Hooking A Mic To The Dp01

[odel555q]

I am trying to hook a microphone to a Tascam DP01 and I'm not having much success. I bought a Nady SP1, just a cheapo mic to start with.

Since the DP01 doesn't have the XLR inputs, I bought an XLR-TRS cable (I would post a link to it so you can see what I'm using but I don't seem to be able to include links in this post).

When I plug the mic directly into the DP01 I get a loud hum and can barely hear anything from the mic. There is a little bit, but just barely.

If I plug the mic into the input of my guitar amp and run the headphone output from the amp into the DP01 it sounds great. Does this mean that I need some sort of preamp or power source for the mic before running it into the DP01?

 

[A Reel Person]

...

Instead of an XLR-to-1/4" cable, you need an XLR/XLR cable and an XLR-to-1/4" transformer/adapter.

 

[odel555q]

I fugured the XLR-1/4" cable was basically the same thing. What is the difference between an XLR-1/4" cable and an XLR-1/4" adapter?

 

[A Reel Person]

Forget that previous reply!

I checked the DP01 specs on the Tascam website, and the two 1/4" inputs are Balanced/TRS inputs.

Your XLR-1/4" mic cable should have a TRS connector on the end, tip/ring/sleeve. If it only has TS, tip/sleeve, then it's the wrong 1/4" plug for that input jack, and will likely cause the hum you're describing.

 

[Whale Bone]

Maybe that mic is particularly quiet and needs a preamp - never used one.

Long shot: I might be possible that your mic cable is bad. When you plugged it into the guitar amp, you were only using one of the two conductors (the tip or pin-2 on the xlr), i.e. only half the balanced signal which will work, but is quiet than it should be. Your guitar amp probably has enough gain to compensate for this, but the Tascam doesn't. Your Tascam is expecting to see the other conductor, the ring or pin-3 on the XLR and if that conductor were broken, it could make hum when you jacked up the gain.

You had the Tascam switched to mic/line and the gain turned up (on the front panel)? Did you try both inputs to determine if one is bad?

Not sure what the stereo input/mono x 2 input switch does (makes each input stereo or makes one left and the other right), but did you try that switch in both positions?

What about recorded your guitar? Is there enough gain for that?