What XLR to XLR cable/s do you suggest?

[Greenone]

Wait Tosser!

I know you're burned out, but...

I just went to check the specs on my camcorder and it said it has mic in, mic out, but no XLR in:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-PV-GS300-Camcorder-Review.htm

Is the "XLR in" the part that's compatible with a phantom powered mic? I.e. a phantom-powered (no 9-volt) mic couldn't just go into the mic-in, right?

I don't have more time to respond to anything else at this particular moment but I appreciate that you've written a lot and don't want to argue. You've been very helpful (and with regard to me, are sort of beating a dead horse, I'm sure is how it feels!). If and when I have more to say/ask, I'll either post here some more or PM you if you prefer.

 

[Tosser]

Hehe, no, when it comes to you, I'm certainly not feeling like I'm beating a dead horse – on the contrary, I feel like I'm helping someone who want to get an overview and review his options. It's all good. I just didn't want to go all-geeky and discuss intriquite (spl?) details of what basically amounts to taste with a fellow geek.

Anyway, back on track:
I notice the camera doesn't have a headphone port either? Wth? Anyway, you then have to run some tests, and certainly choose the 16 bit mode of the camera.

The mic-in is a stereo mini-jack. So you either want a short "extension" (Female three-pin XLR (to connect to the mic cable) to a stereo miniplug). I know your microphone is mono, but this way you'll get the audio recorded to both the "external mic" tracks.

You can also buy an extra cable, – stereo minijack to two mono XLRs. I know, confusing. But this way, you can attach a mono mic to each of the outputs if you so choose later on.

Speaking of minijacks: From my days of using a Sony MD (minidisc ) as my field recorder you have to know, that it won't take long for the miniplug (in the camera) to become "used". By this I mean that _ANY_ movement of the cable will result in the minijack will move in the cameras plug and you will record the noise (it will sound really bad quite quickly). However, the fix is easy, although quite inelegant: Sports- or gaffer tape! An inch or two from the jack, you want to tape the cable to the camera so it can't move. I prefer sports tape as gaffer tape seems to "sweat" (ooze the glue) when it becomes warm.

About your PMs and so on. It's fine posting "in public". I mean, someone else might be in the same situation. And don't feel like your beating a dead horse, and to use another cliche : There are no stupid questions only stupid replies. (or something like that, anyway).

 

[Greenone]

Tosser -

Thanks for the miniplug/tape advice. The camcorder is by no means a special or pro camcorder and it's not like it doesn't already record sound so I'm not too concerned on that front. If and when I ever get around to doing anything more creative i'll just get a mic meant for that type of camera. But thanks for looking into that for me!

Well I got tired of being so indecisive and just went to my local music store (with tail between legs, as I was sort of giving up) and got the basic Rode NT1-A which I hope I won't regret! The part about it having less self-noise got to me and as far as the sound quality, I just hope it sounds good to me cause I trust my ear. I also gave up on the cable front and just let the bossy salesman sell me what he kept pushing on me (as they were about to close) which is a very basic XLR mic cable that isn't special at all: Rapco NJj-10,K-IMP 10 FT LO-Z Mic (obviously reading the packaging) and it cost $15.00. Oh I think here's what they are:

http://www.theavspot.com/audio-vide...ale-to-xlr-female-24-gauge-rsmca-microphone-4

Anyway...let me know if I "done okay," k? I know none of this is high quality but i figured the mic was probably decent enough for my purposes. i thought a lot about the 9V battery option one and realized i'd never really be in a situation where I really needed to use the battery, and if I really did, I'd just buy a different kind of mic to go with whatever type of recorder I was using. As for the mic in stereo, it's just way out of my budget so that's just not an option. But what it COULD be would be a future reward to myself if I ever record so much that I actually could benefit from upgrading!

 

[Tosser]

Tosser -

Thanks for the miniplug/tape advice. The camcorder is by no means a special or pro camcorder and it's not like it doesn't already record sound so I'm not too concerned on that front. If and when I ever get around to doing anything more creative i'll just get a mic meant for that type of camera. But thanks for looking into that for me!

