25Nov iRig Pre Hack, cheap XLR phantom power preamp for your DSLR
As promised here is the iRig Pre hack video with a few extra audio tests. If you need a low price affordable XLR adapter for your camera this is probably the best bang for your buck.
I’ve covered the subject pretty well so check out these earlier posts if you want more audio samples, guides, and pictures:
iRig Pre DSLR Audio Hack instructions
November 25th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Awesome results.
Is there enough room somewhere in the iRig to put a 1/4″ screw for mounting on a rig?
I’m gonna buy two of them right now.
As always, thank you very much for this usefull tips.
November 25th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
I just used an inexpensive shoe adapter bar with heavy duty plastic velcro works like a charm.
http://vaphotogallery.com/stuff/irig.png
George
November 25th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Looking good!
November 25th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Excellent product, used it today over my JuicedLink DT-454… Compact, easy to use and sounds great. I opted to use the adaptor, got mine at Radio Shack, don’t have the time to do all the extra work with soldering…. Thanks for your post!
November 26th, 2012 at 2:21 am
Have already tested you this product?
http://www.tascam.eu/en/ixz.html
November 28th, 2012 at 12:25 am
If you want to monitor the audio before the camera would you just add a Y mini-jack connector to split up the signal to audio and headphone after applying your hack? Or will you loose power of the signal then?
November 28th, 2012 at 6:45 am
The pre-amp in the iRig Pre has enough power to drive the input to your camera, but it wasn’t really designed to drive a headphone output. Might want to use a headphone amp for usb to audio adapter (depending on the camera you use).
November 29th, 2012 at 5:34 am
Hi Deejay, just a quick question.
i have no big knowledge about audio, I just wanted to get better audio for my Canon 60D. So I bought a Zoom H1 and awaiting the sescom LN2MIC-ZMH4-MON for direct connect to the camera and a line to headphone listening…
This is for skipping the sync in post…
Would i gain anything of buying the iRig Preamp, hack it, connect it between my Zoom H1 and Canon 60D, in the terms of quality?
Would I get better audio in this setup, or is it unnecessary?
Thnx..
November 29th, 2012 at 5:48 am
Adding the iRig pre to the Zoom h1 would only be a benefit if you wanted to use an xlr microphone input. It sounds like you plan to use the built in mics on the zoom h1. If that’s the case, there isn’t much benefit to have the iRig pre for that setup.
Hope that helps.
November 29th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Great thnx. Thats exactly what I had in mind. Use the built in mic in the zoom H1, not any external ones..
Thnx
November 30th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
Deejay,
THIS IS EPIC! THANK YOU SO MUCH. I bought one already, hacked it, and now, this fixes my DR-40 helicopter noise issue with Lavs!
November 30th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
I remember you mentioning that. I never actually had the helicopter issue, but i’m glad to hear it fixed it! I’ve got another audio hack coming up in a few weeks, just waiting on the rest of the parts from china before I post.
December 3rd, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Hello Deejay
How long is the cable that you use to go from the Irig PRE tot your camera? is it a 0.6 meter or is it shorter?
December 3rd, 2012 at 4:38 pm
The cable I used in this video was a little over 5 feet.
January 4th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Hi Deejay, I’m thinking about upgrading my audio with the iRig Pre but could use your help. I currently plug my ME66 shotgun mic directly into the camera using this cable http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/158476-REG/Hosa_Technology_XVM_101F_Mini_Stereo_Male_to.html
Can you give an audio sample of the performance of the Pre vs. the 5D mark iii’s native preamp using the same mic? I want to see if it’s worth upgrading. Also, can you do a comparison of the iRig to the Rode VideoMic Pro? That is another option I’m exploring that would be an all in one solution (even though it’s much more expensive). Thanks!
March 24th, 2013 at 12:39 pm
Hey
Excellent tutorial! Have done it myself here in the UK, works nicely (was scared of soldering at first but got over my fear!)
One question…why is headphone monitoring off the camera (am using a 60D) considered so important?
The way I see it you can just plug the headphones into the iRig to check you’re happy with the levels/general ambience, then when done, unplug headphones and connect up iRig the camera, check it’s not clipping into the camera as per the visual ‘LEDs’, and off you go with recording!
Am I missing something?
March 24th, 2013 at 1:04 pm
It’s usually considered good practice to have someone monitoring audio recorded by the camera. You might not know if audio clips, there is static from a bad cable, or a battery is dying in one of your devices without headphones. If you trust your gear on screen level meters can be good enough, but it never hurts to have back protection when working with audio.
June 5th, 2013 at 4:15 am
Hi Deejay,
Great blog! Nice articles!
Two questions about the iRig pre hack:
-1 Do you think it is possible to replace the iOS connector of the iRig with a ordinary 3.5 mm stereo connector (to plug into a DSLR and use the DSLR headphone output to monitor the sound)?
-2 Is it possible to convert the headphones out on the iRig to a (3.5 mm) mic input?
If so; how to connect (solder) it all?
Thanks and keep up the good work,
Hank
June 5th, 2013 at 6:13 am
The headphone jack on the iRig pre doesn’t provide headphone power. If you changed out the cable for a 3.5mm stereo cable, the headphone jack would be useless. So that would be a no to both one and two.
June 5th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for you fast reply! So the only way to use a lav with a 3.5 mm jack is to buy a 3.5 mm to XLR connector? No inside iRig wiring from XLR in-plug to the headphone jack?
Thx Deejay,
Hank
June 5th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
You could bypass the XLR jack and set it up for a 3.5mm jack i suppose. But you can buy battery powered lav microphones that would probably work a little better.
July 26th, 2013 at 6:06 pm
DJ,
Just picked up an iRig Pre, opened it up, and before I cut the cable, I noticed a difference, there are two (2) black wires along with the red, green and yellow, where yours appears to have just one.
I would imagine cutting or connecting the wrong one might screw the pooch on this.
Any ideas?
July 27th, 2013 at 6:41 pm
E-mail some pictures and I’ll see if I can figure it out.
August 6th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
I too noticed this and left the extra black dangling…with some heatshrink over it and the green wire of course. Works just fine.You can differentiate the two blacks because that extra black wire goes into the circuit board and is labeled “gnd”. This is the one that you keep unhooked.
August 7th, 2013 at 6:11 am
Thanks. yes I had someone show me the same thing about that other black wire. Now to find some time to actually do the hack. lol
October 21st, 2013 at 5:04 am
thanks for the great tutorial. but i wonder, would it work fine if i dont hack the irig pre ?
January 25th, 2014 at 11:42 pm
Just curious, if you tie the wrong black cable, will it still work? I got mi iRig to work but there is quite a bit of hiss. I was wondering if I tied the wrong black cable. Any thoughts? Thanks!!!!
September 2nd, 2014 at 6:37 pm
Deejay,
Would this same hack apply to a GH4?
Thanks, Rjett