HV40 - XLR to Mini?

[Hugh Walton]

I just purchased a HV40 and wanted to connect my Sennheiser ME66 to the camera. Are there any issues going from the microphone's XLR connection to the camera's 1/8" mini jack using a cable like the one below or do I need a special adapter?

Hosa Technology | Mini Stereo Male to 3-pin XLR | XVM-101F | B&H

I also found the Shure A96F, but I am not sure I need something this complicated, and would like to keep my costs to a minimum.

Shure A96F XLR-F/Lo-Z to Med-Z Mini-M | Full Compass

Any feedback would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Hugh

[Alan Craven]

Assuming that lead is wired as standard, I used a lead I made myself to connect my ME67 to a Canon GL2 without any problem. My lead actually teminated in a single pole (mono) mini jack and I used a mono-stereo adaptor with it.

the lead in your link is good because the jack is a rightangle one, which reduces the risk of damage.

[Tripp Woelfel]

If you're handy with a soldering iron you could run down to Radio Shack, buy some bits and make it yourself. If not, the Hosa rig should do. I bought something similar from B&H, but not from Hosa, and it works brilliantly.

You can go cheap and cheerful and be perfectly satisfied.

[Robert Petersen]

I made my own adapter which I use with my HV30. It works great. I had microphones with 75 ft long XLR cables attached. The only issue I had was with the AC power adapter. If I ran the camera with the 120 volt supply, I got a low level AC hum on the recording; so I recorded using just the camera battery and the audio was completely clean.

[Hugh Walton]

Originally Posted by Robert Petersen

I made my own adapter which I use with my HV30. It works great. I had microphones with 75 ft long XLR cables attached. The only issue I had was with the AC power adapter. If I ran the camera with the 120 volt supply, I got a low level AC hum on the recording; so I recorded using just the camera battery and the audio was completely clean.

Did you get the low hum when mounting the mic to the camera using a 1 or 2 foot xlr to mini cable, or was it only present when you ran long cables to the camera?

Thanks,
Hugh

[Hugh Walton]

Originally Posted by Hugh Walton

I just purchased a HV40 and wanted to connect my Sennheiser ME66 to the camera. Are there any issues going from the microphone's XLR connection to the camera's 1/8" mini jack using a cable like the one below or do I need a special adapter?

Hosa Technology | Mini Stereo Male to 3-pin XLR | XVM-101F | B&H

I also found the Shure A96F, but I am not sure I need something this complicated, and would like to keep my costs to a minimum.

Shure A96F XLR-F/Lo-Z to Med-Z Mini-M | Full Compass

Any feedback would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Hugh

I wanted to report that I purchased a few XLR to Mini cables and ran a few tests. As it turns out using a regular XLR to Mini cable works fine, but there are a couple of problems to be aware of. The Hosa cable, I linked to above, works perfectly, but since it is only 12 inches long, it was too short to make it from the rear of my mic to the camera's mic input. I returned the Hosa cable and purchased an 18 inch cable by Comprehensive (link below). The new cable was the perfect length, and was much better quality, but was wired differently than the Hosa cable.

Comprehensive cable:
Comprehensive | EXF Stereo Mini Male to XLR | XLRJ-MPS-18INST

It turns out that the Hosa cable was specially wired to take the mono signal from my mic and split it into the left and right channels of the camera's mic input, providing sound to both the left and right channels of the camera. The Comprehensive cable, on the other hand, was wired like a standard XLR cable, and as a result, when connected to the camera, only the left channel was being recorded to tape. To get the Comprehensive cable to transfer the sound from the mic to both the left and right channels of the camera, I had to make a small modification. This modification is pretty easy to do, but does require a certain amount of skill with a soldering iron.

I have included images of the two wiring diagrams below. The first image shows how the Hosa cable was wired (correct), and the second image shows how the Comprehensive cable was wired (incorrect). I joined the "cold" wire from pin #3 to the #2 pin. I then split the ground wire in two and joined one wire to the #1 pin and the other to the #3 pin. The cable works perfectly and the camera is now receiving a left and right signal from the mic.

I hope that this helps,
Hugh

[Alan Craven]

The correct wiring for a cable to connect a female XLR mini-jack for a mono microphone connected to a mini-jack stereo camera input is:

XLR Pin 1 to mini-jack sleeve
XLR pin 2 to Mini Jack tip and ring
XLR pin 3 to mini-jack sleeve (or to XLR pin 1).

This will give the mono audio on both L and R channels in the camera.

A word of warning - beware of longer leads than around 1 metre at the unbalanced (mini-jack) end of the cable, you will suffer from induced hum.

