XLR Stereo vs XLR Mono and JVC HD110U
 

Ok, sorry if this is elementary, but I'm confused.

Is a 3-pin XLR cable mono or stereo? A 5-pin?

Whats the difference between 3 and 5-pin XLR?

Most mics are mono, right?

And, last, the JVC HD110U has two XLR inputs. But in the pics, I see what looks like a switch between them. Can only one be live and recording at once?

If so, and if XLRs are really mono, then you'd only be able to get one mono signal to your tape, unless you mixed some signals together pre-camera, right?

Obviously I'm missing something. Sorry for all the questions. Please help me out.

Brian :)

3-pin XLR's are typically balanced mono, though since 'XLR' refers to the connector and not its use there can be exceptions. A 5-pin XLR is often used on a stereo mic with balanced outputs such as the AT825, 815 or 835 mics, with a pair of pins used for each balanced channel and the 5th pin as a common ground. The 5-pin XLR connects to a 'Y' cable with 2 conventional 3-pin XLRs on the other end, one for each channel, L&R

The JVC cam records 2 separate channels, normally thought of as stereo L&R, at once. XLR 1 goes to channel 1 and XLR 2 goes to channel 2 and you'd plug a separate mic, or the stereo split from a stereo mic, into each connector. However the switch you observe allows you to disconnect the XLR 2 connector and instead send XLR 1's input to both channels in order to make it easier to record dual-mono without requiring an external splitter. This is often done as an insurance track with mono dialog, the primary track set to normal level and the insurance track about 6 or 8 dB lower so that in case a sudden loud sound drives the primary track to distortion or clipping you have an undistorted lower level version to substitute in post.

Excellent Steve. Exactly what I needed to know. Thanks for your help.

Brian