Sometimes iPhone or iPad does not recognize external mic so the solution I have found is to use a small resistor between pin 2 (mic in) and pin 1 or 3 (ground) if u use a XLR. The small load will act like a pull down resistor and the ext mic will be recognized by the iOS. I have tried different resistor between 1 k and 10 k and they all work good. I did not use any resistor in series with pin 1 from my rode mic pro as the audio level seemed just fine. I hope it helps. Thanks for your nice vid.
Thanks for this tip. I decided to replace the 1000 ohm resistor in the video with a 10uF capacitor to avoid feeding the supply voltage from the phone into the microphone (+ towards the iphone). Then a resistor between ground and mic rings was needed for the cable to be detected properly.
You sir are a champion. An elegantly described and illustrated vid for an excellent project. And your patience and persistence with commenters is admirable. Cheers.
This is fantastic and detailed. Thanks! To commenters who are having trouble: You still need to understand how microphones work. This is a mod and not Apple product. It is just a very clever way of accessing the correct pin for mic in. The graphic at the video end explains everything.
+Karl Nilsson I want to plug a mixer in the mic input of an Iphone. Should I use a resistor? If yes, what ohm? If no, Should I only lower the level output of the mixer? Thanks
I have not tried that model of mic. Sorry. But i use a Røde NTG2 alot and it works great. I think your mic might be some thing with left and right if only one is connected switching it on and of. iPhone only has a mono headset input.
It will work with only a mic connected. If you have headphones connected as well then the headphone wires are being shielded by the mic wire, so you are likely to get interference.
I'm just saying that there are many different types of camcorder cables with those connectors. You have to make sure that pin 3 is common or it won't be usable for this project.
Hi , you made my day! I saw ur video today and i collected all material and follow ur way and diagram, the result is perfect.i connected my shure sm58 to my ipad3.works perfect. The only issue is mic gain is too high for Ipad , how can I make MIC PAD , do you have any solution for that? Thanks in advance.
Hej Karl. Tack för din fina lösning. Har precis lött ihop en kabel med en 820ohms resistor. Tycker att det verkar i ordning förutom att själva 4poliga trs:en glappar lite. Dåligt fabrikat säkert. Får också brassa på en del input före mik för att få upp nivå. Vet du om det beror på iphonens inputsteg eller resistorn? Testat med en md421.
Ja den är lite lurig att ta sig förbi. Motståndet gör ju sitt. Men Sennheiser MD421 är ju en dynamisk mikrofon, de brukar ha en inre resistens som gör att man inte behöver ett motstånd. Testa utan det och se om iPhone känner av mikrofonen ändå. Min Sennheiser handmic kör jag utan motstånd.
Thanks for sharing this. I've got little buzz or little crackling noise. How can I get rid of that? I used 1K Ohm (1/4 Watt) resister on contact # 2 on XLR, 1 and 3 bridged. Any Suggestion?
hey, can you help me? i have a zebronics computer headset and i want to use it as external microphone on my lenovo vibe k5 without connecting its speaker, can you tell me the right connections with TRRS connector
If the ground on the cable doesn't match the ground on the iphone jack then it won't work. The wire that is shielding all the other wires has to be ground, and you can't change that unless you can dismantle the plug on the cable, which is not possible on most mass-produced cables.
Thank you for your excellent tutorial. It works perfectly but there is one issue. When using this adapter my iPhone switches to the internal microphone when the external XLR mic is hitting the peak. Does your phone do the same? I used 1k ohm resistor if that makes any difference.
@Karl Nilsson I want to use that kind of cable to connect mixer with my iPhone X. I just want to record video with live sound. Which resistor do you recommend ? (It will be mono aux XLR F from mixer)
I did mine a different way, I used the track out on a mixing console and wired the yellow and white to a mini jack input connector, not as portable but the nice thing is having that parameter of EQ's, Gain and Volume. I would however like to make use of some impedance matching because you have to run the track out at very very low volumes otherwise you quickly distort. This is a very cool video! Hope to see more unique tutorials from you! Peace
Resistors have a 4 Lines color code. can you tell me what are the color lines of the resistor? thank you - this one looks like brown, black, red and Golden. is that right?
I just made an cable with 5 x 150 = 750 ohm resistors and it works but I'm wondering what would be the best universal ohm number, so it would work best with most microphones ?
what kind of resistor is this? I mean i'm not an electrician so I asking that ... the value of it ... by the way ... thank's for this tutorial ... I'll try to make this work at home ...
hello! thank you for the best and very nice explanation video about XLR to iphone DIY adapter. My question is that possible to be used in a dslr camera that requires 3.5 mm headphone jack in a microphone input? Question 2 how can i get the same resistance you used there and how to measure it?