No problem, Greeny.

Well I got tired of being so indecisive and just went to my local music store (with tail between legs, as I was sort of giving up) and got the basic Rode NT1-A which I hope I won't regret!

You won't. It's a great microphone.

The part about it having less self-noise got to me and as far as the sound quality, I just hope it sounds good to me cause I trust my ear.

That's about the only thing you _can_ trust. Certainly not some stranger on the net.

I also gave up on the cable front and just let the bossy salesman sell me what he kept pushing on me (as they were about to close) which is a very basic XLR mic cable that isn't special at all: Rapco NJj-10,K-IMP 10 FT LO-Z Mic (obviously reading the packaging) and it cost $15.00. Oh I think here's what they are:

http://www.theavspot.com/audio-vide...ale-to-xlr-female-24-gauge-rsmca-microphone-4


Anyway...let me know if I "done okay," k? I know none of this is high quality but i figured the mic was probably decent enough for my purposes.

You certainly "did okay", Greeny. It looks fine, and the price is where such things should be. It's thin, which is good when it comes to handling, the plugs are metal (which is what they ought to be), and the only place where it wouldn't be too good, would be for live performances because of the small amount of shielding and the "thinness" making it less rugged than some out there and it would be prone to interference if run at lengths of say, 100ft. Some of my cables look very much like yours (so much so, I would have to brng them out to find the differences). Good choice. And priced where such things should be priced.

i thought a lot about the 9V battery option one and realized i'd never really be in a situation where I really needed to use the battery, and if I really did, I'd just buy a different kind of mic to go with whatever type of recorder I was using. As for the mic in stereo, it's just way out of my budget so that's just not an option. But what it COULD be would be a future reward to myself if I ever record so much that I actually could benefit from upgrading!

Yeah, the NT4 was just a suggestion, so you knew it was out there. It's relatively cheap compared to other good stereo mics. But the reality is, that your choice of a mono mic is properly better, as it takes a while to get to know, live with and work condenser mics "properly". At first you'll properly be amazed at how much room they pick up. But feel free to ask when you get down to playing around with it.
Soundwise, you just bought an excellent microphone. Congratulation, Greeny


Add/edit: Just a little heads-up: You know that small rubber ring on the XLR-plug? Sometimes it seems a bit too thick, when you plug it in. But you want the XLR to click (lock) into the XLR on the mic and your recorder/interface. If it doesn't click, shove it in some more, because the whole point of the xlr is to make a "proper" connection. You don't want it to become loose.

add #2 If you intent storing your new mic in a water proof container, then use silica gel, place it out of the sun, and so on. The reason for silica gel, is to act against condensation (any airtight container will do this, even a boat): When the container warms up, the humidity will vapourise, and when it cools down it will condense on all things metal. This going back and forth will soon result in corrosion and "cock-up" of the diaphragms), but you propably already knew that.
I don't take special care of my microphones – my CMXY is "stored" in the Rycote (the zeppeliner), and that's enough, so my warning is mostly about the watertight cases some people use.

 

[Greenone]

Thanks very much. Whew! I feel better now that i have your thumbs up.

It's funny you mention a case cause we have a random one of those lying around here somewhere (the plucking foam's been used for something else but I could always order more foam online if I really wanted to go that route) and it might even leave room for the interface - not sure - but I don't even know if I'll go that route. I have a big one I use for my amateur astronomy equipment (mostly eyepieces) and I LOVE it for that. I was thinking more along the lines of a shoe boxfor all of it (including headphones) and of course the mic would be in there inside its zipper pouch. On the other hand I'd hate for the twins to knock over the box and dump out its contents so I suppose i should figure out what I'm gonna do!

I have a weird question for anyone reading. The box the mic came in had no plastic around it. Just the cardboard-type box which could be easily opened -- sort of like a shoebox actually -- and I just want to make sure they didn't sell me one that had been opened...anyone know how they come?

