Boom Mic for the VX-2000
 

Hey I'm looking for a descent affordable Boom mic for the VX-2000. I bought a sony mic a few years ago with my old camera but its suppose to attach to the hot shoe. I bought a extending cord, but everytime I go near a light it starts to make this aweful buzzing noise. Anyone know how I can stop this from happening or is it RadioShack crap thats causing this? Any help is appriciated.

whats causing a hum and what kind of mic do you have hooked up. if you bought a sont mic thats hot shoe compatible just slide it in there and turn it on. but basically if you want to get a decent boom mic you need to get a beachtek xlr adapter <www.beachtek.com> or one from studio 1 prod. <www.studio1productions> check the sites if you dont know what these are and there are posts on this site explaining the same thing.

Among other jobs I have, I manage the equipment and help teach Cinema and TV Production at the local Community College. While we do have a Studio 1 XLR adapter, most students use a straight XLR to miniplug adapter that I buy at Radio Shack. They use them with Sennheiser, Audio Technica and other XLR-based microphones with no problems.

So while the XLR adapter boxes are nice, you probably should buy the microphone first and use it with a RS adapter. Then, when you get richer, you can get a BeachTek or Studio 1.

Or you can build your own with plans a friend of mine publishes on his web site. It uses about $20 of Radio Shack components to build a single-channel transformer-coupled adapter.

Look for that posing on one of the threads in this group.

Mike
what kind of stress if any does this put on the mini plug jack of the vx2000??
have you had any problems with this or any tips for protecting the jack?
thanks

matt

I don't even start to ask community college students to take care of the equipment beyond a few simple rules. Stress-relieving the mini-jack is not one of those.

Some of the DV cameras are almost 8 years old now and have yet to need any repair.

I personally use either a strong rubber band or velcro band to stress relieve the cable.

If you use a 90* angle mini jack, they are much easier to tie down and relieve stress.

I've tried to find a decent molded 90 deg mini stereo to no avail.

By definition, a molded plug is already attached to the cable, not something you can install yourself.

But there are a few ways around the dilemma.

1. Find a cable with a right angle plug and cut the other end off and attach your XLR. I do this a lot.

2. Mould your own strain-relief. Not too difficult, Pourable RTV silicone rubber is available. Just make up a masking-tape dam around the plug and pour away. Or make up a temporary mold if you you want to be elegant.


BTW, this is one of the reasons I purchased a PD-150. Peace of mind with regard to the connections. (Although they are big!)

My second mid-sized camera will be a VX-2000 because I don't expect to use it very much for sound capture. The PD-150 will have that chore to itself unless I need more than 2 tracks.

I wanted a molded plug for weight and size. I do realize that I'd have to find a service cord set of some type and most likely cut off and discard the other end. I even looked at cheapo headphones but the plugs were really chintzy. I'll find what I'm after one of these days, I'm in no rush.