I understand what MC is getting at. I've got several ready-made leads with 4-pole jacks fitted, and a couple of them have the screen/common connected to the sleeve nearest the phone (or mic in your diagram). So even with just an (unbalanced) mic wired the "live" wire would be on the ouside/screen of the cable, and the ground would be returning down the core ... definitely what you don't want.
Great tutorial! I just put this together, and am using it with wireless mics, Sennheiser. I record directly into garage band on the ipad, and iphone 4 whilst shooting with my dslr... Fabulous!
is it possible to make change the XLR to stereo jack 1/4 pluger because I want it on a mixer in the monitor output. I'm afraid to shorted the left and right channel and overload the microphone port of my cell. it is possible to do this stereo!
Hi! i have one question, i need make this conection on android and one Shure SM52, i ask do i need one capacitor fot that too? cause of the noise? thanks a lot.
Hi, I hope you can help me. I have a rode microphone with rycote lyre system that has a male minijack and I want to connect it to my panasonic camcorder that has a female XLR plug. From what I understand my rode microphone is stereo and the camcorder's XLR input is mono. How do I go about it? Do I need a transistor? Thanks in advance.
@3tooly yes you kan. But the mic needs to be dynamic or with its own power. The tip of a 3.5mm mic plug instead of xlr 2, the sheild of 3.5mm mic plug instead of XLR 1+3. That should work.
I have had luck with cables for canon camcorders like this one www.amazon.com/Audio-Video-3-5mm-Composite-Camcorders/dp/B007ZAAEFE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1422789219&sr=8-6&keywords=canon+camcorder+video+cable
Karl Nilsson Indeed, you do need the NTG2. But I still get quite low input levels. As far as I can read, the NTG2/1 don't have a very high sensitivity. Sound is great, but needs to be quite loud :-)
Note that there are several different kinds of camcorder A/V cables that all look the same but have different pinouts. You need one with pin 3 common (the tip is pin 1).
You must add a resistor between the earth point and the mic point (on the draw on the top at the end of the video). It will reduce the level microphone output of 50% and decrease your power level on your Iphone of 25% If it's not enough, decrease this last resistor, so you can adjust your input level.
hi and thanks for that trick, that is exactly what i was looking for in order to have a chip lightweight recorder for my tram lavalier microphone. I just made your cable and everything is workin well, but while recording I cant monitor sound. So i was wondering what was the Iphone application you were using to record and if it allowed sound monitoring while recording? I currently use Iprorecorder and it doesn't, I have to check sound after recording. Or maybe it's due to the cable? thanks again!
It acts the same way with both. And both are usable and record good audio but if for example something hits the mic, the rec level will peak and iphone switches to internal mic for some strange reason.
Thanks for the tutorial. Can you advise how to wire up a lavalier mic with a 3.5mm jack? I want to use a dynamic lav mic with my iPhone 5, but I'm not sure which wires go where. Thanks in advance if you can offer advice on this.
Can you explain how you chose the resistor? I'm going to make a guitar input adapter, should I use the same resistor or I should try different resistors until iPhone sees the guitar as a mic ?
I dont know. Dont have any access to a S3 phone and cant test. But if it uses the same headset as a iPhone, and its possible to use the headset mic to record sound with the apps you would like to use, then it should work. But no garanties.
I tried to make this - not for XLR mics but for a regular PC mic with 3.5mm connector. The idea was to record something from an IPhone on another. I vaguely know that there are two levels (voltages) of audio input, first being the ones you connect to AUX IN ports, second being the ones that need amplification, like those coming out of an electric guitar. I guessed that IPhone mics operate on the lower level. So I decided to make this "adaptor". I didn't cut up a cable like you did, instead I managed to buy all the connectors seperately, and soldered them together myself. It would be like $3 for the entire thing. I tested it with earphones and a PC microphone. Unfortunately mic part didn't work. I thought I messed up soldering. But I didn't know about the 800 ohm thing. Should I have put a resistor? It looks like something I'd put in between only if I am going to connect an IPhone earphone output to another IPhone's mic input. Is it not? Would I need it for connect a PC mic too? Any ideas on why it did not work? Even if you can't help, reading such a long post this far, you deserve my thanks :)
Hi, the audio out from a iPhone is high level. Its should be possible to record it on another iPhone but you need the resistor to "activate" the mic input and turn down the volume on the iPhone with audio out. The mic in part from the schematics in the video and before that a stereo to mono adapter (so you get both right and left audio out).
Karl Nilsson "Activating" the mic never occured as a necessary thing to me! So that's what the resistor's for. Not for adjusting the input level. Thank you very very much. It really felt awful to have spent so much time buying the connectors and soldering, just to make a malfunctioning useless no-good piece of ......... Erm.. Equipment.
continued from previous.... With the headphones wired as well, their return would effectively be connected across the mic (as they're not connected directly to the second sleeve (earth in your diagram). Obviously not an issue if you are wiring to a plug directly.
