Question For The Sound Gods at DVinfo.net

Dean Orewiler · February 9th, 2006, 07:17 AM

I have a small mic (clip on that is amplified) It's a Radio Shack omnidirectional / impedance 1K ohms...It's an amplified mic with a little switch on it that is powered by watch batteries...it only has a single plug - can I plug this into the small mic outputs and will it work with this camera since it is an amplified mic?? I know the built in mic has two prongs, but this one only has one ....is that okay to use with the XL1S?

Rob Lohman · February 9th, 2006, 01:11 PM

Moved your thread to the audio forum. My "guess" would be that it should not
be powered. But I could be wrong on that.

Jay Massengill · February 9th, 2006, 03:33 PM

If the plug on the end of the mic cable only has two conductors separated by a single plastic insulator, then you'll need a mono mini female to stereo mini male adapter, then plug it into the larger of the two camera jacks and use new batteries in the mic's power supply.

Dean Orewiler · February 9th, 2006, 06:56 PM

no, it just has one plug...not two plugs....but i noticed on the camera, there is two plugs for the front mini plugs on the XL1S

Jay Massengill · February 9th, 2006, 09:26 PM

I don't mean plugs when I say conductors. Each plug would have either 2 or 3 conductors on it. The camera has a larger jack that is the stereo mic input. The smaller jack supplies power to the stock microphone that came with the camera.
Your Radio Shack mic is probably mono, so it will have two conductors on the single plug. If that's correct then you'll need the mono to stereo adapter that I described, then plug into the larger mic input jack and use the batteries in the mic's switchbox.

Dean Orewiler · February 10th, 2006, 03:10 PM

ahhh...yes...I got'cha now...thanks for educating me....so much to learn, so little time.
Dean

Nick Weeks · February 10th, 2006, 05:54 PM

Would the mono not jsut plug directly into the stereo jack? Doesn't it just skip the splitting of the left and right and combine the two on the larger conductor? I think I'm right, but someone correct me if I'm wrong... if you plug a mono mic into a stereo plug it will convert to mono on both channels...

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 10th, 2006, 06:06 PM

Generally, when you plug a mono mic into a stereo input, you get a dual channel mono recording. This isn't always the case, however. It depends entirely on how the manufacturer set it up.

Jay Massengill · February 10th, 2006, 07:52 PM

In practice, it often simply causes unpredictable problems with additional hums, buzzes and loss of signal on one channel.

Don Palomaki · February 11th, 2006, 06:41 AM

Typically, if you connect a mono mic (e.g., the Sennheiser MKE300) that uses a standard mono 1/8" (3.5 mm) mini phone plug in to the XL1 you get mono sound on the left channel and nothing on the right channel. This is because the mono mini phone plug only as a tip and sleeve contact, The sleeve contact is longer and makes contact with both the ground and right channel input on the xl1 mic jack.

If you buy a mono-to-stereo 1/8" adapter, the plug poriton has three contact areas; i.e., the tip (left channel), the ring (right channel, and the sleeve (ground). This adapter has the effct of feeding the same mono signal to both channels at the same time.

The main down sides are that the inputs are in parallel, so the input impedance presented to the mic is 300 ohms, which will cut the effective output of the mic by as much as half depending on the mic. Also, a long adapter stack sticking out of the mic jack increases the risk of breaking the jack if something pulls the wires.

The more professional mono mics and many wireless mics have what is called balanced output, and they may come with a connecting wire that provids a stereo mini phone jack at the end to stick into the camcorder. This connect will likely provide out-of-phase signals to the left and right channel. This will sound a bit odd when played ona sero system, and can present a problem with signal cancellation if played on a mono system. (Balanced audio system have a distinct advantage in that they provide cancellation of electrical noise picked up by the mic cables.)

The smaller jack (2.5 mm) by the XL1 mic jack provides 5 vDC power to the Canon standard mic. This is NOT pahntom power. It is system that is essentially unique to Canon and was used on the older Canon camcorders as well; e.g., the L1/2 and A1.

