Microphone and cable
Dear David,
I went through your gear recommendations for amplyfied playing, thank you for your extensive reviews! I have decided to go with the Fender Champion 20 (for now), and the Harp Blaster HB 52 mic. from Hohner (for longer).
However, now I have a question about the appropriate cable to use. One end of course is XLR-female and the other end is 1/4 inch jack. But there are different tips like TS, TRS, TRRS. Could you help me understand which is correct and why? I think the TS is correct, but I am not sure, and I certaily could not explain why...
Thank you for your help!
Frank
Thank you David! Have a great weekend!
Frank
Frank:
To confuse everything, the mic Hohner sold years ago, the "Blues Blaster," also used a three-pin XLR, but wired differently (with the "hot" pin being different than any other microphone XLR cable) so that one had to either purchase Hohner's "special" cable for it, or re-wire either the mic itself or a standard XLR cable. And along the way it led to a lot of "what's wrong with my mic?" questions on forums like this one.
Thankfully, the new Hohner HB52 is wired so that any female XLR to male TS (the standard 1/4" mono cable plug, used e.g., for guitar cables) works fine.
The XLR output is a little different than mics that use either a Switchcraft screw-on or 1/4" plug, but Hohner seems to think that it makes for a more secure connection at the mic end.
And to add even more confusion, there are harp-configured mics out that also use an XLR output, but are low impedence. So simply using an XLR to 1/4" cable leads some users to ask, "why is my mic so quiet?" For those low-impedence mics, an impedence converter is needed before plugging into an amp. Again, Hohner did it right, making the HB52 as a high-impedence mic. Thus, one less thing to have to remember to throw into one's harp kit before going out to play.
Dear Rob,
thank you for the further insight and making the confusion complete :))
So far I am very happy with the sound of the mic. Even the little amplifyer is really not bad!
Sometimes however, for no apparent reason the amp/mic start humming pretty loud... then stops for a few days and comes back humming quitely. Not quite sure what triggers it. Maybe the cable is defective and i need to buy a new one...
Thank you again for sharing the information.
Happy New Year!
Frank
Hello Frank, Happy New Year to you as well.
That doesn't sound like a cable issue, but an amp issue.
Do try to plug everything in and move the cable around at the mic end, and the same at the amp end. If there's an issue with the cable, then that will most likely create noise and cancelation to show you that it is the cable.
The next time this happens, and you're getting no sound from the amp, plug a standard instrument cable (guitar cable) into the amp and touch the tip of the other end of the cable. If you hear a buzzing sound every time you touch the tip, then the amp is fine and the issue is with your cable or mic.
If the issue is with the amp (which I'm leaning towards), then hopefully the amp is new enough for you to seek out warranty repair, otherwise, the cost of repair will be more than the cost of a new amp.
Best of luck with this.
Hello Frank. Yeah, it can be confusing... I even purchased the incorrect cable, and I know about cables. Here's the link to the cable that I know is correct: https://harmonicaland.com/en/cordial-xlr-to-jack-cable-16ft