It has two modes, tele and norm, does it act that way in both? the Output Impedance in norm is 1kΩ and tele 2.3kΩ that means that the iphone will gain a lot. and then peak. Try to use norm mode.
Hi, i was just wondering if it would work to directly use a XLR to 3.5 mm cable and connect the microphone with my Iphone/Ipad. If not, how could i make it work?
Hi I made the cable it works great I tried to ad a head phone jack so I could listen to what I was recording simotaniosly but the sound was very deminished . Any thoughts . I added the 3.5 before the resister .
@widehopeful Hi, the iPhone only have one channel mic. Som if you use a stereo mic you can use the left or right signal. Or both. Just solder them together before the resistor. Good luck.
Makes sense. I'll just have to shock mount the mic properly. I tested recording in our noisy lab and it seemed to work just fine. As long as I don't get those sudden nasty peaks. Thanks for the tutorial.
@EastZatz Hi, What kind och shutgun are you using? I have tried with a Røde NTG-2 and it needs resistor. All other mices thad dynamic needs to be self powered. Like the NTG-2. Dymanic mics generater the power from the sound waves. Most shutgun needs 48v phantom power and those dont work.
I made this adapter but when mic is on, it records audio a pulses; it is a condenser mic ME-8800, it has normal and tele, any idea why the mic does this?
I try connect Audio Technica ATR 3350 mic, to iphone 4, i have 4pin jack, and connect ground to 3 pin, signal to 4 pin (like you), but it isn;t work. Should I use resister, too?
Third sleeve is common. If that lead is the shield och a cabel does not matter. We at nat talking about 400ft och cabel om a stage. But as i say in the film. You want a plug thats wired with the fourth sleeve to the red RCA lead.
@ifergal Hi, usually a shutgun needs 48v phantom power and the iPhon does not deliver that. But a Sennheiser ME2 lavalier kan be driven by the iPhone. I have tried that my self. If U need a shotgun,, use the røde NTG2 or equal that has its own battery.
hi great video, really useful My question is if i want to a line level signal instead of the microphone (like a monitor output from a mixing desk), than what resistor should i use?
a iPhone headset has a resistance of 800ohm over the mic connections. this tells the iPhone that a headset with mic is plugged in and the phone activates the mic input instead of the built in mic. No resistance and the phone thinks headphones without mic is plugged in.
use the same 800ohm and turn the output on the mixer down very low. Use the VU meter in an app like Fire and set det right level out. The resistor is only there to trigger the iPhone that a mic is connected. If you have very high level out use a pot to trim the level.
very cool tutorial, there are a couple of music festivals coming up this summer that i am planning on attending, and being a DJ i would like to do some interviews, guess i'd better get after this project real quick, thanks
Hi beta75se and thank you for a great tutorial. I have tried everything to get this working for me. My setup is Iphone 4. ATR3350 microphone. I have the 1000ohmp resistor and linked it in every possible combination. I can get the microphone on the iphone to cut out so that it looks like it know it is using an external system. But I get nothing from my Mic. I have tried with another mic and same happens. It mutes the iphone mic but not pick up the external mic.
Hi, makes me happy that you liked the tutorial. Look att the "FiRe 2 - Field Recorder" app. It lets you monitor sound while recording. There is a free version of the app called Blue FiRe that you can try first and see if you like it.
@3tooly whats the brand and model of the mic? Some lavalier mics need plug in power and some, like Audio Technica ATR 3350, have their own battery power. I have a Sennheiser ME 4 Lavalier and that one kan be powered from the iphone. In that case you dont need any resistor.
Thanks for the tutorial Karl. Maybe you would help me. I made almost the same cable but with an electrect mic. I want to use it with iVoxel app (vocoder). The mic sounds but when I connect it to my iPod touch I can hear al the time the mic directly in my phones and having feedback in the app. any hint?
I took apart the XLR to 3.5mm adapter that I purchased, and the wiring seems to be completely different.The top ring is connected to the XLR connector #1, the middle ring is connected to XLR connector #2, and the tip is connected to XLR connector #2.
