SENNHEISHER MKE300!! WILL IT WORK?

M

mistajazz

Member
Hello all (new to this forum), am about to buy dvx100a for the first time tomorrow and i got a mke300 which i used with my old camcorder. Am quite happy with this mic which works well with my kinda chaotic docu work.I know the dvx100a has an accessory shoe which is fine for mounting the mic but has it got a mini-jack for a mic input which is what MKE300 uses. I have checked pics of the camera but i cant find a mini jack mic input on it, only xlr inputs. Can anyone pls help me confirm whether this mic is compatible with the dvx100a as i cant afford decent brand new shotgun .

Thank you
 
Re: SENNHEISHER MKE300!! WILL IT WORK?

mistajazz, no the DVX has only XLR Inputs, but you can make or buy an adapter mini-socket-to-XLR or (if you don't need to go back to your old cam) cut of the mini jack on the MKE 300 and solder the XLR plug directly to the cable.
 
Re: SENNHEISHER MKE300!! WILL IT WORK?

You need to convert the 48 phantom to 3,5 v bias which must be suplied to this mike there are some examples for what you wont,

Phantom powering electret microphone from phantom power

Simplest circuit
This circuit is a very simple method of connecting an electret microphone capsule to the a balanced phantom powered (48V) mixer XLR input.


_____
HOT (2) ---------|_____|------+
47 kohm |+
MIC
COLD (3) ----+ CAPSULE
| |-
GROUND (1) ----+-----------------+


Note that this is a very simple "hack" to interface an electret microphone capsule to a mixer. This circuit works but has it's downsides like sensitivity to noise in phantom power, unblanced signal transmission (prone to interference) and high output impedance (can't properly drive long cables). This circuit can be used to test electret capsules connected to mixer using very short cable. This circuit makes very high level popping noise when it is connected/disconnected from the mixer or when the phantom power is turned or disconnected. Other downside is that this circuit loads the phantom power in very unbalanced way which can disturb some older mixers (in some mixers input transformer can saturate if such exists, in that case try adding 47 ohom resistor between pins 1 and 3).

In practice this circuit seems at least to work on modern mixers, but I don't recommend this circuit for any real recording or PA application For any real use you are much happier with a better quality balanced circuit. They are more complicated but perform much better.


Balanced electret microphone circuit
This circuit gives out balanced signals and has around 2 kohms output impedance which enables it to be used successfully with mic cables of several meters or tens of meters.


10u
+---------o-------------||------o----------------- HOT (2)
| | |
| |- |
| CAPSULE 22k
| |+ |
| | 10u |
| o-------------||------|------o---------- COLD (3)
2k2 | | |
| 2k2 | 22k
| | | |
| o--330R---o----o------o------+
| +| +| |+
| 10u 12V 10u
| -| -| |-
--o---------o---------o----o------------------------ GROUND (1)

The component "12V" is a 12 Volt zener diode
The 10u capacitors in the HOT and COLD signal leads should be high-quality plastic film types. The values of these may be reduced to 2u2 if the preamp input impedance is 10k or greater. If you for some reason use electrolytics for the capacitors which couple the audio signal then those these mutst have >50V working woltage and you must bypass them with 100n plastic film caps. The 10u capacitor in parallel with the zener should be a tantalum type, and can have a 10n plastic film cap in parallel if you wish.

The cable to the capsule should be twin+shield. The shield should be connected to ground near the zener diode, and left unconnected at the capsule. The pinout given is the standard for XLR3 mic connectors.

Source: PZM Modifications web page by Christopher Hicks.


Better electret microphone phantom powering circuit
This circuit provides lower impedance output than the circuit above:


+-----o---------------------330R--------+
| | |
| 2k2 +---10k----+ |
| | | | |
| | | E--o---|--------------- COLD
| o---------||----o--o-------B |
| | 1u0 | C |
| |+ +-100k-+ | |
| CAPSULE |---o------o
| |- +-100k-+ | |
| | | C |
|+ o---------||----o--o-------B |
10u | 1u0 | E--o---|--------------- HOT
|- | | | |
| | +---10k----+ |
| | o----+
| 2k2 +| |+
| | 12V 10u
| | -| |-
--o-----o---------------------------------o----o---------- GROUND

Component EBC is a PNP bipolar transistor (for example BC479). Ideally these should be hand-picked for low noise and matched gain. Bear in mind that VCE can be up to about 36V. The 1u0 capacitors should be high quality plastic film types. The circuit may benefit from the addition of 22pF capacitors in parallel with the two 100k resistors. For minimum hum pickup the two 2k2 capsule bias resistors should be accurately matched.
Source: PZM Modifications web page by Christopher Hicks.

http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/microphone_powering.html#plugin
 
Re: SENNHEISHER MKE300!! WILL IT WORK?

If you are going to get that camera, I would upgrade the mic. I tried that mic out once, and I didn't like it at all. Check out the Audio Techina AT897.

-Dave
 
Re: SENNHEISHER MKE300!! WILL IT WORK?

I will definately consider a new mic set-up but will test the MKE300 w/ DVX100A(finally bought it today) this coming weekend @ Nottinghill Carnival.
 
And how does it work?
Because i have the excact problem myself!

Also, my microphone does not work anymore and if off to repair, it happend after i tried it on the dvx100b, so is it possible i blew up the mic from 2 seconds testing?

Any people who have more information about connection a 3,5 jack to the DVX100, or even better, a MKE300 to a DVX100(a,b) please share it to me :thumbsup:

Thanks!

Jerry
 
Dont you think i have already DONE that?!
Have you read this topic title? its applies to my microphone, so ofcourse i have read it, otherwise, i dont post a quistion in a thread i dont even read...

Pfff... i dont see it, so please tell it, or dont say anything at all, this is getting real frustrated!!! i HAVE EVEN USED THE SEARCH OPTION TO SEARCH ABOUT THE MKE300 MICCROPHONE, SO I HAVE DONE MY BEST!!!!|

dAMN
 
That mike has an internal battery to supply power to it. The DVX can supply Phantom power to microphones. For the MKE300, you DON'T need phantom power turned on through the DVX. Just flip the switch on the microphone and adjust the levels on the camera.

Other mics will tell you if they require phantom power (and most do).
 
Oke, thank you.

So i dont have to turn it on, but if i did, could i blow the microphone up with that? Is it so dangerous?! Wow, thats not normal! So if someone switch the button to phantome power, the mic blows?
 
Jerry, understand your frustration, but keep in mind that there are rules in regards to how to hook up microphones, various ways to deal with power issues, etc. These guys weren't stepping on you, just making sure you looked back at what oleg said earlier. To give you an example of how a microphone can be damaged, if you were to pull the cable on a mic that was being supplied phantom power without properly shutting down the power source, i.e. camera, there is a chance damage could result. There are proper procedures when dealing with this gear. Many, many mistakes are made by hooking things up improperly. I've been guilty of it. We all have I'm sure.

steve
 
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