What cable do I need to plug into a soundboard?

To plug WHAT into a soundboard? In most soundboards you'll be able to plug in XLR cables as well as 1/4" TRS as well as a power cable and maybe even RCA cables. It all depends on what you're trying to do.
 
Texanite said:
To plug WHAT into a soundboard? In most soundboards you'll be able to plug in XLR cables as well as 1/4" TRS as well as a power cable and maybe even RCA cables. It all depends on what you're trying to do.
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Just want to feed audio from a soundboard to a DVX-100B
 
Again, it depends on what the board in question has for available outputs.

If you're coming off an AUX feed from the board, chances are you'll need a 1/4" TRS(m) -> XLR(m)

Off a Group or a Main send, probably XLR(f) -> XLR(m), but maybe 1/4"TRS(m) -> XLR(m)

Off the 2-track outs, RCA -> RCA

It totally depends on what the board has and what the board op is able to give you for your feed.
 
JordanBlock said:
Again, it depends on what the board in question has for available outputs.

If you're coming off an AUX feed from the board, chances are you'll need a 1/4" TRS(m) -> XLR(m)

Off a Group or a Main send, probably XLR(f) -> XLR(m), but maybe 1/4"TRS(m) -> XLR(m)

Off the 2-track outs, RCA -> RCA

It totally depends on what the board has and what the board op is able to give you for your feed.
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gotcha. i didn't realize there would be different outputs. this was just a general question, so i don't have any specific board in mind. i got into wedding videography and i'm looking for an audio feed.
 
Yeah, it's very venue specific. Many smaller churches and other wedding venues just have whatever the guys at the music store managed to sell them, so you've got to be ready for whatever you may get stuck with.
 
This is of course one of those things that varies between different parts of the country... but in my part of the country, getting a feed from the "board" in the church would not be plan "A" for me. More often than not, what somebody (as JordanBlock put it) "managed to sell them" is the cheapest alternative possible, because the committe charged with "upgrading" the sound system would only put up the money for the cheapest alternative. So there's a little TOA, or Atlas (or God forbid, Peavey) 70-volt mixer-amp in a closet in the basement somewhere, and while there may be an RCA "pre-amp out" or something, you're going to have a heck of a time getting cable from that to the camera. Not to mention that there's likely no operator, so you're stuck with whatever comes through, which will probably be too loud half the time and not loud enough the other half. (Honestly, even in the big "rock and roll" churches where we might put in a bigger system with a "real" board, I wonder how often there's a fully trained operator there for a wedding...)

Again, just my opinion based on the churches I've done wedding shoots in and the churches I've been involved in selling sound systems to. :)
 
If you are asking this question in regards to wedding here is my advice. For the ceremony don't worry about grabbing any feeds off of boards. Just wirelessly mic the groom and if you can mic the podium as well. This should give you all the audio that you need.

For the reception jack into the mixer of the DJ if they have one. Vary rarely will you run across a DJ that actually has a XLR out for you that's available. If you're going wireless which I hope you are have an RCA to 1/8 cable as well as a 1/4 to 1/8 cable. These are the main outs that a DJ will have for you.
 
THREAD RESURRECTED!

I've been googling around and just for now want to establish an understanding of how to connect 80% of sound boards (of all kinds though: church, concert, DJ, PA) to a camcorder with built-in XLR inputs.

1. So, will most sound boards give me one of these three jacks: RCA, 1/4", and XLR?
2. The 1/4": is that usually TS or TRS? Balanced or unbalanced? Stereo or mono? One jack or two, usually?
3. Any other adapters needed? I hear talk about attenuators, pads (maybe the same thing as attenuator). I'm sorry, I've read articles on electricity 50,000 times, and voltage, impedance, etc., has just never clicked (I made decent grades in school, but that just won't totally click in my head, for some reason).


I already know that many times it would be better to bring my own set of 1 to 4 microphones, because:

1. The mix will be poor half of the time, because the sound guy is (a) new, (b) distracted, (c) mixing for house reinforcement not a standalone recording, or (d) all of the above.
2. The board may be untappable some of the time, because it is (a) from the Colonial time period, (b) in the basement, or (c) oversubscribed (all the jacks are taken up by other needs), or (d) all of the above.
3. I know there can be strange beasts that no one can predict. Just focus on the main 80% for now.
 
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You didn't reveal where the audio is GOING? Recorder? Camera? Mixer? Transmitter? Line-level? Mic-level? Balanced? Unbalanced?

My "go-kit" for interfacing to venue systems includes a Rolls DB25b box.
That provides an isolation transformer to prevent ground loops and other problems with direct connections.
It also provides balanced, low-impedance output which is suitable for transporting over 100s of feet of XLR microphone cable, etc.
But wait, there's more. It also provides a continuously-variable pad so that you can accommodate a wide range of source levels.
And at a very sensible price. Highly recommended.
http://www.rolls.com/product.php?pid=DB25b

And I would have cables and adapters to accommodate XLR, 1/4 inch (TS), RCA, and even 3.5mm

I recommend TS plugs because they will work with both unbalanced TS outputs as well as balanced TRS outputs.
But a TRS plug can cause major problems (complete failure) if you plug it into a TS output. (Because it will leave the Ring floating).
 
Thank you. Interesting caveat about plugging a TRS cable into a TS output. Most pages I googled said its harmless, but looking some more, some say that it could cause problems if the mixer is old. Regardless, I'm thinking that a mixer that has only unbalanced 1/4" TS outputs instead of balanced 1/4" TRS outputs is not professional-grade, and neither is the person behind it. Possible but rare. For simplicity I might pack just TRS cables and if I happen upon such a woebegotten set-up I will just fall back to setting up my own mics.

