Plug a 3.5mm Mic into a +48v XLR with the RODE VXLR+!

okay so um have you ever had one of those moments where you have had this mind-blowing epiphany when you least expected it yeah that's almost about this moment for me right now so i've been struggling a long time living between two different worlds the world of plug and play 3.5 millimeter microphones and xlr condenser microphones and i really can't be the only one so if you have a preference to 3.5 millimeter microphones or xlr microphones let us all know down in the comments below and i generally am unbiased when it comes to to mics right because i love any and all microphones if i can use it to record my voice then yeah it's all good i love it but as someone who likes to record occasionally in camera i really do appreciate those microphones that can go right into my camera's 3.5 millimeter input jack but on the other hand as someone that produces professional audio i can also appreciate higher end large diaphragm condenser microphones and yes each of them have different purposes and use cases but for the longest time i was assuming there was a huge divide between the audio quality and then this thing blew my mind away so this is the rode vxlr plus adapter and what it does is it takes your xlr input that provides phantom power typically 48 volts and converts that down to somewhere around 5 volts which is what a lot of plug and power microphones use with their 3.5 millimeter output and yeah i didn't think that this vxlr plus was going to be i don't know such a big deal i just wanted something to convert my plug-in power microphones 3.5 millimeter output to an xlr input but then in my testing and listening back to it yeah my mind was totally blown so what you're listening to right now is the sennheiser mke 200 and that's this right here i've done a couple videos featuring it in the past and i'm using this mic in this video because i feel like i didn't give it a fair shake so right now the sennheiser mke200 is plugged into the rode vxlr plus converter into an xlr jumper that runs into my zoom f3 recorder and i'll be honest with you like hearing this back i am blown away by the quality of audio that is coming out of this microphone and while i am super excited that this mic has i don't know been brought to the forefront of my mind as something that is totally usable i am totally devastated when it comes to learning just how awful the preamp is on my sony zv e10 and this is what the sennheiser mke200 sounds like when it is plugged directly into the sony zv e10 at an audio record level of 14. and if you're wondering if the zoom f3 is the part of the chain that's making the difference well now you're listening to an audio sample of the sennheiser mke 200 going into the rode bxlr plus into the zoom f3 and then being output from the f3 into the sony zve10 the sony zve10 record level is set to 1 and the zoom f3's output level is set to -12 db and as you can hear it sounds almost identical to when this microphone is plugged directly into the camera so now i know what you're wondering does this work with every 3.5 millimeter plug-in power microphone well yeah kinda and yes it totally works with lobster here is the rode lav go plugged into the vxlr plus going into my zoom f3 and this is what it sounds like when the sennheiser mke200 is plugged into the vxlr plus running into my yamaha ag03 effectively making this microphone a usb mic and yes to answer that question that i know you're already thinking the rode videomic go to totally works with the vxlr plus going into an audio interface using phantom power but in all the testing that i've done i can't hear a difference between the videomic go to plugged into the vxlr plus and the videomic go to plugged directly into your computer via a usb cable but with vxlr plus you don't have the ability to use road connect or road central but it does allow you to output the videomic o2 into an xlr input like a field recorder so there are a couple things that you should know about the rode vxlr plus adapter and that is it comes in three different models so rode has the vxlr which is just an adapter to go from 3.5 millimeters to xlr it costs the least and it does not convert phantom power to plug-in power so that's not the one you want if you want to run this setup the next one up is the vxlr plus i think currently it comes in around 25 bucks and like i said when you plug in your mic and turn on phantom power it converts that 48 volts to somewhere around 5 volts enabling you to use your mic in things like audio recorders and audio interfaces and then there is the rode vxlr pro which functions the same as the vxlr plus in so much that it converts phantom power to plug and power but it does a much better job of mitigating interference which allows you to have a much longer xlr run so who is the vxlr plus for well it's for the content creator who might have a variety of different plug-in power microphones that they've been using on their camera for a number of years but want to start making the leap into expanding their mic locker with xlr offerings and still want to use their microphones with their new xlr inputs whether that be a standalone recorder or whether that be an audio interface so it really provides a stepping stone right for you to be able to use the equipment that you might currently have with your upgraded equipment without totally abandoning it so hopefully this has helped you and if you have any questions as always feel free to leave them down in the comments below and we'll talk again real soon

Channel: Wayne RECs

Views: 20,311

Keywords: Content Creation, Sony ZVE-10, Better Audio, Good Audio, Best Microphone, Audio Tips For YouTube, RODE VXLR, RODE VXLR+, XLR Adapter

Id: a0suQyQ4aEU

Length: 6min 0sec (360 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 14 2022