Having Trouble Hooking Up A Condenser Microphone To My Computer Need Help

DJboutit

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I am having trouble trouble hooking a condenser microphone to my computer here is how I have it setup the microphone is going to a phantom power supply then mic cable in going to a dj mixer then a audio cable it going to a computer running windows xp. I do not get sound from the microphone on the computer. I have also tried the same setup with a computer running windows 7 same thing no sound from the condenser microphone. If I use a dynamic microphone and speak into it I see the audio levels on the mixer and the computer will pickup the audio from the microphone. What am I doing wrong do I need to go with a usb soundcard with a microphone input instead of using the dj mixer and will the work on windows xp?? I want to use this condenser microphone with my internet radio station.
 
Well the mic mixer works, just not the the phantom rig, or, part of it. Cross testing and substitution (apart from reseating and jiggling connections) is about all one can do. If a jack is mounted to the circuit board, a connection might have taken a knock and gone dead, etc..
 
- What is the make and model of the condenser microphone, the DJ mixer and phantom power supply (or a link to it)?

- Is the dynamic microphone also an XLR connected mic and not a 1/4" plug type of karaoke mic?

- Are you using all XLR to XLR cables from mic to phantom box to the DJ mixer with no sort of adapters (such as XLR to 1/4") somewhere in the signal chain?
 
Condenser mic Tonor BM-700
Dynamic mic Cad 90 looks so so but it works
Phantom Power Supply Innogrear I229
DJ Mixer Gemini PS-525
One cable is a XLRM to XLRF
Other Cable XLRM to 1/8 TRS

Everything works except the condenser mic.
 
The 3.5mm TRS plug is the problem. Most computers assume you are feeding in stereo, and if you stick a mono TS plug in, then one channel just gets shorted. Phantom power supply boxes that go in line are meant to have short circuit protection on the output - to sort this out, but most don't - or maybe just have a capacitor to decouple the DC - The problem is that the 48V exists as a kind of limbo voltage (hence phantom) that exists BETWEEN the hot and cold conductors - your XLR to 3.5mm cable isn't the problem - it's how your computer reacts to having 48V shoved up it, and equally many computers even shove 5V the other way to polarise a headset mic? Some computers only pickup audio from the tip and ring circuit - leaving the sleeve floating to be grounded or not depending on what plug you stick in.

Frankly, if you are trying to use the computer mic socket, it's never going to be good. They're designed to have very loud audio fed into them - and any attempt to turn the gain up hisses like the devil.

A USB external sound device will be a million times better in the quality stakes, and the better ones have phantom too, plus they can also deal with the audio out - have real knobs and meters and sound excellent. There's about £3 worth of electronics in a typical computer input - if that!
 
So I need to get a USB modem to use with the computer and the condenser microphone should work?? Why is the DJ Mixer not picking up the audio from the condenser microphone??
 
The MIC is meant to hit the computer 3.5 MIC jack in the TRS config.

I don't know the story, but many of those BM MICS use a electret
 
Modems are great for connecting to the internet - you need an audio interface.

The DJ mixer????? How on earth have you wired all this? If you are using the mixer you have another snag. The DJ mixer uses a ¼" unbalanced jack for the mic - which if this is how you are wiring it will 100% short out the power supply?

If you buy an interface, it has a stereo line input that you connect the mixer to, and the mic connects to the interface with an XLR-XLR cable - the interface does the balancing between the sources - BUT - not all the interfaces can handle line and mic at the same time - some switch the inputs from the computer interface. You need to do lots of research here before spending more money. As long as the interface has the right facilities for blending multiple inputs, you're OK. Your list of kit is a bit askew - the ¼" socket is the killer really, as it limits you to dynamics.
 
Modems are great for connecting to the internet - you need an audio interface.

The DJ mixer????? How on earth have you wired all this? If you are using the mixer you have another snag. The DJ mixer uses a ¼" unbalanced jack for the mic - which if this is how you are wiring it will 100% short out the power supply?

