jack connection is different.. separate (XLR=Mic ~ 1/4"= unbalanced Line.
However in your case with the DR-40, the XLR/1/4" combo jack is wired in parallel, so a 1/4" TS (mono) plug adapter should work. (which 'some' photos show a 1/4" TS adapter plug included with the ATR3350.
BTW, The DR-40 Mic/Line operation is selectable via a side-panel switch.
Side note: OTOH, the Zoom H4n's combo jack connection is different.. separate (XLR=Mic ~ 1/4"= unbalanced Line.
Last edited:
tinpanalley
Active member
Thanks, Rick. There's a lot of stuff here I'm going to have to look at diagrams to really understand but I appreciate it. This stuff about wiring of stereo/mono adapters, jacks, plugs, this stuff to me is indispensable and for the kind of filmmaker I pride myself on being and get lots of thanks from crewmembers for, which is one that can speak to every department fluently, it's a copout to me to not know this basic wiring stuff so I appreciate you leading me on the right path. I promise you your input doesn't fall on deaf ears.
By the way, it is in fact the Rode VXLR I was gonna pick up. I'm not entirely understanding how I benefit from having the DR40 inputs in parallel, but as I said, I'll look into it until I get it perfectly.