Stereo Mini plug to XLR soundboard ?

[Don Ranson]

I have a Canon Elura 90 Camcorder .
I make alot of Live Band videos.

Questions:
I would like to tape a show and use a line-in from the Soundboard.
Since I have a 1/8" Stereo Mini-plug (Phantom powered) Mic Input on the Canon. I'm not to sure if the Miniplut to XLR (male plug) would be the best.
What would be the BEST setup to make this happen ?

Also, being not to familiar with aux. audio outputs from the soundboard, which would be better 1/8" stereo plug or XLR ( are they stereo?) ?

Please advise
Thanks
Don R.

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Don Ranson

I have a Canon Elura 90 Camcorder .
I make alot of Live Band videos.

Questions:
I would like to tape a show and use a line-in from the Soundboard.
Since I have a 1/8" Stereo Mini-plug (Phantom powered) Mic Input on the Canon. I'm not to sure if the Miniplut to XLR (male plug) would be the best.
What would be the BEST setup to make this happen ?

Also, being not to familiar with aux. audio outputs from the soundboard, which would be better 1/8" stereo plug or XLR ( are they stereo?) ?

Please advise
Thanks
Don R.

I'm not familiar with the Elura but I would be extremely surprised if it provided phantom power to a microphone plugged into its mic input. It might have a 5v bias voltage but that's something different from phantom power for a professional condenser mic. In fact, the manual (page 62) specifically says to use a battery powered external mic, suggesting the camera does NOT supply phantom power.

There are some issues to consider before even getting to the connectors. The biggest is that the soundboard will be supplying line level signals while your camera wants much lower mic level inputs. Connecting the board through a simple connector adapter is going to result in severe overloading and distortion. You'll need to get an inline attentuator to drop the high line level soundboard output to an acceptably low mic level input. Take a look at something like the Beachtek DXA-2. (www.beachtek.com)

XLR inputs and outputs are almost never stereo. While a single XLR connector certainly could be used for unbalanced stereo, most often it's for balanced mono signals. A professional soundboard, mixer, or other device's stereo outputs then would be on a pair of separate XLR connectors, one for each channel. Another possibility for the output connectors would be a pair of 1/4 inch 3-conductor "phone" plugs, commonly called TRS connectors. Many mixers have both. Can't say it's impossible but I'd think it very unlikely that the soundboard is going to have 1/8" stereo miniplug outputs. Just a guess, but odds are it will have 1/4" TRS outputs, one for each half of the stereo pair.

You'll probably end up with:

[mixing board] -> 1/4" TRS====XLR (2 cables) -> [DXA-2] -> [Camera]

[Sam Gates]

Originally Posted by Don Ranson

I have a Canon Elura 90 Camcorder .
I make alot of Live Band videos.


Also, being not to familiar with aux. audio outputs from the soundboard, which would be better 1/8" stereo plug or XLR ( are they stereo?) ?

Please advise
Thanks
Don R.

Steve's advice on the Beachtek is good. Most mixers I have used have 1/4" Aux outs. Cheaper mixers are unbalananced and others are impedance balanced or have differential balanced outs. A few have XLR balanced outs.

Recently I needed to be by the stage at church and the mixer was in the balcony. I used the plug in mic transmitter from a Sennheiser EW100ENG-G2 connected to the aux out of a mixer. I could adjust it not to overload but I would have used an attenuator in line if I had one.

Aux sends are mono out so if you want stereo you need two. I wouldn't give up two aux sends so you could record. Most mixes at live events are mono anyway.

Sam

[Don Ranson]

Thanks Steve (& Sam). Great tech Info.. To clarify, I meant to say 1/4" output from the soundboard. I knew that much.
Like you mentioned about the phantom power (per manual), soundboards can have phantom "out" (for Pro condenser Mics) . Also, with the line level signals being too much , I would need more that an camcorder Gain control ( the Elura 90 has a "built-in" auto/mic gain., I believe)

I have looked into the XLR Attenuators (Ouch $250 w/cables,etc).
I had actually looked at the next model up from the Beachtek DXA-2. (www.beachtek.com) . If you say the DXA-2 would suffice hopefully I can find one used on Ebay,etc..

A friend of mine said that he was looking into using a Mic transmitters.
However, I had read that they had an unbalanced signal. I was striving for a much better sound. Then again with certain constraints (ie limited budget ), and NOT being hard wired to the board would give me more freedom to roam while videotaping. Could such a cordless transmitter give a moderate sound result ?
Anymore advise would be greatly appreciated. DR

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Don Ranson

Thanks Steve (& Sam). ...

Also, with the line level signals being too much , I would need more that an camcorder Gain control ( the Elura 90 has a "built-in" auto/mic gain., I believe)

...

I have looked into the XLR Attenuators (Ouch $250 w/cables,etc).
...
. Could such a cordless transmitter give a moderate sound result ?
.... DR

There more to matching the line level off the mixer to the mic level on the camera input than simply adjusting the audio recording level in the camera whether it's adjusted manually or automatically. The camera's audio level controls the strength of the signal sent to the tape. But that's adjusting the levels of the output of the audio circuits *after* the input stages. The overload you need to worry about comes from the high level line signal overloading the audio input circuits at the very start of the chain, *before* it ever gets to the level controls. Overdriving the input creates distortion. The level control gives you a choice of recording loud distorted sound or not-so-loud distorted sound but it's still going to be distorted no matter what. The only kind of level control that affects what I'm talking about is an attentuator on the mic input itself that you can switch in or out but to the best of my knowledge the Elura doesn't have one.

You can get various in-line attenuators for less than the cost of the Beach but the big advantage of something like the Beachtek is that it gives you both a continuously variable amount of attenuation so you can get everything balanced properly and also converts either 1 or 2 XLR feeds to the stereo mini-plug the camera expects. I won't swear to it but it appears the DXA-2 and DXA-4 are electrically equivalent, the difference being the size and the location of the attachment point. The DXA-2 looks like a better fit to the Elura but if you got a good deal on a -4 you could try it and see if it works for you. (Make sure you can get your money back if it doesn't work out.)