If you buy an interface, it has a stereo line input that you connect the mixer to, and the mic connects to the interface with an XLR-XLR cable - the interface does the balancing between the sources - BUT - not all the interfaces can handle line and mic at the same time - some switch the inputs from the computer interface. You need to do lots of research here before spending more money. As long as the interface has the right facilities for blending multiple inputs, you're OK. Your list of kit is a bit askew - the ¼" socket is the killer really, as it limits you to dynamics.

I have Behringer MDX2200 Composer Pro Compressor it has microphone hookups. I could use Behringer as the middle the phantom power supply to Behringer then it would go to the computer would that work?? or I could get a USB soundcard and get a adapter that turns one of the mic cable into a 3.5mm connector.
 
Did the Tonor mic come with an XLR to 1/8" cable? If so plug the mic directly into the MIC jack on the computer with that cable. The Tonor mic is an electret mic that I believe can function with the 'plugin power' provided by the computers MIC jack. The Tonor mic supposedly works better if you use phantom power, but that might be questionable.

As noted the mic input on the mixer is 'unbalanced' (TS plug, not TRS) and the cable used to get from XLR to 1/4" TS needs to be wired in certain way to make it 'unbalanced'. The MDX2200 may have XLR connectors, but those will not work with the mic as they are 'line level' and not 'mic level', so don't bother with that.

Is you setup sort of like below...

MIC > XLR --- XLR > Phantom Box > XLR --- 1/4" TS > Mixer > RCA(x2 L/R) --- 1/8" TRS > Computer Line In

One cable is a XLRM to XLRF
Other Cable XLRM to 1/8 TRS
The XLRM to XLRF should be for the mic. What is the XLRM to 1/8" being used for?


A USB interface would be like...

MIC > XLR --- XLR > Interface > USB Cable > Computer USB Port

But there may be a problem of newer interfaces supporting the older WinXP OS
 
The Mixer is hooked up by a audio cable with 2 RCA connectors the other end is hooked up to the computer with a with a 3.5mm jack to the mic jack on the soundcard it is a junk on board soundcard. It look like I going to have to remove the mixer get a USB soundcard with mic jack and just gp from the phantom power supply with mic cable and 3.5mm connector. I have a mic cord with a bigger plug on the end could I use a adapter to make to connector a 3.5mm plug on and it would work?? Which USB soundcard do you recommend for under $10??
 
Most of the millions of reviews show it shipped with the XLR to 3.5mm TRS. Of course, they're not foolin' me !
 
I bought the Microphone with all the stuff in the package that is on Amazon it just did not come with the mic cable I got it from someone off Cragislist they kept the mic cable.
 
Just to clarify something.....
Are you connecting the output of the phantom power box to the mic input of the mixer with the 'XLR to 3.5mm TRS' cable? And is this the same cable you use for the dynamic mic? I can't tell from the picture I found of the mixer if the mic input is 3.5mm or the larger 6.3mm jack.

Nope, not likely to find a USB interface for $10 and as I stated a new USB interface may not be supported by WinXP.

For the sake of simplicity you might be better off with a cheap Behringer mixer that has phantom power built in and RCA jacks for its ouputs to get audio into the computers soundcard.
 
None of those USB devices you linked will work for a microphone like you have. Cheapest you could probably get is this.... Behringer U-Phoria UM2 | Sweetwater and it appears it may be supported by WinXP. You would not need the phantom power box with a proper interface like this.
What are you using for DAW software on WinXP?

Question.... did the seller of the microphone you bought off Craigslist show you that it actually does work before you bought it? You may have some screwed up cables or something else, but if the dynamic mic works into the mixer and the condenser doesn't, it's possible you may have bought a broken mic.
 
I never saw the mic hooked before hand one mic cable I bought it yesterday and the other one I hardly ever used it. I am kinda thinking the mic just might be dead.
 
I just bought a Sabrent usb soundcard and hooked up the Tonor condenser microphone no audio out also tested this Cad dynamic microphone computer picks up audio. I am about 90% sure this Tonor microphone is dead.
 
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