Richard Crowley said:
You didn't reveal where the audio is GOING?
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Well, yes I did: "to a camcorder with built-in XLR inputs."
 
combatentropy said:
Thank you. Interesting caveat about plugging a TRS cable into a TS output. Most pages I googled said its harmless, but looking some more, some say that it could cause problems if the mixer is old. Regardless, I'm thinking that a mixer that has only unbalanced 1/4" TS outputs instead of balanced 1/4" TRS outputs is not professional-grade, and neither is the person behind it. Possible but rare. For simplicity I might pack just TRS cables and if I happen upon such a woebegotten set-up I will just fall back to setting up my own mics.
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For a short distance (<1m) between the source gear and the iso transformer there is zero advantage to using TRS cables, and significant potential disadvantage. I would NOT recommend using TRS cables. There is plenty of professional gear with TS output connectors. It is trivial to make your gear compatible with both. There is no magic advantage using TRS for the application you are asking about.


Well, yes I did: "to a camcorder with built-in XLR inputs."
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Yes, you did and I missed it. Sorry. I pack microphones as well and many 50-ft XLR mic cables which I keep on an orange reel from Home Depot. So I can use the same XLR cables whether I am using my own mics, or from the Rolls isolation/attenuator box.
 
THe first thing you need is a bunch of adapters and iso transformers, attenuators etc. Actually in your case what I would do is get a small battery operated mixer that has two mic ins and two line ins. Depending on the line ins and if there is a trim you may also need an attenuator.

What you need to know is what your camera can take as an input.

XLR is a connector. So IF it has a line/mic switch then probably it can take a mic in and a +4 line in.

Mixers deliver a wild assortment of connectors and outputs.

XLR is either +4 line or a mic out. The later is less "normal" but not particularly rare. Also the XLR can be balanced or unbalanced line level and could be pin 2 hot or pin three hot. Older gear will expect a low impedance load but modern gear tends to not care much. And even if it's balanced it could be a "normally balanced" or an impedance balanced like Mackie uses.

RCA is usually -10 but might be -7 (CD outs were often -7). This will be weak going into a +4 input so you would probably need to boost it.

als though I doubt you would ever see it on a mixer but RCA jacks are also used for turntable connections and in some consumer gear for speaker connections. So this is another one you really have to be carful about.

1/4" T/S is almost always -10 line, though I have seen an unbalanced +4. but it could also be an unbalanced mic level. The later would be rare as an output, and less so as an input on a consumer mixer. It might also be an "instrument" level, though I haven't seen that as an out on a mixer, it is not rare as an in on consumer gear.

Also on a "powered" mixer it could be speaker outs.

1/4" TRS is usually a balanced +4. But it is also sometimes used as a mic level and as a "send/ return" insert connector.

1/8" is either -10 line or headphone, or a mic level.

With the connections you are talking about other than having phantom power on none of the connections should destroy anything. The lowest signal level to the strongest is as you read a very large multiplication factor but with the sole exception of the speaker outs and maybe phantom power the voltages and amperage are too low to do damage (PROBABLY).

The biggest take away is that just because you have a cable that can connect two jacks does not mean it's a good idea to connect them.

You need to know what the level group the connector is (mic, line, speaker, etc). You can probably connect anything in the same group and be able to adjust levels to make it work. You can feed +4 into a -10 input (often) by adjusting the levels on the two devices. You can almost never get workable solutions going between groups with out some sort of adapter.

80-90% of the time you can probably hook a cable up and make a few adjustments and be fine. BUT boards in venues vary wildly from very fancy to weird junk that was designed for specific purposes and picked up used really cheap by the organization and run by someone who knows nothing about sound.

I went into a large venue on a decent gig where I spec'd exactly the requirements for the board, because they were renting it. I needed direct outs on all channels. THe board that showed up had none. They swapped it out for another that had non functional DO's and it wasn't till the third board that they got what we asked for, except it had the Mackie version of direct out where you stick a send return cable in partway to get a very fragile direct out. And this was a union hall, they just never did sound because it was a hockey arena.

Whenever I' doing a gig like that where I have to connect to someone else's system I bring a really large bag of adapters and level shifters and turn arounds (for some reason some boards flip the jack genders????? I also bring lots of cable adapters, first choice before adding on an adapter, so a bunch of TRS to XLR (male and female). Another "must" is iso boxes. Also called hum busters, wiring in venues is sometimes just loaded with junk, and power is spotty, so a way to get you out of their ground loop comes in very handy.

I also bring some XLR cables since you just never know what is going to be there and what condition it will be in. I did a university once that provided a 12 circuit snake with 5 of the jacks not working because of broken solder joints. Which is also why I bring a tool kit with a butane powered soldering iron.
 
Cables to suit your camera, and perhaps a simple passive DI box, and then jack to jack, jack to 3.5mm jack and jack to phono - work for me. Something in that bunch works, and the DI box gives me isolation and ground lift capability.
 
Ground lift just disconnects the ground, an iso box completely isolates one side from the other. Because it's going through a transformer you can get them in a few flavors. Some do what you are talking about and conver balanced to unbalanced or visa versa and also match impedance. Others are a one to one, and keep everything balanced but isolate your feed from the board side of things. Which would also block and phantom power.
 
+11 !! The Rolls DB25 direct box. Has a passive transformer, built in three option attenuation and a ground lift. The DB25's XLR output is balanced/mic level, so long cable runs are not a problem to XLR input cams.
A few 1/4", 1/8 & RCA adapter cables and the above DI would cover 'many' live sound & DJ boards one would encounter.
 
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