For longer cables you need a balanced/unbalanced converter close to the camera end, with a long XLR lead up-stream, and a short unbalanced cable downstream. In the UK Canford Audio sell these.

[Kenneth Fisher]

I have used the same cable you linked to to hook up my own ME66 to my GL2, but I have never gone on a paying job using it, I just used it for testing. I use the XLR-Pro from Sign which is $149.95 at B&H and it has never disappointed me.

B&H also has a 119.95 XLR adapter from Studio 1. If you have the budget I think you should opt for an XLR adapter.

Ken

Originally Posted by Hugh Walton

I just purchased a HV40 and wanted to connect my Sennheiser ME66 to the camera. Are there any issues going from the microphone's XLR connection to the camera's 1/8" mini jack using a cable like the one below or do I need a special adapter?

Hosa Technology | Mini Stereo Male to 3-pin XLR | XVM-101F | B&H

I also found the Shure A96F, but I am not sure I need something this complicated, and would like to keep my costs to a minimum.

Shure A96F XLR-F/Lo-Z to Med-Z Mini-M | Full Compass

Any feedback would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Hugh

[Robert Petersen]

Originally Posted by Hugh Walton

Did you get the low hum when mounting the mic to the camera using a 1 or 2 foot xlr to mini cable, or was it only present when you ran long cables to the camera?

Thanks,
Hugh

I never tried it with short cables, but I suspect it is a poorly filtered DC power supply that caused the issue. The noise completely went away as soon as the power supply was disconnected. The long cables were not picking up any noise.
Also, I used the same cable setup many times with my Canon GL1 and it's external power supply, and never had the issue.

[Wayne Starick]

I bought one of these from Videoguys in Melbourne (Australia)

VideoGuys Australia | Rode VXLR Converter 3.5 mm mini-jack to 3 pin XLR input Converter

Wayne

[Ron Cooper]

To Robert & Hugh.

The low level hum you speak of when using the power adaptor and external mic leads is due to the fact that no manufacturer uses an earth connection these days. *%$#@#* - don't get me started ! - *&%$#@ - plus, switched mode power supplies - aaargh !!

However, the cure is relatively easy. I simply made a extra lead which plugs into the mains, but only has an earth wire connected to it consisting of a long, single flexible lead, terminated with an alligator clip which you simply clip onto your camera, minidisc, etc & voila ! - you may need to experiment which metal part to clip on to, - camera body or metal jack plug etc. but it works.

Of course you could simplify things by removing the moulded plug on your power pack & replace it with a hand wired one with the earth lead added as above.

A quiet background is essential for good audio.

RonC.

[Anthony Nalli]

Originally Posted by Wayne Starick

I bought one of these from Videoguys in Melbourne (Australia)

VideoGuys Australia | Rode VXLR Converter 3.5 mm mini-jack to 3 pin XLR input Converter

Wayne

That's 3.5 to XLR, I think they're looking for XLR to 3.5. (BTW, I have one too... works great).

Anthony

[John L. Court]

Originally Posted by Hugh Walton

I wanted to report that I purchased a few XLR to Mini cables and ran a few tests. As it turns out using a regular XLR to Mini cable works fine, but there are a couple of problems to be aware of. The Hosa cable, I linked to above, works perfectly, but since it is only 12 inches long, it was too short to make it from the rear of my mic to the camera's mic input. I returned the Hosa cable and purchased an 18 inch cable by Comprehensive (link below). The new cable was the perfect length, and was much better quality, but was wired differently than the Hosa cable.

Comprehensive cable:
Comprehensive | EXF Stereo Mini Male to XLR | XLRJ-MPS-18INST

It turns out that the Hosa cable was specially wired to take the mono signal from my mic and split it into the left and right channels of the camera's mic input, providing sound to both the left and right channels of the camera. The Comprehensive cable, on the other hand, was wired like a standard XLR cable, and as a result, when connected to the camera, only the left channel was being recorded to tape. To get the Comprehensive cable to transfer the sound from the mic to both the left and right channels of the camera, I had to make a small modification. This modification is pretty easy to do, but does require a certain amount of skill with a soldering iron.

I have included images of the two wiring diagrams below. The first image shows how the Hosa cable was wired (correct), and the second image shows how the Comprehensive cable was wired (incorrect). I joined the "cold" wire from pin #3 to the #2 pin. I then split the ground wire in two and joined one wire to the #1 pin and the other to the #3 pin. The cable works perfectly and the camera is now receiving a left and right signal from the mic.

I hope that this helps,
Hugh

so the comprehensive method is balanced and the hosa method is unbalanced, right?