February 9th, 2006, 07:17 AM	#1
Dean Orewiler Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 186	Question For The Sound Gods I have a small mic (clip on that is amplified) It's a Radio Shack omnidirectional / impedance 1K ohms...It's an amplified mic with a little switch on it that is powered by watch batteries...it only has a single plug - can I plug this into the small mic outputs and will it work with this camera since it is an amplified mic?? I know the built in mic has two prongs, but this one only has one ....is that okay to use with the XL1S?

February 9th, 2006, 01:11 PM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Moved your thread to the audio forum. My "guess" would be that it should not be powered. But I could be wrong on that. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

February 10th, 2006, 06:06 PM	#8
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Generally, when you plug a mono mic into a stereo input, you get a dual channel mono recording. This isn't always the case, however. It depends entirely on how the manufacturer set it up. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

February 11th, 2006, 06:41 AM	#10
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,487	Typically, if you connect a mono mic (e.g., the Sennheiser MKE300) that uses a standard mono 1/8" (3.5 mm) mini phone plug in to the XL1 you get mono sound on the left channel and nothing on the right channel. This is because the mono mini phone plug only as a tip and sleeve contact, The sleeve contact is longer and makes contact with both the ground and right channel input on the xl1 mic jack. If you buy a mono-to-stereo 1/8" adapter, the plug poriton has three contact areas; i.e., the tip (left channel), the ring (right channel, and the sleeve (ground). This adapter has the effct of feeding the same mono signal to both channels at the same time. The main down sides are that the inputs are in parallel, so the input impedance presented to the mic is 300 ohms, which will cut the effective output of the mic by as much as half depending on the mic. Also, a long adapter stack sticking out of the mic jack increases the risk of breaking the jack if something pulls the wires. The more professional mono mics and many wireless mics have what is called balanced output, and they may come with a connecting wire that provids a stereo mini phone jack at the end to stick into the camcorder. This connect will likely provide out-of-phase signals to the left and right channel. This will sound a bit odd when played ona sero system, and can present a problem with signal cancellation if played on a mono system. (Balanced audio system have a distinct advantage in that they provide cancellation of electrical noise picked up by the mic cables.) The smaller jack (2.5 mm) by the XL1 mic jack provides 5 vDC power to the Canon standard mic. This is NOT pahntom power. It is system that is essentially unique to Canon and was used on the older Canon camcorders as well; e.g., the L1/2 and A1. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

February 9th, 2006, 03:33 PM	#3
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	If the plug on the end of the mic cable only has two conductors separated by a single plastic insulator, then you'll need a mono mini female to stereo mini male adapter, then plug it into the larger of the two camera jacks and use new batteries in the mic's power supply.

February 9th, 2006, 06:56 PM	#4
Dean Orewiler Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 186	no, it just has one plug...not two plugs....but i noticed on the camera, there is two plugs for the front mini plugs on the XL1S

February 9th, 2006, 09:26 PM	#5
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	I don't mean plugs when I say conductors. Each plug would have either 2 or 3 conductors on it. The camera has a larger jack that is the stereo mic input. The smaller jack supplies power to the stock microphone that came with the camera. Your Radio Shack mic is probably mono, so it will have two conductors on the single plug. If that's correct then you'll need the mono to stereo adapter that I described, then plug into the larger mic input jack and use the batteries in the mic's switchbox.

February 10th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#6
Dean Orewiler Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 186	ahhh...yes...I got'cha now...thanks for educating me....so much to learn, so little time. Dean

February 10th, 2006, 05:54 PM	#7
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	Would the mono not jsut plug directly into the stereo jack? Doesn't it just skip the splitting of the left and right and combine the two on the larger conductor? I think I'm right, but someone correct me if I'm wrong... if you plug a mono mic into a stereo plug it will convert to mono on both channels...

February 10th, 2006, 07:52 PM	#9
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	In practice, it often simply causes unpredictable problems with additional hums, buzzes and loss of signal on one channel.