Help! Camcorder mic input with lavalier microphone

[sergiolane]

Hello,

I need help setting up my camera. I have a:
- JVC GZ-E505BU Camcorder
- GTDaudio G-313L lavalier mic setup
- MP Tube pre-amp.

My goal was to use the lavalier mics with the camcorder's mic-input. However, I don't get any signal in the camcorder. I've tried with the pre-amp, and without, to no avail. Please help! Everything seems to work fine up to the camera (ie. the lights on the preamp go up/down when i talk into the lav mic). I'm using a common Radioshack 1/4"-to-1/8" adapter at the camcorder's mic input.

Here’s how I have everything connected:
1. G-313L output --> preamp input. (on 1/4” plugs)
2. Preamp output --> camcorder mic-input (common 1/4" to 1/8” adapter)

- The G-313L receives frequency from the lav mic transmitter. That’s not the problem
- The preamp receives the signal from the G-313L. That’s not the problem.
- The camcorder DOES NOT receive signal from the preamp (or g-313L, for that matter).

Any suggestions? I was reading somewhere that there’s a difference between mic level and line level. See this article http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/30/859393

Thank you for reading. I hope you can help me out.

[Richard_G]

It's unlikely to be a level problem as mic level is much lower than line level. However, you camcorder is capable of power feeding a mic so will have a 3 connection jack socket (tip, ring and sleeve). I assume the adapter you are using is only tip and sleeve?

[Cornucopia]

Richard_G is correct: you shouldn't need a preamp. The level your cam is expecting from an external mike connected to your input jack is roughly equal to what ought to be coming out of your wireless receiver (and you have 5 levels with which to adjust this anyway). What you basically need is a 1/4" female to 1/8" male adapter cable (~$10USD).
He is also correct in that your mike may be expecting a "stereo" mike or one that has power needs, and so is using RTS instead of TS. The aforementioned (correct) cable should be able to accommodate this.

If your preamp is actually bringing your mike level up to line level (and you were able to successfully get it into the camera) what you would/should be hearing is OVERLOAD DISTORTION! (because line level would be way too high for what the input was expecting).

Of course, it could be (rare but possible) that the cam will ONLY work with mikes that it supplies the power to. In which case, you'd be out of luck with the mikes you currently have. But I don't think this is the situation. First check your cabling pinouts.

Scott

[sergiolane]

Thank you, Richard and Scott, for your replies.

Scott, in my attempts to run video, I would plug in a non-powered microphone into the camera, and it would give me signal only to Left channel. The 3.5mm plug has only 1 ring. Therefore, I assume its a mono microphone. However the camera has stereo capabilities.
Also, what's the difference between RTS and TS? I got a reply from JVC support, as follows:

email from jvc----------------------------
"Thank you for contacting JVC Customer Care. My name is Tamara, your email care specialist. We value you as a JVC customer and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

I understand that you are experiencing some difficulties connecting a wireless microphone to your camcorder.

The microphone port on the GZ-E505BU was designed to work with standard, non-powered wired microphones. We do not have information in regards to connecting a wireless microphone to this camcorder. I do apologize."
---------------------------------------------


Richard: here is a picture of what my adapter looks like:
http://cachepe.zzounds.com/media/quality,85/3cee443f19a8cd060ffcd0adc25fbd88_clipped-2...5385752457.jpg

Thank you in advance for your continued help. i hope i can make this work.

Sergio Lane

[Cornucopia]

RTS (Ring:Tip:Sleeve) aka TRS (Tip:Ring:Sleeve):

=====[][][>

TS (Tip:Sleeve):

====[][>

That speaks exactly to the idea of expecting a Stereo mike and being given a Mono mike. See if you can find a "stereo - to mono" adapter plug or cable. (<~$20USD)

Make sure that the "stereo" side is the side that the camera is expecting (a Plug), and the mono side is the Jack. That should take care of it, giving you sound in both L + R channels.

Scott

[sergiolane]

As it turns out, the problem was that I needed a stereo 1/4-1/8 adapter. Went and got one, and now it works great!!! Thank you so much for your help.

Apparently the lavalier microphones were set up to work with left speaker, and the mono adapter was for right speaker. and sooo it didn't work.