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Lavalier Mic hookup
Ok, so I just bought a bunch of Lavalier (Audio Techica) mics on amazon and discovered I purchased the wrong thing. These were mics that were terminated and use a special mini 4pin xlr connector to hook to Audio Technica wireless xmitters. I am doing legal videography and have a Mackie 1402-VLZ3 mixer. This supports up to 6 XLR microphones. I would like to get at least 4 XLR type Lavalier mics. I have some XLR extention cords but if the mike comes with a long cord, that is fine too. My mixer will supply phantom power so I do not believe I need to buy mikes with a power module. Amazon has a AT831C for around $90. The Amazon web page says this has a 25′ cable with a TA3F connector at the power module and that the power module is included. Now, if I go to the Audio Technica web site, they say the AT831C is the AT831B WITHOUT the power module and has a 10′ cord.
So I’m confused here. What I would like is a nice Lavalier mike with at least a 6′ cord (I have 20′ xlr extension cords if required) that terminated with a standard male 3 pin XLR connector. This would plug into my Mackie mixer an life would be good.
Looking at amazon and other sites they only show pic’s of the mike, not the connector. I would like to not buy the wrong thing again.
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4 Replies
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Why not just cut off the connectors that don’t match, and solder on the right ones? If you don’t feel competent to do this yourself, any guitar shop or music store that services keyboards, amps, etc. can likely do it for a nominal sum, certainly for less than throwing away several perfectly good mics and replacing them with more mics. Should take about an hour to do four.
If you want to do it yourself, pin-out diagrams can be found online, the parts can be found at suppliers like Radio Shack, digi-key, or Markertek. Heck, Markertek loves doing custom jobs like this, see what they’ll charge to convert these for you, if the local guitar guy can’t help you.
Alternately, Markertek can sell you adapters for the mini-connectors to convert to XLR. A little more bulky in the cable that way, but you have more flexibility and can re-sell the mics in their original condition later.
I love Markertek; they are like the Warshowski’s or J.C.Whitney’s catalog of the electronics world.
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Well, for starters the mics I am returning are terminated, I would assume in the current connector but not having a schematic and given Murphy’s law, what every I pick, the opposite will be true and once clipped they can’t be returned. Having someone else do the work is going to be a lot more expensive than simply getting the right part in the first place. I’m more than capable of putting connectors on, that is not the point. What I want is to simply order the correct mic’s in the first place.
What I would like to know if someone has a Lavalier mike that they like that has a standard XLR connector and does not require a power adapter assuming the user will hook it to a mixer that will supply the phantom power.
Thanks for the inputs. I will look at the Merkertek website. They look like they have a broad range of products.
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You definitely have the wrong mics. The mics you have connect to a wireless beltpack.
What you need is the Sony ECM-44. They run about $200. That is what you are going to spend for good quality lavs.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Steve,
Thanks for the recommendation. I will look up the Sony’s. Yea, I was enamored with the low price ( about $70 each) and did not understand how Lav mic’s worked in general. I made a similar post on dvinfo.net and a gentleman there explained the hows and whys Lav mics work. Their phantom power is 5V not 48V so I need the power adapter regardless. Most power adapters will either run off a battery (1.5V) or take the 48V in and transform to 5v out for the Lav. Makes sense now that I understand what is going on.
Phil
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