Thanks for the heads up on the rubber ring!

 

[Greenone]

Ok well I have all the parts now. Got the audio interface, condenser mic and cable, mic stand and headphones.

NOW WHAT?!

I'm feeling a little nervous about getting it all going...hard to know where to start! Which of the 3 discs should I put in first - the Firebox's, the Cubase SE 4 (or something like that) that came with the Firebox, or the extras/bonuses looking disc? It doesn't really matter, right?

Then I just plug in the equipment (hopefully the diagram shows how to do it well enough) and then what... there are no particularly useful/detailed manuals so hopefully it will be intuitive, working my way around the software or maybe it will have a tour-of-sorts option.

 

[Chairman Plow]

Not really a fan of AT condenser mics, but Rode is decent IMO. I've found the Sterling Audio ST55 to my liking, running Livewire cable. It's very similar to the Groove Tubes GT55, I think they were developed by the same team of people.

 

[Killyp]

Install the drivers for your audio interface and connect it.

Then install Cubase (ewwww, see if you can get Logic Express, much much better) and you should be able to choose your Firebox as the audio device in 'Device Setup'. I don't use Cubase SE, only Cubase SX 2, which I imagine will be different so I'm hoping somebody else will be able to step in here when it comes to making sure Cubase is set to use the Firebox.

Connect the mic into the 'Mic Instrument 1' connection on the far left of your Firebox, and the headphones into the connection socket on the bottom far-right of your Firebox. I'm hoping the controls on the front of the Firebox speak for themselves.

Cubase will take a while to get used to, but it works. It's no Logic (I use both, and Logic is massively superior) and if you ever want to get better sounding recordings, you may want to look at switching over and also reading about mic placement.

For example, recording a guitar, the mic should be placed about 8 inches from the guitar, so it's just in front of the very end of the fretboard (but not too close to the actual sound hole, otherwise it'll sound boomy).

Like this, but slightly further away from the guitar.

For recording vocals, the mic should be placed at the height of your nasal cavity, as mr happy below is showing.

Sorry, only good picture I could find quickly.

Hope this helps!

 

[Greenone]

Yes it's all very helpful - thanks a lot killyp!

Well I can't afford to upgrade on the software anytime soon but because i'm a beginner i'm sure the Cubase or Garage Band will do well enough (one would hope)!

 

[Tosser]

I’m in a hotel, right now, but I thought I’d make a noise, lol.

Anyway, most pro apps aren’t that intuitive, especially cubase (I don’t do music, maybe that’s why I think so). But, don’t worry: Between Garageband and Cubase you have everything you need – there ARE fans of both garageband and cubase for a reason.

I usually don’t go ”read the manual”, but in this case, you want to find the portion which goes ”how to record”. I am not being condescending, so I hope you don’t take it that way.

The thing is, all you want to do now, is figure out how to record a single track – hell, you could be using audacity (it’s a simple freeware stereo audio editor for both windows, linux and OSX)

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

When you get to the point where you can hear ””stuff” through the microphone, you want to find a place with as little background noise as possible – heavy furniture and carpets help. Oh, and close that window – at all times! Not just because of the outside noise, but because the acoustics change when you open a window.

Then, when you have recorded a track/file, then save it somewhere, then copy it, and use that copy for editing – EVEN if most apps today use nondestructive editing.
Depending on the app, you want to ”import” the file into a project (could be a multitrack project, depending on how many "layers" you want and which app you use) for editing, normalising and so on. And when you’re all done, after you have ”saved” it, you want to ”bounce” it (it may have a different name - it could even be ”export”). The reason for this is that you don’t want it to be saved as a (multitrack, even) ”project”, but a straight-forward mono-file (or stereo, as it were). so you can play it anywhere.

I propably forgot something, but Killyp answered the microphone placement-question amongst others. Anyway, as always, feel free to ask