unbalanced mics...

[brandon.w]

I have a Yamaha MT8X, which has no XLR imputs...and I'm buying two sm57s for recording...my question is, I saw, on musiciansfriend some cables that have the correct connection that I need, which is the unbalanced guitar cable jack...it said "unbalanced cord for unbalanced mics" and I was wondering if and unbalanced mic is something totally different...can I get these cables and use them with the SM57s and my 8track? or do I have to buy those damn clunky impediance adapters or some mic preamp that has those guitar cable sized outputs? the less money the better (I'm not an audiophile, so I'm not horribly picky about sound quality, thus the cassette 8track)

note: (I don't know if this is importiant for you to know) the mics are for recording acoustic guitars, and the tracks I would be recording onto are mic/line inputs.

 

[dtb]

BW,
Hi. I've done both with good results. The adapters work and so does using a pre with 1/4 out. I'm not sure about the guitar cable you are talking about, but I'm sure someone here will tell you.
I mostly use the pre when I,m recording my acoustic, and the signal is a huge difference when I use a 57. What I like the most is that you don't have to have the mic so close to the guitar to get a good signal. This also allows you to use different mic placements for different sounds. Hope this helps some.
dtb

 

[JM350]

If your inputs are 5k (5000) ohms or less you can plug a low impedance mic in using an XLR to 1/4" cable or adapter.

If the inputs are very high for a guitar (like 25k-100k) you definately want to use a low to high impedance transformer adapter and not just one that just ties two wires together like the cable you are looking at.

Even cheap XLR to 1/4' in line transformers are heavy enough to put physical strain on an imput jack so you should get a very short female 1/4" to male 1/4' cable so the transformer itself doesn't go directly into your Yamaha.

 

[Joe E]

I'm no electronic expert but have been recording forever and a day. I suggest that you pick up the Hi to low transformer converter. Radio Shack sells one for 10 bucks or so that will work just fine for your application. For more critcal recordings there are alternatives.

 

[brandon.w]

nice...thank you everyone, that helped a great deal, I think I'll do what JM350 sugjested with the adapters and the short patch cords. Thanks guys.