Can I connect a XLR plug mike to 1/4" Amp jack?

[allenr]

Recently bought (on Ebay) a microphone for my son, with the intention to plug it into th "CD In" jack of his Amplifier.

I made the buy in a bit of a hurry not noticing that it came with a 3 pin XLR plug.

In an effort to get it connected I removed the XLR plug from the cable and then soldered just the red and black leads of the cable to the two connections on a 1/4" plug I had lying around.

Nothing happened. Can anybody offer me any advice on how I can make this work or will it never work?

 

[kennyd]

I have used adapters before with success like THIS ONE. It also tells you how it's wired...maybe that will help. You can also Google "xlr to 1/4" for more info.

 

[OKnewguy]

I am pretty sure that this will not work, you are connecting a low impedance mic into a line input. A cd signal is many many times the power of a mic, so in other words the mic will be much to week to go into the cd input. Are there any other inputs on the amp? There are little mixers that put out a line output signal, but they cost a little bit.
Good luck, Dave

 

[MikeInEburg]

The other difference between the two is that the XLR uses a balanced input (two conductors referenced to each other plus an overall shield) while the typical 1/4'' uses an unbalanced input (one conductor referenced to ground). Best bet is a little mixer to make it work.
Mike

 

[2manyrocks]

I only see one 1/4 input for the guitar, one 1/4 CD input, one gain control and one volume control. I suppose the guitar volume can be adjusted on the guitar and then roughly set the mic volume using the volume control on the amp. But would be limited in ability to set the bass and treble controls for the mic and the guitar at the same time.

There are plenty of little mixers for cheap that would allow the connections and give more flexibility in setting the volume and tone, especially if the mic doesn't require phantom power.

The next thing would be a mic stand with a boom unless the person doing the singing is different than the person playing the guitar.

 

[aczlan]

might I suggest something like a Behringer XENYX502 or 802? that will let you plug the microphone and a guitar or whatever in and adjust the sound levels

Aaron Z

 

[caver]

Get this rig here or equivelent. It's what I used for recording from a Shure SM57 into an old four track tape deck.
Impedence transformer

 

[aczlan]

Get this rig here or equivelent. It's what I used for recording from a Shure SM57 into an old four track tape deck.
Impedence transformer

that will work, however it will probably be very quiet (if you are hooking into the CD in, it will probably work hooking into the guitar in), not a lot of volume coming off of a microphone

Aaron Z

 

[allenr]

I have used adapters before with success like THIS ONE. It also tells you how it's wired...maybe that will help. You can also Google "xlr to 1/4" for more info.

Thanks Kenny.

The wiring connections suggested got the mike working, but only in the input jack.

 

[allenr]

I am pretty sure that this will not work, you are connecting a low impedance mic into a line input. A cd signal is many many times the power of a mic, so in other words the mic will be much to week to go into the cd input. Are there any other inputs on the amp? There are little mixers that put out a line output signal, but they cost a little bit.
Good luck, Dave

Thanks Dave, you are correct it doesn't work plugged into the "CD In".

Only other "IN" socket is the Input for the guitar - might try wiring a second 1/4" socket to that - but I had realized since my original post that none of these ideas will give him independent volume control.