+ft55555 that makes sense if its a stereo 3.5 to XLR. The tip and second ring is left and right and the base ring is ground. But An iPhone 3.5mm plug has four rings. The ground is divided in two and one is for the mic. If the phone sense a resistance between the two it switches on the mic input (thats why there is a resistor in the schematics). If there is no resistance the phone thinks its just a headset without mic and switches of the mic input. A condenser mic doesn't have enough resistance so it needs the resistor, a dynamic hand mic has an internal resistance that is enough so no resistor is needed. Here is the schematics: imgur .com /CjNMMMm .png
+Karl Nilsson I have a TRRS headphone/microphone splitter, that works with a headphone with 3.5mm TRS plug connected to one jack and a condenser microphone with 3.5mm TRS plug connected to the other jack. When connecting a dynamic microphone using the XLR to 3.5mm TRS cable, it does not work. Do you think it's because it's a stereo cable that it's not working? If I were to rewire this for mono, which section of the plug would the XLR connectors #1 and #3 be connected to (T, R, or S)?
Never mind. I figured it out. XLR #1 and #3 connect to the S and XLR #2 connect to both T and R.For convenience, I rewired everything on the 3.5mm side, and it ended up being quite a mess. Soldering the XLR #1 and #3 wires to the lead for S was easy enough, but soldering the XLR #2 wire to both the R and T leads was really ugly. I had to sandwich the wire between the two leads and hold them with pliers to solder everything together. LOL Thanks for the tip about the stereo vs. mono. I would have never figured that one out by myself.
cool man i ll gonna do it could you just tell me the value of resistor couse is not mentioned and the colors on it is not very clear... cheers mate!!!!
Also, someone in these comments wanted to use line level to drive the input; that's my intention, also. Shure makes an in- line adaptor that drops line level down to mike level...it's a 50 dB pad, essentially. It's a lot neater than fiddling with resistors, although not sure what impedence it would present to the device (iPhone, I touch or whatever).
Thanks for sharing. Cable succeeded, works like a charm with the Rode Rec App :-) Good that I measured the red connected vs. top section of the jack, since on one cable that was ground, had to use another.
Aha!!! So other videos on this subject don't show the 1K resistor, and I've been going nuts trying to get their setup to work on my Itouch and on my Toshiba Thrive; it won't interrupt (lift) the inboard mike on the device(s). I'm going to try the series resistor scheme and hopefully that'll be the solution!! Makes sense that the device wants to see a certain impedence to switch over to an external mike. Thanx for saving my sanity!!
This is great but unfortunately, there's some parts that's not clear especially the wiring part. You kinda skipped the first part of the wiring and I can't seem to get it right. And the XLR wiring is quite unclear too. Hopefully you would do something about this, cause I'd really want to try this for myself. (:
@ifergal Hi, yes the same way. But i have tried the lavier mic without resistor and that worked to. It has internal resistance that activates the mic input on the iPhone.
Sometimes iPhone or iPad does not recognize external mic so the solution I have found is to use a small resistor between pin 2 (mic in) and pin 1 or 3 (ground) if u use a XLR. The small load will act like a pull down resistor and the ext mic will be recognized by the iOS. I have tried different resistor between 1 k and 10 k and they all work good. I did not use any resistor in series with pin 1 from my rode mic pro as the audio level seemed just fine. I hope it helps. Thanks for your nice vid.
Thanks for this tip. I decided to replace the 1000 ohm resistor in the video with a 10uF capacitor to avoid feeding the supply voltage from the phone into the microphone (+ towards the iphone). Then a resistor between ground and mic rings was needed for the cable to be detected properly.
You sir are a champion. An elegantly described and illustrated vid for an excellent project. And your patience and persistence with commenters is admirable. Cheers.
excellent video. will this work when your recording video on the iphone?
This is fantastic and detailed. Thanks!
To commenters who are having trouble: You still need to understand how microphones work. This is a mod and not Apple product. It is just a very clever way of accessing the correct pin for mic in. The graphic at the video end explains everything.
Can I buy these somewhere? I've been looking for a solution. Can you record video+audio with this setup?
+Karl Nilsson I want to plug a mixer in the mic input of an Iphone. Should I use a resistor? If yes, what ohm? If no, Should I only lower the level output of the mixer? Thanks
I have not tried that model of mic. Sorry. But i use a Røde NTG2 alot and it works great. I think your mic might be some thing with left and right if only one is connected switching it on and of. iPhone only has a mono headset input.
It will work with only a mic connected. If you have headphones connected as well then the headphone wires are being shielded by the mic wire, so you are likely to get interference.
I'm just saying that there are many different types of camcorder cables with those connectors. You have to make sure that pin 3 is common or it won't be usable for this project.
Hi , you made my day! I saw ur video today and i collected all material and follow ur way and diagram, the result is perfect.i connected my shure sm58 to my ipad3.works perfect. The only issue is mic gain is too high for Ipad , how can I make MIC PAD , do you have any solution for that? Thanks in advance.
Hej Karl. Tack för din fina lösning. Har precis lött ihop en kabel med en 820ohms resistor. Tycker att det verkar i ordning förutom att själva 4poliga trs:en glappar lite. Dåligt fabrikat säkert. Får också brassa på en del input före mik för att få upp nivå. Vet du om det beror på iphonens inputsteg eller resistorn? Testat med en md421.
