Help me understand mic inputs please :)

[adams]

Hi,

I've never done much recording and I'm trying to make some sense of the inputs needed for mics. I am looking at the Fostex VF-160, and it has like 8-10 inputs (off the top of my head). It has two xlr inputs, which I am sort of familiar with, but what if I wanted to plug in more mics? What type of mics could I use? What inputs could they go into? What type of connectors are neeeded? What is phantom power and how does it come into play?

Thanks for the help

Adam

 

[maskedman72]

although i am not fimilar with that speific unit, if you want to plug in more mics you would use the 1/4 inch mic inputs(if that unit has them.) that would require a special mic cable that is female xlr on one end and 1/4 male on the other.
phantom power is used for condensor mics only. these mics need power to run their internal electronics. if you are new to this game i would get myself a sure sm-57 dynamic mic off of ebay and go from there.

 

[TexRoadkill]

Usually those 1/4" inputs are for line level stuff only like keyboards, effects units or external preamps. All mics need a preamp (that is what is on the XLR connectors on your mixer). You would most likely need some external preamps if you want to use more than two mics at a time.

 

[adams]

Thanks for the response.

So would it make any difference in sound quality if the sm-57 was plugged into the XLR input or the 1/4 input? And could someone please give me a link to the type of cable needed to go from XLR to 1/4inch? (At Musician's friend maybe?)

Thanks

Adam

Edit-(lol, I hit reply before texroadkill replied, but didn't actually make the post until after)

 

[sonusman]

Errrrrrrr, Tex sort of explained the deal here. The 1/4" inputs are not designed to handle a microphone directly. They do not have mic preamps on them. What will happen is that you will probably never get enough volume from the mic to get good recording levels. The XLR inputs HAVE mic preamps on them, thus, are suitable for microphone inputs directly.

You COULD use the 1/4" inputs IF you have a mic preamp between it and the mic. I am 99.999999999999999999% sure that your 1/4" inputs DO NOT have mic preamps!!! So, in this case, maskedman72 's post isn't valid.

Ed