Mini Stereo to XLR
 

Hi guys, so my question is this:

I just got a RODE Stereo Video Mic which connects to my camera by mini plug, now without going into detail about how much of a tool I am, I recently broke my camera, and so when considering new cam's with XLR I want to be sure that I can still use this mic.

B&H has this adaptor: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont....x=0&image.y=0

Will this adapt my mic correctly to be used with XLR? From what I understand it would be mixed down to mono and the "stero effect" of the mic would only be on one channel coming into the camera. Is this correct or am I completely wrong? Should I be looking for another adaptor?

Thanks in advance! :D

That particular adapter would also throw away the right stereo channel coming off your mic. What you want is a "Y" adapter connecting a female stereo 3.5mm jack to 2 mono XLR males. You can wire one up yourself if you're handy with a soldering iron or you can get something like a 3.5mm (F) to 2xRCA(M) Y plus a couple of RCA(F) - XLR (M) adapter plugs

Thanks for the reply Steve, so to get both channels I have to use two XLR connectors for my camrea or is there a way to mix down both channels into a single XLR connector?

Yes, you can mix down the two channels but you'll need to get a 2 or more channel mixer to put between the mic and the camera. You could make an adapter that would put both the left and right stereo channels onto one XLR without involving any electronics but paralleling two inputs in a 'Y' might have poor results, depending on the specifics of the mic and the camera. If you want to try, both the tip (L) and ring (R) of the TRS mini connector would be jumpered together and connected to pin 2 of the XLR, the sleeve of the TRS would go to the XLR pin 1 and XLR pin 3 can either be left floating or connected to pin 1. Note that this is NOT a standard off-the-shelf XLR/TRS adapter plug wiring - those are sold to adapt balanced TRS mono to balanced XLR mono and connect tip to pin 2, ring to pin 3, and sleeve to pin 1 - connecting left to pin 2 and right to pin 3 results in all kinds of phase problems when the two signals are L & R stereo channels).

I can back up what Steve says 100% - as I posed the same question to Rode 2 months ago and got an identical reply.

Just goes to show how talented some of our forum members are - good on you Steve!