Ja den är lite lurig att ta sig förbi. Motståndet gör ju sitt. Men Sennheiser MD421 är ju en dynamisk mikrofon, de brukar ha en inre resistens som gör att man inte behöver ett motstånd. Testa utan det och se om iPhone känner av mikrofonen ändå. Min Sennheiser handmic kör jag utan motstånd.
Thanks for sharing this. I've got little buzz or little crackling noise. How can I get rid of that? I used 1K Ohm (1/4 Watt) resister on contact # 2 on XLR, 1 and 3 bridged.
Any Suggestion?
@GreenPeasProductions it´s 1000 ohm. The iPhone needs 800 ohm to switch on the mic input.
hey, can you help me? i have a zebronics computer headset and i want to use it as external microphone on my lenovo vibe k5 without connecting its speaker, can you tell me the right connections with TRRS connector
If the ground on the cable doesn't match the ground on the iphone jack then it won't work. The wire that is shielding all the other wires has to be ground, and you can't change that unless you can dismantle the plug on the cable, which is not possible on most mass-produced cables.
Thank you for your excellent tutorial. It works perfectly but there is one issue. When using this adapter my iPhone switches to the internal microphone when the external XLR mic is hitting the peak. Does your phone do the same? I used 1k ohm resistor if that makes any difference.
@Karl Nilsson I want to use that kind of cable to connect mixer with my iPhone X. I just want to record video with live sound. Which resistor do you recommend ? (It will be mono aux XLR F from mixer)
I did mine a different way, I used the track out on a mixing console and wired the yellow and white to a mini jack input connector, not as portable but the nice thing is having that parameter of EQ's, Gain and Volume. I would however like to make use of some impedance matching because you have to run the track out at very very low volumes otherwise you quickly distort. This is a very cool video! Hope to see more unique tutorials from you!
Peace
Resistors have a 4 Lines color code. can you tell me what are the color lines of the resistor? thank you - this one looks like brown, black, red and Golden. is that right?
Eddio PinaR Brown, black, red, golden is 1000 ohm with gold thats 5% tolerance. www.drivteknik.nu/shared/upload/editor/resistor_fargkoder.jpg
Karl Nilsson Thank you very much my friend.
Eddio PinaR no prob!
I succeeded with making the adapter work on my iPhone4S, but my mid2012 macbook air doesn't recognize it as external mic... any hints?
I just made an cable with 5 x 150 = 750 ohm resistors and it works but I'm wondering what would be the best universal ohm number, so it would work best with most microphones ?
what kind of resistor is this? I mean i'm not an electrician so I asking that ... the value of it ... by the way ... thank's for this tutorial ... I'll try to make this work at home ...
hello! thank you for the best and very nice explanation video about XLR to iphone DIY adapter. My question is that possible to be used in a dslr camera that requires 3.5 mm headphone jack in a microphone input? Question 2 how can i get the same resistance you used there and how to measure it?
is this works for android system? I mean ... conecting my nexus 7 (for example) to this and use any app existing the play store?
I have a Shure SM58 condeser microphone can I use this hack or does it need 5 v or phantom power?
I understand what MC is getting at.
I've got several ready-made leads with 4-pole jacks fitted, and a couple of them have the screen/common connected to the sleeve nearest the phone (or mic in your diagram).
So even with just an (unbalanced) mic wired the "live" wire would be on the ouside/screen of the cable, and the ground would be returning down the core ... definitely what you don't want.
Great tutorial! I just put this together, and am using it with wireless mics, Sennheiser. I record directly into garage band on the ipad, and iphone 4 whilst shooting with my dslr... Fabulous!
is it possible to make change the XLR to stereo jack 1/4 pluger because I want it on a mixer in the monitor output. I'm afraid to shorted the left and right channel and overload the microphone port of my cell. it is possible to do this stereo!
Hi! i have one question, i need make this conection on android and one Shure SM52, i ask do i need one capacitor fot that too? cause of the noise? thanks a lot.
So the sheilds are need to be soldered on 1 and 3? because ive seen another tuts, he only connect the sheild on 1.
Hi, I hope you can help me. I have a rode microphone with rycote lyre system that has a male minijack and I want to connect it to my panasonic camcorder that has a female XLR plug. From what I understand my rode microphone is stereo and the camcorder's XLR input is mono. How do I go about it? Do I need a transistor? Thanks in advance.
@3tooly yes you kan. But the mic needs to be dynamic or with its own power. The tip of a 3.5mm mic plug instead of xlr 2, the sheild of 3.5mm mic plug instead of XLR 1+3. That should work.
Its possible to use any 4 pin 3.5mm plug as long as you wire it the right way. As the schematics show.
