After posting that Micover v.s. Deadcat windscreen tests, I received a number of e-mails asking to explain how I connected the two microphones up at the same time. So I thought I’d cover the 3.5mm Female to XLR Male adapter that makes it possible. Yes that is the Beachtek DXA-SLR it’s plugged into. I’m still working on the review for that one, but I should have some preliminary audio test samples posted by the end of the week.

Both the Rode VideoMic and VideoMic Pro are mono microphones, but both microphones have stereo 3.5mm outputs. Basically, the way Rode decided to wire these mics was to output the mono signal from the microphone on both the left and right channels. This isn’t a big issue most of the time because most people just plug the mic directly into their camera. But what if you want the Rode VideoMic on the left channel and a wireless mic on the right channel? Or, in the case of the windscreen test the VideoMic on the left and the VideoMic Pro on the right.

Even though most XLR adapters boxes (like the Beachtek above) have an Aux 3.5mm input, it’s usually wired to handle a stereo signal. So if you plug your VideoMic into the Aux jack the mic will still be using both the left and right channels coming out of the little XLR adapter.  The work around to this problem is to use a 3.5mm Female to XLR Male adapter. You can buy one made by Rode called the VXLR adpater for $13 or, if you’re in a DIY mood, you can take apart a few old broken cables and make one yourself. Here’s the wiring diagram. (picture from mediacollege.com)

Note that this is a balanced wiring diagram. You don’t want to use unblanced wiring for the Rode VideoMic because that configuration shorts pins 1 and 3 together. If you do that, you probably wont get any audio out of your XLR adapter. Whether you buy the adapter or make it yourself, the end result is that the left and right signals coming from your Rode VideoMic are placed back onto a single channel in your XLR adapter box. In the windscreen test I used two of these adapters, one for each of the mics.

The VXLR adapter is probably the most elegant solution, it doesn’t take up much space, and it’s all metal. In my opinion, it’s worth it to pay a little extra and get the Rode VXLR adpater for $13.


 

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