Connecting Rode shotgun to Sony Z7 XLR inputs?

[Paul Atherton]

I just picked up a Sony Z7 which has dual XLR inputs for 2 channel sound. I have an old Rode shotgun Mic which I would like to use. Now the Rode mic (Rode | VideoMic - Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphone | VIDEOMIC) has a stereo mini-jack 1/8" connector, so I'm kinda guessing that this is a stereo mic - please correct me if I'm wrong? If this is the case, what adaptor do I need to get this stereo mini jack to connect into the 2 XLR inputs keeping the 2 channel sound? A stereo jack female to 2 male XLR plugs I'm guessing - but I can't locate one anywhere to buy. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul A

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Paul Atherton

I just picked up a Sony Z7 which has dual XLR inputs for 2 channel sound. I have an old Rode shotgun Mic which I would like to use. Now the Rode mic (Rode | VideoMic - Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphone | VIDEOMIC) has a stereo mini-jack 1/8" connector, so I'm kinda guessing that this is a stereo mic - please correct me if I'm wrong? If this is the case, what adaptor do I need to get this stereo mini jack to connect into the 2 XLR inputs keeping the 2 channel sound? A stereo jack female to 2 male XLR plugs I'm guessing - but I can't locate one anywhere to buy. Any ideas?

Thanks, Paul A

If it's the Rode Videomic, it is a mono mic wired to a stereo plug so it sends the same signal to both left and right channel in the camera. There is also a stereo Videomic so make sure what you have. Rode makes an adapter that will let you send it to one XLR input. RØDE Microphones - VXLR If you really want the signal on both left and right, you could get a stereo to dual-mono Y cable, plug the mic into it and the "Y" to two of the VXLR plugs. I'm not sure I'd bother

[Gary Nattrass]

Paul just a word of advice from an old pro with 30 years broadcast audio experience.

The mic that comes with the Z7 is a very very good short shotgun and will get you far better focussed results than the rode stereo videomic. I used mine all the time with my Z7 and S270 and now i have gone onto panasonic P2 I now use an audio technica mono mic that is virtually identical to the sony.

Dont get too worried about stereo on location us pros have been doing dialogue in mono since the start of film making and adding any stereo effects or music in the edit and it dubbing.

[Paul Atherton]

Originally Posted by Gary Nattrass

Paul just a word of advice from an old pro with 30 years broadcast audio experience.

The mic that comes with the Z7 is a very very good short shotgun and will get you far better focussed results than the rode stereo videomic. I used mine all the time with my Z7 and S270 and now i have gone onto panasonic P2 I now use an audio technica mono mic that is virtually identical to the sony.

Dont get too worried about stereo on location us pros have been doing dialogue in mono since the start of film making and adding any stereo effects or music in the edit and it dubbing.

Gary, thanks for this info - believe it or not I was going to ask this very question in another post I.e. how good is the supplied mic of the Z7?

Steve, thanks for the info also.

I have purchased a mic cable to take the mic off the camera - I am shooting in a studio environment in the main with one subject, so nothing too complex. I always used a mic on a boom, so may stick to this but using the Sony mic instead of my old Rode one.

Thanks again, Paul A

[Gary Nattrass]

No probs Paul if you want to have a similar mic to the sony for use in ch 2 as an interview or fx mic that you can get closer I now use the audio technica ATR875 on my camera and another one in a rode handgrip with a W/S6 as a boom/interview mic.

AT875R, Audio Technica 875, 875R

They are actually cheaper than the rode NTG1 and I now use them all the time and sold my rode as it just didnt sound anywhere near as good.

[Paul Atherton]

Gary, thanks for the info. I actually messed around with adaptors to finally get my old Rode mic connected via XLR. I use the Rode on my old Canon HV30 Canon, but thought having the adaptor would give me the option of using it as a backup for the Z7 or for the occasions when I need either a stereo setup or for some background sound to be channelled in. I do like the AT mic you give the link for. I'll maybe take a look at that for the future.

As a point of interest - I picked up a mono 1/4" female jack to male XLR3 adaptor from maplin and converted the Mono jack socket using a 1/4" to 1/8" stereo adaptor I had from some headphones, allowing me to plug in my Rode 1/8" jack plug, converting through to XLR3 - and it didn't work! Nothing cane through from the mic to the camcorder. I'm guessing the pinout conversion with all these adaptors didn't route through properly. Instead I ended up buying an XLR male plug and 1/8" jack socket and some shielded cable and soldering up my own lead which works a treat! I found the pinouts for the Rode adaptor on line and used this for the wiring.

Thanks all, Paul A

[Ben Longden]

I was just going to say that with a few parts, a hot soldering iron and brain in gear, the problem is quickly solved..

But you beat me to it.

While you have the soldering iron out, how about making a 10db pad?

This is so you can use the XLR mic input to take a feed from the line output of a mixing desk (think : kids concerts). Simply solder a 10,000 ohm (10K) in series with a set of plugs, and use this to reduce the line level to mic level.

Ben