Found a cable, but top ring was the ground instead of red connector. Is there a specific type/model of cable to use?
I have had luck with cables for canon camcorders like this one www.amazon.com/Audio-Video-3-5mm-Composite-Camcorders/dp/B007ZAAEFE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1422789219&sr=8-6&keywords=canon+camcorder+video+cable
Hi, just a question. Are you also getting quite low sound levels from the Rode NTG into the iPhone?
The NTG I believe requires phantom power (48v) which is not supplied by this setup.
Owen Andrews The NTG-1 is phantom power only, the NTG-2 is phantom and battery powered. It works flawless.
Karl Nilsson Indeed, you do need the NTG2. But I still get quite low input levels. As far as I can read, the NTG2/1 don't have a very high sensitivity. Sound is great, but needs to be quite loud :-)
Erik Spaan the Røde Videomic Pro might be a good alternative then, same capsule as NTG1/2 and more gain. I can't hear them apart.
I'm also checking the Sennheiser ME66, which ought to have much higher output. Especially for outdoor nature stuff quite handy.
Note that there are several different kinds of camcorder A/V cables that all look the same but have different pinouts. You need one with pin 3 common (the tip is pin 1).
How much would you charge me too make one of these I'm rubbish when it comes to making electrics work thanks
You must add a resistor between the earth point and the mic point (on the draw on the top at the end of the video). It will reduce the level microphone output of 50% and decrease your power level on your Iphone of 25% If it's not enough, decrease this last resistor, so you can adjust your input level.
@GunMan303 Hi, your resistors, how do you mount them? In parallel och in series? What kind of mic do you use? Have you tried without the resistors?
Can you use this device on an Android phone? Because i have not an Iphone... Thanks
hi and thanks for that trick, that is exactly what i was looking for in order to have a chip lightweight recorder for my tram lavalier microphone.
I just made your cable and everything is workin well, but while recording I cant monitor sound.
So i was wondering what was the Iphone application you were using to record and if it allowed sound monitoring while recording?
I currently use Iprorecorder and it doesn't, I have to check sound after recording.
Or maybe it's due to the cable?
thanks again!
It acts the same way with both. And both are usable and record good audio but if for example something hits the mic, the rec level will peak and iphone switches to internal mic for some strange reason.
Thanks for the tutorial. Can you advise how to wire up a lavalier mic with a 3.5mm jack? I want to use a dynamic lav mic with my iPhone 5, but I'm not sure which wires go where. Thanks in advance if you can offer advice on this.
Oh cool! What kind of resistor do we need? ~500Ω, ~1ΚΩ, ~10ΚΩ?
Thanks for the video, I will not pay for the adapter cable =D but I have a question this adapter works with ipad camera?.
Can you explain how you chose the resistor?
I'm going to make a guitar input adapter, should I use the same resistor or I should try different resistors until iPhone sees the guitar as a mic ?
I dont know. Dont have any access to a S3 phone and cant test. But if it uses the same headset as a iPhone, and its possible to use the headset mic to record sound with the apps you would like to use, then it should work. But no garanties.
I tried to make this - not for XLR mics but for a regular PC mic with 3.5mm connector. The idea was to record something from an IPhone on another. I vaguely know that there are two levels (voltages) of audio input, first being the ones you connect to AUX IN ports, second being the ones that need amplification, like those coming out of an electric guitar. I guessed that IPhone mics operate on the lower level. So I decided to make this "adaptor". I didn't cut up a cable like you did, instead I managed to buy all the connectors seperately, and soldered them together myself. It would be like $3 for the entire thing. I tested it with earphones and a PC microphone. Unfortunately mic part didn't work. I thought I messed up soldering. But I didn't know about the 800 ohm thing. Should I have put a resistor? It looks like something I'd put in between only if I am going to connect an IPhone earphone output to another IPhone's mic input. Is it not? Would I need it for connect a PC mic too? Any ideas on why it did not work?
Even if you can't help, reading such a long post this far, you deserve my thanks :)
Hi, the audio out from a iPhone is high level. Its should be possible to record it on another iPhone but you need the resistor to "activate" the mic input and turn down the volume on the iPhone with audio out. The mic in part from the schematics in the video and before that a stereo to mono adapter (so you get both right and left audio out).
Karl Nilsson "Activating" the mic never occured as a necessary thing to me! So that's what the resistor's for. Not for adjusting the input level. Thank you very very much. It really felt awful to have spent so much time buying the connectors and soldering, just to make a malfunctioning useless no-good piece of ......... Erm.. Equipment.
Palle Schultz 800 ohm is perfekt but a 1000 ohm Will do.
continued from previous....
With the headphones wired as well, their return would effectively be connected across the mic (as they're not connected directly to the second sleeve (earth in your diagram).
