Mic on the XL-1

[Aaron Leung]

Hi,
I want to take apart the directional mic on another camera. Unplugging it, there are 2 male connector. One is for audio and one (the smaller one) is "probably" for power?

May I ask what's the simplest way of getting this mic from the xl-1 to work properly?

Any pointers appreciated.

Aa

[Chris Soucy]

You are correct, the larger plug is Ground (sleeve), Left and Right audio.

The smaller plug is +5 Volts on the tip. The sleeve is connected to nothing on both the plug and socket.

The easiest way to get the XL1 mic to work "off camera" is to make a small power supply/ connector box into which you plug the double plug from the mic, with audio and ground exiting the other side.

The power supply can be either a 3 cell AA or AAA battery holder to supply power with an on/ off toggle switch OR, if you really want +5 volts, which I did, I used a 9 volt battery and the smallest rated 5 volt 3 pin voltage regulator I could find in my local electronics store (the mic only draws something like 2 to 4 milliamps).

The hardest bit is fitting the 2.5 & 3.5 sockets to the box, as commercially available units are just too wide to get the close spacing required for the mic plug, so a bit of grinding is necessary to get them close enough.

I didn't try to take the +5 volts off the camera itself as I could find no way to get two commercially available plugs that would fit into their respective sockets side by side on the camera, no matter how ingenious I got.

I screwed the box to the end of my medium boom to be close to the mic and ran 2 core overall shielded cable back to a XLR connector. At the camera end I had a mating XLR connector bulked out with tape to give a tight fit into the mic holder, mounting it backwards (ie pins towards the operator) for those inevitable "oh, crap" moments when I stood on the cable.

A short lead went from the rear of the XLR to the single plug for the audio hole.

Voila. Stereo mic on boom pole and it worked a treat.


CS

[Aaron Leung]

Hi Chris,

Wow, looks like a lot of work but I will give it a try.

Would you happen to have an image(s) of what it looks like.

Big thanks for your help....

Aa

[John Walton]

I managed to find 2 plugs and sockets that allowed me to take the power off the camera. I bought the plugs and in line sockets from Maplin. Luckily they had hexagonal covers and if you aligned the flats, the spacing was close enough to allow them to plug into the camera and nd for the mic plug to fit into the inline sockets.

I have been using this set up for about 3 years now with no problem and allows me to move the mic about 20 foot away from the camera with great effect.

Good luck.

John

[Chris Soucy]

Ah that I had had access to Maplin. There are few things I miss about London, that's one of them.

Unfortunately, here there's Dick Smith or nothing, which doesn't leave a lot of wriggle room.

Anyway, find attached a few piccies of my set up.

There's about 10 metres (30 odd feet) of cable attached, never experienced any issues.


CS

PS: Senior moment re - boot.

I just remembered the other and possibly real reason why I didn't take the +5 volts from the camera, it was so I could use the rig with my XH A1 & HV20, which of course don't have.....................

It's also just come to me that the reason it doesn't get used much anymore is that I made a decision about 4 or 5 years ago to move from wide angle stereo to narrow angle 2 channel audio and ended up dropping nearly $20K on new gear.

Really must take this memory in for a "getting past it" service and lube.

[Aaron Leung]

Hi Chris,

Big thanks for taking the time to writeup the detailed instruction and the pics. I will give it a shot!

Aa

[Chris Soucy]

Keep us posted, interested in how you tackle it.


CS