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XLR vs. 1/4'
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:13 am
by tpantano
Right now to record a mic that has no need for phantom power, which is better in terms of quality- using a plain XLR cable, or using an XLR to 1/4' cable? Are the pretty much the same quality? I want to know because I'm planning on getting a new mic (battery powered so no need for phantom) and deciding on wether I should buy a regular XLR cable or reuse my XLR to 1/4.
Oh, and since it's condenser will I be unable to use the XLR to 1/4'? The cable comes from a 30 year old dynamic mic... excuse my ignorance on the subject.
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:59 am
by X-Trade
You would only need the XLR to provide phantom power. So seeing as it uses a battery, the 1/4 adaptor should work.
However, XLR is a balanced connector which uses common mode noise rejection at the input, so you will get a better signal with less cable-related noise.
XLR
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 4:59 pm
by dennisj
XLR should have no difference in quality versus an 1/4 adaptor if your cable length is less than 10 feet. XLR also known as a balanced audio connector uses another pin to provide a live return signal to the amplifier.
This return signal allows the amplifier to calculate the signal loss and make proper gain adjustments. This is useful for situations wherein you are using multiple microphones having different cable lengths. The return allows the amplifier or mixer to adjust for each input so that they all have a similar output volume (assuming they have the same volume setting in the mixer) - hence the term balanced.
Re: XLR
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:19 pm
by X-Trade
dennisj wrote:
This return signal allows the amplifier to calculate the signal loss and make proper gain adjustments. This is useful for situations wherein you are using multiple microphones having different cable lengths. The return allows the amplifier or mixer to adjust for each input so that they all have a similar output volume (assuming they have the same volume setting in the mixer) - hence the term balanced.
Actually, that is absolutely not the main purpose of the additional pin.
The additional connection is used for
common mode rejection of noise picked up over long cables. This is useful if you need to use a high gain device at the far end of the cable, to stop noise being amplified from the cable.
http://www.ofsoundmind.com/OSM2/tech/eq ... anced.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_audio