Y'all are talking about several different things. A computer mic can run on batteries or use "plug in power", which is lots less than the phantom power required by real condensers, and a 1/8" connector is just that- a connector. The same is true of a 1/4" connector. In the good old days of high impedence mics, a 1/4" connector was standard for a dynamic mic, and there wasn't that much difference between the clean side of a guitar amp and a PA. Then low impedence mics became the standard, and eventually everybody went to balanced 3-pin connectors via Canon and then XLR became the standard. So- there's no reason at all why you can't plug a low impedence dynamic mic into a 1/8" connector- if it is a low impedence mic input. Of course, it will be an unbalanced connection, and you'll lose about 6db of gain. So what? No big deal, unless you try to do it with a very long run of cable. I don't recommend using a dynamic with a pocket recorder using a 30' cable. Lots of micro-recorders are set up that way just because of the size of XLR jacks, or even 1/4". And *of course* the recorder has a preamp in it, or you couldn't plug any mic into it. There's one thing you have to be careful about, though. Some 1/8" "mic" jacks are really stereo jacks, and they are looking for a stereo mic, usually battery powered. Such jacks generally don't provide plug in power, as stereo mics don't generally use it. The
Zoom H4n, for instance, has 2 XLR's , and a 1/8" jack which can accept mono or stereo input which can provide plug in power or not, depending on how it is configured. The real cheapies, however, are usually set up to use a standard dynamic into a 1/4" or 1/8" jack, and don't provide phantom or plug in power, so 3-pin connections are not needed. It's one of the reasons I like the Zoom. You can plug pretty much whatever you want into it. Hope that helps.-Richie
Thanks. I'll bookmark this so I can read it again when I'm drinking coffee.
