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Connecting my AT-897 mic to my camera


Joel Jost

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Hi,

 

I just bought a audio-technica at-897. And I have Sony HDR-DC1 camera so it has 1/8" in put jack for a microphone.

 

My at-897 mic is mono and has XLR out put so my question is how do i make the audio run into both channels into my camera? And how shoul I hook it up to my camera?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Joel Jost

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Hi,

 

I just bought a audio-technica at-897. And I have Sony HDR-DC1 camera so it has 1/8" in put jack for a microphone.

 

My at-897 mic is mono and has XLR out put so my question is how do i make the audio run into both channels into my camera? And how shoul I hook it up to my camera?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Joel Jost

 

I don't know that camera but are you sure that it's not a mini input (3.0mm) rather than a

1/8" (phono) input? The mini input seems to be more common and if so, an XLR to mini

adaptor is

easily available and not too expensive. Any film/video shop should have

one

and Radio Shack probably does too.

 

A camera with two microphone inputs will usually give you the option of putting one

microphone onto both channnels but with one input check your camera manual and

see what it offers.

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Word of advice, don't use a direct XLR to mini-plug adapter. That puts much too much stress on the tiny jack, make up (or have made up) a one or two foot cable with the XLR at one end and the mini-plug at the other. That way you can velcro or gaff tape the XLR down to something solid and there's no way the jack in the camera is going to be overstressed. I don't have ready reference to the input jack circuitry on your camera but other Sony HD cameras have a mini-stereo plug.

 

All you should need to do to connect your mono mike to that input is wire the tip and ring of the plug together wiring the mike hot wire (XLR Pin 2) to the jumpered tip and ring and then wire the low side (XLR Pin 3) and ground (XLR Pin 1) of the mike to the shield (shell or barrel) of the plug. Sony may have done something real weird with the mike input but usually tying the left and right together is all that is needed to send a mono source to a stereo input.

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Thanks guys!

 

would a cable wired like this work? XLR Pin2 to tip, Pin 3 to ring, and Pin 1 to sleeve (ground), standard.

 

Yes I'm sure my input jack is a 1/8" stereo input. Also, the mic is gonna be on boob pole so along of cable would be to long?

 

Thanks again!

 

Joel Jost

Edited by Joel Jost
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Thanks guys!

 

.........would a cable wired like this work? XLR Pin2 to tip, Pin 3 to ring, and Pin 1 to sleeve (ground), standard.

Joel Jost

 

You're welcome.

 

No, that would create a Left minus Right recorded signal, it would sound fine on stereo playback gear (it would be an out-of-phase stereo signal, it would sound artificially broad on playback) but the sound would disappear if the two channels were played back on, or mixed to, mono gear. You have to send the same signal to both tip and ring to create a stereo mixed mono signal that will play back on either stereo or mono gear.

 

You're asking the right kind of questions, keep up the good work!

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Word of advice, don't use a direct XLR to mini-plug adapter. That puts much too much stress on the tiny jack, make up (or have made up) a one or two foot cable with the XLR at one end and the mini-plug at the other. That way you can velcro or gaff tape the XLR down to something solid and there's no way the jack in the camera is going to be overstressed. I don't have ready reference to the input jack circuitry on your camera but other Sony HD cameras have a mini-stereo plug.

 

All you should need to do to connect your mono mike to that input is wire the tip and ring of the plug together wiring the mike hot wire (XLR Pin 2) to the jumpered tip and ring and then wire the low side (XLR Pin 3) and ground (XLR Pin 1) of the mike to the shield (shell or barrel) of the plug. Sony may have done something real weird with the mike input but usually tying the left and right together is all that is needed to send a mono source to a stereo input.

 

Yes, I wholeheartedly concur. When I said adaptor, I was thinking of a ready made

XLR to mini. Hanging the adaptor off of the side is indeed too much stress and also more

likely to fall out. I'm glad Hal made that point and also gave you the way to save $ if

you want to make it yourself. Good luck.

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I got it to work! What I did was I took one of my 1/8" jacks off one my old headphones and wired the XLR cable to it the way you said to, and it works great!

 

Thanks a lot!!

 

Joel Jost

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