Obviously not an issue if you are wiring to a plug directly.
It has two modes, tele and norm, does it act that way in both? the Output Impedance in norm is 1kΩ and tele 2.3kΩ that means that the iphone will gain a lot. and then peak. Try to use norm mode.
Hi, i was just wondering if it would work to directly use a XLR to 3.5 mm cable and connect the microphone with my Iphone/Ipad. If not, how could i make it work?
Hi I made the cable it works great I tried to ad a head phone jack so I could listen to what I was recording simotaniosly but the sound was very deminished . Any thoughts . I added the 3.5 before the resister .
@widehopeful Hi, the iPhone only have one channel mic. Som if you use a stereo mic you can use the left or right signal. Or both. Just solder them together before the resistor. Good luck.
is it possible if ill only connect the shield to 1 or 3. Not both of them?
Do those mics get pre-amplified internally? If not, why do we need the resistor?
iPhone only has a mono mic input, and it can't provide phantom power to a mic. Maybe Tascam iXZ is what you need?
I understand that resistor needs to be at least 800 ohms, but what about watts? Radio shack has resistors with different wattage. Any suggestions?
Makes sense. I'll just have to shock mount the mic properly. I tested recording in our noisy lab and it seemed to work just fine. As long as I don't get those sudden nasty peaks.
Thanks for the tutorial.
I have two professional studio microphones that use phantom power from a mixer. Will this still work for me?
@EastZatz Hi, What kind och shutgun are you using? I have tried with a Røde NTG-2 and it needs resistor. All other mices thad dynamic needs to be self powered. Like the NTG-2. Dymanic mics generater the power from the sound waves. Most shutgun needs 48v phantom power and those dont work.
I made this adapter but when mic is on, it records audio a pulses; it is a condenser mic ME-8800, it has normal and tele, any idea why the mic does this?
in the specifications say "uni-directional Electret Condenser Microphone
I try connect Audio Technica ATR 3350 mic, to iphone 4, i have 4pin jack, and connect ground to 3 pin, signal to 4 pin (like you), but it isn;t work. Should I use resister, too?
thanks
will it work with just a mic or do i have to connect headphones?
sorry for bombing you with questions
Third sleeve is common. If that lead is the shield och a cabel does not matter. We at nat talking about 400ft och cabel om a stage. But as i say in the film. You want a plug thats wired with the fourth sleeve to the red RCA lead.
@ifergal Hi, usually a shutgun needs 48v phantom power and the iPhon does not deliver that. But a Sennheiser ME2 lavalier kan be driven by the iPhone. I have tried that my self. If U need a shotgun,, use the røde NTG2 or equal that has its own battery.
hi
great video, really useful
My question is if i want to a line level signal instead of the microphone (like a monitor output from a mixing desk), than what resistor should i use?
is the resistor really needed? because my shotgun mic has an impendance of 1k ohm already.. please help ? :/
also when I touch my microphone there is a loud buzz like there was no ground, I don't understand this, I connected it like on your diagram..
a iPhone headset has a resistance of 800ohm over the mic connections. this tells the iPhone that a headset with mic is plugged in and the phone activates the mic input instead of the built in mic. No resistance and the phone thinks headphones without mic is plugged in.
use the same 800ohm and turn the output on the mixer down very low. Use the VU meter in an app like Fire and set det right level out.
The resistor is only there to trigger the iPhone that a mic is connected. If you have very high level out use a pot to trim the level.
very cool tutorial, there are a couple of music festivals coming up this summer that i am planning on attending, and being a DJ i would like to do some interviews, guess i'd better get after this project real quick, thanks
Hi beta75se and thank you for a great tutorial. I have tried everything to get this working for me. My setup is Iphone 4. ATR3350 microphone. I have the 1000ohmp resistor and linked it in every possible combination. I can get the microphone on the iphone to cut out so that it looks like it know it is using an external system. But I get nothing from my Mic. I have tried with another mic and same happens. It mutes the iphone mic but not pick up the external mic.
Does this work with the AT 803b and how much would you sell this to me for?
Hi, makes me happy that you liked the tutorial. Look att the "FiRe 2 - Field Recorder" app. It lets you monitor sound while recording. There is a free version of the app called Blue FiRe that you can try first and see if you like it.
Also, please advise if the resistor is required with a dynamic lav mic.
hi great video, would it be possible to connect a usb to xlr?
what dynamic mic was that in the video? , I'm looking for a not to expensive dynamic my with good build quality ;)
@3tooly whats the brand and model of the mic?
Some lavalier mics need plug in power and some, like Audio Technica ATR 3350, have their own battery power.
I have a Sennheiser ME 4 Lavalier and that one kan be powered from the iphone. In that case you dont need any resistor.
