XLR to 3.5mm:What do I need?

flimflamfilms

flimflamfilms

Well-known member
Good morning.

I would like to connect an XLR mic to my Canon HV30 through the 3.5mm mic jack. What would I need besides a mic, cable, XLR to 3.5mm converter? Any power requirements?

Thanks for the help on this.

Cheers,

John
 
If the mic needs phantom powering you need a power unit for that. If the mic uses internal battery or is a dynamic microphone (no power needed at all) you just plug it in.
 
Best to do it with a beech box or the like as the box is screwed to the camera and there is no strain on the mini-jack.

If you do decide to go the cable route, make sure you use a rt.angled mini-jack and cable-tie the XLR-3F to the camera somewhere.
 
John and Petrus,

Thanks for the reply. What exactly is a 'beech box'? I did a search for one at B&H Photo, but got nothing.

Cheers,

John
 
Beachtek. http://www.dvcreators.net/beachtek-xlr-adapters/

Another issue at hand is the low-level volatage output from the connection on your camera. That connection is designed to work with cheap-o consumer "shotgun" and stereo mics that run from that power. While it probably won't threaten a dynamic mic, it's best to cancel that power out through use of the proper conversion. It can damage other sound equipment (mixers and the like). An adapter cable normally won't remove the voltage, but the Beachtek will. Plus, it gives you level controls and, depending on the model, active preamps with phantom power for condenser mics.
 
Should work fine. The transformer-based adapter is a good way to go instead of just a basic XLR wired to a minijack adapter. (FYI, the popular Beachtek adapters are basically transformer-based converters with some added bells and whistles such as level controls.) The transformer properly converts balanced from the mic to unbalanced expected by the camera mic input. And importantly, it prevents the low voltage "plugin power" on the mic jack intended to power consumer mics from getting back to the XLR mic where it can sometimes affect the audio.
 
Ditto what Steve said... and I'd like to reiterate the point that the Beachtek will give you tactile audio level control... something I don't believe the HV30 has but is crucial for proper audio recording.
 
There's also another option in this line of XLR adapters, the Juicedlink. Beachteks are fantastic devices, and are backed by great customer service and support, so I'll never knock them. But the Juicedlink also offer a low-noise pre-amp, which some people really go for, so it's just another choice. Might be worth checking out. If you didn't catch it, make sure to check out Guy Cochran's video on the Beachtek XLR Adapters... great info!
 
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