Thanks for the tutorial Karl. Maybe you would help me. I made almost the same cable but with an electrect mic. I want to use it with iVoxel app (vocoder). The mic sounds but when I connect it to my iPod touch I can hear al the time the mic directly in my phones and having feedback in the app. any hint?
@svennobegood Hi, the resistor needs to be 800 ohm. But any from 700 to 1000 ohm usually works.
Depends on the internal resistor of the mic you will use, this one works with the most.
I took apart the XLR to 3.5mm adapter that I purchased, and the wiring seems to be completely different.The top ring is connected to the XLR connector #1, the middle ring is connected to XLR connector #2, and the tip is connected to XLR connector #2.
+ft55555 that makes sense if its a stereo 3.5 to XLR. The tip and second ring is left and right and the base ring is ground. But An iPhone 3.5mm plug has four rings. The ground is divided in two and one is for the mic. If the phone sense a resistance between the two it switches on the mic input (thats why there is a resistor in the schematics). If there is no resistance the phone thinks its just a headset without mic and switches of the mic input.
A condenser mic doesn't have enough resistance so it needs the resistor, a dynamic hand mic has an internal resistance that is enough so no resistor is needed. Here is the schematics: imgur .com /CjNMMMm .png
+Karl Nilsson Ah, I see. That makes sense. BTW, how many Ohms is the resistor that you used?
+ft55555 800 ohm is the sweet spot but 700-1000 ohm will work.
+Karl Nilsson I have a TRRS headphone/microphone splitter, that works with a headphone with 3.5mm TRS plug connected to one jack and a condenser microphone with 3.5mm TRS plug connected to the other jack. When connecting a dynamic microphone using the XLR to 3.5mm TRS cable, it does not work. Do you think it's because it's a stereo cable that it's not working? If I were to rewire this for mono, which section of the plug would the XLR connectors #1 and #3 be connected to (T, R, or S)?
Never mind. I figured it out. XLR #1 and #3 connect to the S and XLR #2 connect to both T and R.For convenience, I rewired everything on the 3.5mm side, and it ended up being quite a mess. Soldering the XLR #1 and #3 wires to the lead for S was easy enough, but soldering the XLR #2 wire to both the R and T leads was really ugly. I had to sandwich the wire between the two leads and hold them with pliers to solder everything together. LOL
Thanks for the tip about the stereo vs. mono. I would have never figured that one out by myself.
cool man i ll gonna do it could you just tell me the value of resistor couse is not mentioned and the colors on it is not very clear... cheers mate!!!!
Can you make phone calls with this setup? Is there a delay? Thanks.
Yes it works as any other headset. No delay.
I would like to know if this adapter also works with Samsung Galaxy S3, any ideas?
Also, someone in these comments wanted to use line level to drive the input; that's my intention, also. Shure makes an in- line adaptor that drops line level down to mike level...it's a 50 dB pad, essentially. It's a lot neater than fiddling with resistors, although not sure what impedence it would present to the device (iPhone, I touch or whatever).
Is it jus for Phones or can i use it on my Dlsr.......... I mean Is it safe??
@DrKubus did U solder Pin4 -> resistor -> tip of mic plug. And pin3 to ground/pin2 mic?
You can leave pin 1&2 on iPhone plug un touched.
it works with a guitar?
Thanks for sharing. Cable succeeded, works like a charm with the Rode Rec App :-)
Good that I measured the red connected vs. top section of the jack, since on one cable that was ground, had to use another.
Keith sweat
So what do you need to make it work with a condenser mic?
48v phantom power
what size worked out for you? Is it a 1k or smaller ?
What are the specks on the resister?
Aha!!! So other videos on this subject don't show the 1K resistor, and I've been going nuts trying to get their setup to work on my Itouch and on my Toshiba Thrive; it won't interrupt (lift) the inboard mike on the device(s). I'm going to try the series resistor scheme and hopefully that'll be the solution!! Makes sense that the device wants to see a certain impedence to switch over to an external mike. Thanx for saving my sanity!!
This is great but unfortunately, there's some parts that's not clear especially the wiring part. You kinda skipped the first part of the wiring and I can't seem to get it right. And the XLR wiring is quite unclear too. Hopefully you would do something about this, cause I'd really want to try this for myself. (:
Will this work with the new iPhone 4gs running IOS 5.0.1?
@DrKubus Yes, that mic is self powered. You need a resistor, at least 800 ohm. :)
@ifergal Hi, yes the same way. But i have tried the lavier mic without resistor and that worked to. It has internal resistance that activates the mic input on the iPhone.
Works perfectly for me! Thank you for the clear explaination in the video
Great tutorial. Many thanks for all your efforts, and greetings from Ireland.